MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Location: file:///C:/204AEA38/gamesummary08.htm Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" Astros’ Opening Day: Roy Oswalt vs

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7-29-08:  Locatio= n, Location …Timing!

Turner was watching as the Cards put a pounding on his Braves last night when the phone rang.  The nice, young beverage Gal told = the Ted that Mr. McLane was calling on the private, secure line.

The Ted said, “Hello Drayton how’s the trucking business now that fuel prices are falling?”<= o:p>

Drayton replied, “Well Ted, the Teixeira stock is falling faster and I was curious what you would really ta= ke to make a deal.”

The Ted said, “You can’t be s= erious; Berky’s the best first bagger in the game!”

“Forget Berky”, Drayton said, “I was thinking more on the lines of Bourn and I’d consider throwing in Oscar and Byrdak, while you toss in Josh Anderson.”<= /o:p>

The Ted said, “Drayton, why donR= 17;t we let our people talk about it?”

“Because there is one more thing,” said Drayton, “I get Cox and you get Cecil and Wade; and you can have Lisa Gray from the dugout at MVN.com.”=

6-21-08:  ‘= Stros Lose 6-1 over Brew

Roy pitched to 27 batters over seven inni= ngs, striking out 10, and Berky was a double shy of the cycle with a 3-run triple and a 2-un dinger.  The defense played well for the home team and Oswalt gave up a Braun solo-shot in the t= hird inning after hitting him in the ribs in the first inning.  Oddly enough, McClung plunked Teja= da in the ribs with two outs in the first before the Berky 2-run dinger.

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6-10-08:  ‘= Stros Win 6-1 over Brew

Roy pitched to 27 batters over seven inni= ngs, striking out 10, and Berky was a double shy of the cycle with a 3-run triple and a 2-un dinger.  The defense played well for the home team and Oswalt gave up a Braun solo-shot in the t= hird inning after hitting him in the ribs in the first inning.  Oddly enough, McClung plunked Teja= da in the ribs with two outs in the first before the Berky 2-run dinger.

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6-6-08:  ‘S= tros Win 6-1 as Hoyle’s not A ‘Courting to Cards

Moehler twirled seven-strong and walked t= wo of the four Cards that reached base safely.  While the Cards struggled against = Moehler they also struggled behind Looper, aiding the ‘Stros’ victory.<= o:p>

The Veteran ‘Stros won this game, because Towles replaced Q in Round Rock.

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6-5-08:  Road Tri= p ends in Disappointing 4-3 Loss 

Jastro watched/scored the Bucks’ se= ries and missed 100% the Brewers’ series, when the ‘Stros managed a = run a game (thank you Baseball God).  The ‘Stros have started the second-third of the season more ug= ly than they started the first-third of the season.

Backe chunked six-solid, allowing 3 runs = in the first and another in the fifth—the winning run—on an RBI-tr= iple by Bay.  A Backe walk scored a= fter Michaels’ three-run homer in the first inning.

Jastro wishes he was going back to Houston for the homestand.  The really strange= thing is that Jastro wanted Pence to bat in the ninth inning, and he did; but, Ja= stro wanted Hunter to bat in the third, fourth, sixth and eighth innings, too!

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5-29-08:  ‘= Stros Cruising up the NLC Highway in the Slow-Lane

Roy gave up a couple of runs in the first inning on a hit, two walks and a 2-RBI double to Duncan but was spot-on for thru the next six innings and retired the next 15 of 18 Cards he faced, allowing a homer to Pujols and singles by Miles and Kennedy.  The problem was that Roy should ha= ve never gone to the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning with Pence on sec= ond and two-out, when the ‘Stros were down 3-1.

Lee and Berky had solo dingers and Berky = also doubled in the losing effort.  Tejada, Pence and Wiggy provided singles and were left on base as the ‘Stros out-hit the Cards 6-5.  Lohse should be fined by his teammates for walking Bourn to lead off= the game, except that Bourn was left watching from second after stealing with o= ne out.

Jastro is very disappointed in the ‘Stros performance tonight—HINT:  Put the kiddoes to bed—but suspects that the ‘Stros’ bench is probably more upset as we lo= se to these Cards for the sixth time in nine games so far this season.  La Russa better have a driver toni= ght when he celebrates his teams’ win of this series.

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<CAR>

5-28-08:  Wandy g= ets Whacked by the Skipper in 6-1 Loss

The Cards scored three runs in the first = off of Wandy and crew, and that’s all they needed tonight.  If you watched this game then you = know that Wandy has the most dynamite curve-ball in the majors. 

Jastro doubts that the ‘Stros will = win many 1-0 games this season, if any, don’t you know! 

The Cards’ broadcasters said that Wiggy’s dinger wasn’t as deep as of couple of Pujols’ in = the new park, but Pujols’ dingers were a row or two up to the LEFT……

Poor Pence went 0-3, but he only had three plate appearances.  Bourn had a really clean triple with an out in the third, but watched as Matsui and Tej= ada weakly grounded into outs.

The best part of tomorrow’s rubber-match is that the Cards will lose to Roy.&n= bsp; <CAR>

5-28-08 Pre-Game:  WANDY (1-0, 2.31 ERA) vs. RHP Adam Wainright (4-2, 3.06 ERA) @ 7:15 = CDT

The Astros (30-23) go for win number two = of this three game series against the Cardinals (30-23) tonight in St. Louis.  Jastro is anxious to see this game= with Wandy back on the mound and expects a win tonight.

Jastro pencils the starting line-up for tonight’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berky, LF Lee, 3B Wiggy, C Towles, P Wandy = and Bourn batting ninth and playing centerfield.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game.

For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro thinks that the ‘Stros hitters will welcome Wandy back with dingers f= rom all except Wandy.

Let’s keep winning with another win tonight, so we can sweep this series against the Cards, GO ASTROS!

Thanks for checking in and please check b= ack for more.

5-27-08:  Chacon Pitches Seven-Strong and ‘Stros Win 8-2

The ‘Stros scored four times in the first and Chacon protects the lead with seven great innings, walking none a= nd allowing homers to Pujols and the pinch-hitter Barton.  Pujols and Pence went 9-9 with a h= omer (Pujols) and two doubles.  Pen= ce never scored in the game and was left on third, second three times and first.  This win was a total t= eam effort that saw the Cards walk four ‘Stros and hit another.  The ‘Stros did not walk a Card! 

Towles earned another major-league lesson tonight when Molina picked Towles off of first with Pence at second and Cha= con at the plate with a 2-2 count to end the first inning.  Towles had two walks and a hit-by-= pitch in five plate appearances.  Bo= urn remains at a .216 batting average after his 1-5 night. 

Jastro is so excited that Wandy will pitch tomorrow—it’s like Christmas Eve in May—and believes that= the ‘Stros WILL SWEEP this series; but we will win it tomorrow.

If Coop continues to refuse to bat Bourn = in the ninth-spot, Coop will have to send Bourn to Round-Rock for his at-bats.=

Bummer for Borky, who was designated to m= ake room for Wandy after the game, Jastro expects to see him back soon.   <CAR>

5-27-08 Pre-Game:  Chacon (1-0, 4.11 ERA) vs. RHP Braden Looper (6-3, 4.34 ERA) @ 7:15 = CDT

The Astros (29-23) begin a nine game road trip with three games against the Cardinals (30-22) starting tonight in St. Louis.  The Cards will begin play tonight = one game ahead of the ‘Stros because the Cards have won four of the six meetings this season.  Jastro = thinks a sweep of this series is in order, starting with a ‘Stros win tonigh= t.

The pitching match-up favors the ‘S= tros tonight, but the offense has only scored 19 runs in the six previous games = with the Cards (the Cards scored 25 runs).  The Cards rely heavily on the base-on-balls and still lead the majors with 240!  The ‘Stros ne= ed to avoid issuing free passes and the bats must score early and often, all seri= es long.

Jastro pencils the starting line-up for tonight’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berky, LF Lee, 3B Wiggy, C Towles, P Chacon= and Bourn batting ninth and playing centerfield.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game.

For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro thinks Wiggy is still the smart play in the second inning and will add a To= wles dinger to make them back-to-back jacks.&nb= sp; For bonus points and a chance to go to, instead of with, Paris, Jastro is = looking for dingers by Pence in the third inning, Berky in the fifth inning and Lee= in the eighth inning.

Let’s start winning again with a win tonight, so we can sweep this series against the Cards, GO ASTROS!

Thanks for checking in and please check b= ack for more.

5-25-08:  Coop Fl= ew the Pen and Astros Lose 15-6; OK, the Pen Flew the Coop

Sampson pitched to 22 batters over five innings while recording three strikeouts, nine groundouts and three flyouts; and he surrendered four runs on five hits (HR, 2-2B) and two walks.  Sampson threw 90 pitches and shoul= d come up with an excuse to protect Coop’s decision to pull him, other than Wandy and Geary will be returning soon.

The ‘Stros drove up Hamels’ E= RA to 3.18, but Hamels went 2-2 at the plate, raising his BA to .345!  The ‘Stros scored all six ru= ns against Hamels over four innings, sending 20 batters to the plate and hitti= ng safely seven times with a Lee three-run dinger and a double by Wiggy.  Hamels should be fined by all of h= is teammates (coaches, skippers, GMs and Fillie fans) for walking Bourn—= who scored—to lead-off the Astros’ third.

Since Wandy is coming off of the DL Wedne= sday and Geary should return on the road trip, Coop decided to look at his bullp= en in the sixth inning.  <TRAI= N>

The Cubbies and Cards both lost in extra innings today and the Cards also have the day off tomorrow while the Cubbies entertain the Dodgers on Memorial Day.&nbs= p; Jastro suspects that we will see these Fillies again this season! 

Jastro’s GAS-X—stinker-- play-of-the-game-honors go out to Fillies’ catcher Carlos Ruiz, who struckout on his third foul-bunt attempt while runners from first and second watched for the first out in the six-run seventh inning for the Fillies.

Before Jastro gets all Memorial Day mushy, Wiggy hit a 2-RBI double down the leftfield line in the fifth that was ruled foul by the 3-man umpire crew—and fouled a homer--before walking.  Home-plate Ump Jerry Crawford left= the game in the first inning after Lee clanked him on the back of the head with= the follow-thru on a foul ball 12 minutes before he clanked another 3-run dinger.  Jastro hopes Crawford= is fine and watched the game from the Big-Head room with Valverde.<= /span>

Jastro never served in the armed services= but knows (and knew) relatives and friends that have—it’s not all a= bout the money.  Jastro wishes all = a safe and happy Memorial Day!  <C= AR>

5-25-08 Pre-Game:  LHP Cole Hamels (5-3, 2.61 ERA) vs. Sampson (3-3, 5.91 ERA) @ 1:05 CDT

The Astros (29-22) have a chance at winni= ng three games of this four-game weekend series against the Phillies (27-24) i= n this afternoon’s finale.  The ‘Stros get a day off on Memorial Day before starting a nine-game road trip to St. Louis, Milwaukee and Pittsbu= rgh, all division rivals.

The ‘Stros will face Hamels for the only time this regular season.  Hamels was having a fine season on the mound, before this afternoon = when the ‘Stros light him up, and can brag about having a batting average higher than his ERA—again, before today’s game!  Sampson needs to keep the ‘S= tros in the game by going seven strong and yielding four runs or less. 

Jastro is happy to see that Bourn is gett= ing some breaks going his way.  Je= nkins should have caught Bourn’s single to lead-off the game for the ‘Stros and any first baseman in the NL, except Howard, would have ret= ired Bourn on the grounded double in yesterday’s game.  In the scribbling on the Astros= 217; website, Bourn has been working with Berry on hitting to the opposite field.  In the ten times that Bourn has made contact (of thirteen appearance= s at the plate) in this series, Bourn has one slap-hit to left and a pop-up caug= ht by Rollins in shallow center; the other eight times Bourn pulled the ball.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  Of his five (ruled) hits, Jastro t= hinks only the slap-hit to left on Thursday was valid.  Towles will get it going his way a= nd it will not be long before the catcher’s spot has a higher batting avera= ge than Bourn.  For more on Bourn, please click on T= he Real Story.

Jastro pencils the starting line-up for tonight’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berky, LF Lee, 3B Wiggy, C Towles, P Sampson and Bourn batting ninth and playing closest to the flagpole in centerfield.  Of course, Coop = will turn in his line-up card prior to the game.

For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro thinks Wiggy is the smart play in the second inning and will add a Towles dinger to make them back-to-back jacks.&nb= sp; For bonus points and a chance to go to, instead of with, Paris, Jastro is l= ooking for dingers by Pence in the third inning, Berky in the fifth inning and Tej= ada ( a B-day dinger) in the eighth inning.

Let’s keep winning with another win today, so we can win three games of this series against the Fillies, GO AST= ROS!

Thanks for checking in and please check b= ack for more.

5-24-08:  ‘= Stros Win another Nail-Biter 4-3

The Astros (29-22) beat the Fillies again= by a score of 4-3, this time on a pinch-hit RBI single by Loretta with two out= in the sixth to break the 3-3 tie.  Brocail provided ninth inning dramatics, but got the save while Valv= erde watched with the big head in the bullpen.

Howard provided the less than needed power for the Fillies as he drove in all three runs on a single and two-run homer= off of Moehler.  The Fillies left = nine runners on base.  This was ano= ther total team effort for the ‘Stros as the game ended on a basses-loaded with one out double-play on a flyout to Erstad in left, who threw out Feliz= at the plate for the game-winning play.  Kee drove in the other three runs for the ‘Stros with a double and a single.

Folks, it’s thundering and lightnin= g in Portland right now, a sight and sound lost on Jastro for about a year now; so Jastro is mesmerized.  See you tomorrow…..

Thanks for checking in and please check b= ack for more.

<CAR>

5-24-08 Pre-Game:  RHP Brett Myers (2-5, 5.76 ERA) vs. Moehler (1-1, 4.76 ERA) @ 6:05 CDT

The Astros (28-22) need to win tonight to have a chance at winning this four-game weekend series against the Phillies (27-23).  The ‘Stros, wi= th the home field advantage, should win both games before their day off on Memorial Day.

Moehler must keep throwing his pitches and the ‘Stros bats will win the game again today.  Jastro would like to see Towles in= the line-up again tonight, but it makes sense to start Ausmus tonight with the = day game tomorrow after a night game and before the day off and all.  Wiggy sure better be in the line-u= p!

Jastro pencils the starting line-up for tonight’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berky, LF Lee, 3B Wiggy, C Ausmus, P Moehle= r and Bourn batting ninth and playing closest to the flagpole in centerfield.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game.

For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro thinks Wiggy is the smart play in the second inning.  For bonus points and a chance to g= o to instead of with Paris, Jastro is looking for back-to-backers by Berky and Lee in the seventh innin= g.

Let’s keep winning with another win tonight, so we can win three games of this series against the Fillies, GO ASTROS!

Thanks for checking in and please check b= ack for more.

5-23-08:  ‘= Stros Win in Dramatic Fashion 4-3

Backe pitched 7 1/3 innings of one-run ba= ll, giving up a solo-homer to Burrell in the second inning before issuing his o= nly walk of the game to Feliz one out later.&n= bsp; Pence hit two solo dingers leading off the fifth and seventh innings= and Wiggy went 2-3 with a double.  Just when Jastro thought Valverde’s head couldn’t get any bigger, Fe= liz cranks a RBI single off of Valverde’s right noggin in the ninth innin= g. 

Thank God for the baseball, because repla= ys show Valverde got leather on it first (Jastro is sure you will see video if= you missed it live).  Valverde sta= yed in the game and gave up four hits (2 doubles) and two runs to earn his MLB lea= ding 15th save, earning even further respect from his teammates and ‘Stros fans alike. 

The Baseball Gods’ love sold out ballgames so let’s keep Them happy!

Jastro will post more, so thank you for checking in and please return because Jastro will leave the lights on for y= ou.  If you haven’t checked out The Real Story p= lease click!  <CAR>=

5-23-08 Pre-Game:  RHP Adam Eaton (0-2, 5.59 ERA) vs. Backe (3-5, 4.58 ERA) @ 7:05 CDT<= /span>

The Astros (27-22) need to win tonight to even this four-game weekend series against the Phillies (27-22) at one each.  The Fillies have beaten= the ‘Stros three times in a row.  The ‘Stros must win all three games to win the regular series = with these Fillies 4-3.  For more on yesterday’s game and the All-Star balloting, please click on The Real Story.<= o:p>

Backe exited his last start against the Fillies (4-17-08) in the fourth inning after surrendering a two-run homer to Utley and gave up six runs in three innings of work.  Backe was pounded and he walked two batters in that game, but that was in Philadelphia.  Backe must be the home-Backe today= and the ‘Stros hitters must smash the Eaton offerings that are strikes.

Jastro pencils the starting line-up for tonight’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berky, LF Lee, 3B Wiggy, C Towles, P Backe = and Bourn batting ninth and playing closest to the flagpole in centerfield.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game.

For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro selects Backe to collect his second dinger of the year in the second inning, Wiggy and Towles with back-to-back jacks in the fourth and back-to-back-back jacks by Tejada, Berky and Lee in the sixth inning.

Let’s start winning again with a win tonight, so we can win three games of this series against the Fillies, GO ASTROS!

Thanks for checking in and please check b= ack for more.

5-22-08:  ‘= Stros Out-Slugged, Lose to Fillies 7-5

The ‘Stros pounded out 11 hits, including three hits and two doubles by both Berky and Wigginton, but Roy g= ave up 11 of his own in six innings of work and allowed five runs with a solo-h= omer by Howard into the Crawford Boxes.  After a 1-2-3 seventh, Wright surrendered a lead-off homer to pinch-hitter Burrell in the eighth to take the loss.  Oh, and Brad Lidge recorded his 12= th save in as many tries.

Wandy threw 78 pitches over six innings f= or the Hooks in Corpus Christie today and allowed one run on a homer and three other hits plus a walk and DP.  Jastro wonders why we would start him again at the minor-league level…..and hopes to see him soon in the ‘Stros uniform.

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5-22-08 Pre-Game= :  RHP Kyle Kendrick (3-2, 4.76 ERA) = vs. Roy (4-4, 5.43 ERA= ) @ 7:05 CDT

The Astros (27-21) end this homestand wit= h a four-game series against the Phillies (26-22) this weekend.  The Fillies took two games of a th= ree game series in Philadelphia last month and Jastro thinks the ‘Stros should sweep this series at h= ome, ending the regular season play between these clubs 5-2.

The starting pitching is a re-match of the game on April 16, 2008 when the ‘Stros won 2-1 on a Bourn dinger.  Jastro expects that game to be the= only game the ‘Stros will win while scoring only twice, until Wandy comes = back stronger than ever.

Jastro pencils the starting line-up for tonight’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berky, LF Lee, 3B Wiggy, C Ausmus, P Oswalt= and Bourn batting ninth and playing closest to the flagpole in centerfield.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game.

For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro selects Matsui in the first inning and back-to-back jacks by Berky and Lee = in the sixth inning.

Let’s keep winning with a win tonig= ht so we can sweep this series against the Fillies, GO ASTROS!

Thanks for checking in and please check b= ack for more.

Chacon gets First Win as Astro & at Juicy-Fruit, Beating Cubbies 5-3

Chacon gave up three runs in the first on= a 2-run homer by Lee following a walk to Fukudome and doubles by Hoffpauir (1st MLB hit) and the Cubbies ro= okie catcher Soto, but settled down to pitch seven innings of three-run ball on = five hits as Hoffpauir doubled again in the seventh.=   A three-run dinger by Lee in the t= hird headlined the ‘Stros’ nine-hit attack. 

Bourn had three of those hits, including a triple by Lee at first in the fourth, whiffed twice and scored on his solid single to right in the four-run ‘Stros’ third.  Tejada and Blum contributed RBI si= ngles in the game, and the Brocail/Valverde combo worked like the blue-print.

Thanks for checking in and please check b= ack for more.

<Car>

5-21-08 Pre-Game= :  RHP Sean Gallagher (1-0, 4.40 ERA)= vs. Chacon (0-0, 4.14 ERA) @ 7:05 CDT

The Astros (26-21) need to win tonight, a= fter splitting the first two games, to win this three game series with the NL Central leading Cubs (28-18) and chip a game off of the Cubbies’ lead.  This is a very importan= t win for the ‘Stros and will even up the record with the Cubbies this seas= on at 3 wins each.

The ‘Stros hitters need to exercise some patience at the plate against Gallagher, who has walked 19 in 29 MLB innings pitched in his career.  Gallagher has whiffed 15, giving up 33 hits, four dingers and 22 runs (21 earned) in those innings.  Jastro would worry about a new young pitcher (especially with the Cubbies) with ‘Stros teams of the past, but these ‘Stros should= knock Gallagher out of the game before the fifth inning.  Chacon can earn the win tonight if= he makes the Cubbies earn their way on base.

Jastro pencils the starting line-up for tonight’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berky, LF Lee, 3B Wiggy, C Towles, P Chacon= and Bourn batting ninth and playing closest to the flagpole in centerfield.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game.

For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro selects Towles to dinger in the second inning, back-to-back jacks by Berky = and Lee in the third inning and a Pence dinger in the sixth.  For brownie points, Jastro predict= s that Pence will throw a Cubbie—probably Gallagher—out at first on liner that drops in rightfield.<= /span>

Let’s keep winning with a win tonig= ht to win this series with the Cubbies, GO ASTROS!

Thanks for checking in and please check b= ack for more.

Astros even Series with 4-2 Win with a Slam by Pence

Sampson is also a home-warrior, giving up= a two-run homer to Ramirez in the fourth after a double by Lee to lead off the inning for the Cubbies, in six and 2/3 innings pitched.  The Pence slam, also in the fourth inning, followed a lead off double by Tejada and walks to Berky and Blum because Berky and Tejada moved up a base on Lee’s flyout.  Dempster free-passes cost the Cubbies dearly tonight.

The ‘Stros stranded six runners from the sixth thru eighth innings, but the Cubbies left five of their own and h= it into a timely DP (aren’t they all?).

Sampson had command of his pitches and the game, but Jastro though the most interesting part of the game was when Coop—not Robinson—came to the mound after Soto led off the seve= nth with a single.  Coop revisited Sampson after a DP, single by DeRosa and a four pitch walk to the pinch-bat= ter, and Brocail relieved to whiff Soriano (0-4, 3 whiffs).

Pence’s slam was impressive, opposi= te field and all, but his third hit of the game was a double OVER Edmond’s head on Tal’s Hill= !

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5-20-08 Pre-Game:  RHP Ryan Dempster (5-1, 2.35 ERA) vs. Sampson (2-3,= 6.46 ERA) @ 7:05 CDT

The Astros (25-21) need to win tonight to= win the three game series with the NL Central leading Cubs (28-17) tonight.  Jastro pities the team that the ne= w-look ‘Stros beat while scoring only two runs.  The ‘Stros need to come out = of the gate scoring and Sampson will be in great shape if he can keep the Cubbies = to three runs over five innings tonight.

Jastro pencils the starting line-up for t= his today’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berky, LF Lee, 3B Wiggy, C Towles, P Sampson and Bourn batting ninth and playing closest to the flagpole in centerfield.  Of course, Coop = will turn in his line-up card prior to the game.

For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s h= omer contest, Jastro selects Towles to homer twice in this game, first in the se= cond inning and then with a slam in the sixth, Berky in the third inning and Pen= ce in the fourth.  Let’s st= art winning again with a series win of the Cubbies, starting with a convincing = win tonight, GO ASTROS!

Thanks for checking in and please check b= ack for more.

5-19-08:  Cubbies= Whoop 7-2 and end Berky (17-game, 0-4, 3-whiiffs), Pence (16-game, 0-4, whiff), a= nd ‘Stros Winning Streak at One

Bourn went 2-4 with a swipe of second and= was stranded at third twice.  Jon Lester’s no-no for Boston made Jastro switch to JD and crew on FSN, b= ut Jastro stopped scoring when the game was over and two runs scored by the ‘Stros won’t cut it.  Edmonds’ cat= ch on Pence’s drive in the fourth inning defined this game.   Jastro’s take follows:=

FIRST:&n= bsp; Moehler has a 1-2-3 first inning, whiffing Lee and chunking the ball nine times (seven for strikes).  Lilly walks Matsui and leaves him there in the bottom of the first.<= o:p>

SECOND:&= nbsp; Ramirez greets Moehler with a liner to center for a single and takes second on Fukedome’s hard grounder well-p= layed by Berky for an out.  Soto gro= unds out to Tejada as Ramirez watches from second while <= st1:City w:st=3D"on">Edmonds flies out lazily to Lee.  Lilly retires the ‘Stros in = order, whiffing Pence, while Hershy and Steve Phillips= (no Morgan, yeah!) debate which team has the better hitters.<= /h1>

THIRD:&n= bsp; As the sun-spots fade between the plate and the mound Moehler gives = up a one out hit to Lilly, who is stranded at first.  Now the ‘Stros get to hit in= the shade!  But the ‘Stros g= o down in order and Lilly whiffs Moehler.

FOURTH:&= nbsp; Ramirez singles on a full-count, takes second on Moehler’s strikeout of Fukedome—ruled walk—and scores with Fukedome on Soto’s homer—ruled an inside-the-parker but it was gone.  Edmonds singles to left-center, DeRosa singles Edmonds to second and Lilly moves up both runners on a sacrifice-bunt.  Soriano is walked to load the base= s for Theriot, and Theriot grounds out on the first pitch.  DINGERTIME!  Tejada doubles after Matsui whiffs= to lead off the fourth, steals third on the first pitch to Berky, watches Berky whiff and scores on Lee’s soft-liner to left.  Lee watches from first as Pence wh= acks a pitch that Edmonds= catches facing the flagpole on Tal’s Hill.   

FIFTH:&n= bsp; Fukedome reaches on a two-out single and watches Soto flyout.  Jastro is momentarily mesmerized by Hershy’s demonstration of holding the ball as a pitcher.  Wiggy doubles and Ausmus moves Wig= gy to third on a groundout.  Cruz, pinch-batting for Moehler, walks.  Bourn scores Wiggy on a single and both runners move up on Matsui’s groundout.  Bou= rn watches from second, with Cruz at third, as Tejada whiffs on a throw in the dirt.

SIXTH:&n= bsp; Byrdak retires the Cubbies in order, whiffing Lilly to end the top of the inning.  Lilly whiffs Berk= y and Piniella brings in righty Lieber from the bullp= en to face Lee, who singles to right on a blooper and watches Pence ground into t= he inning-ending DP.

SEVENTH:=   Nieve takes over the mound and whiffs Soriano before Theriot drills a double to left and scores on Lee’s single up the middle.  The ‘Stros go easily, 1-2-3.=

EIGHTH:&= nbsp; Thanks for checking in and please check back for more.

<CAR>

5-19-08 Pre-Game:  LHP Ted Lilly (4-4, 5.33 ERA) vs. Moehler (1-0, 4.58 ERA) @ 6:05 CDT=

The Astros (25-20) come home from a successful 7-3 road trip, their longest of the season, and begin a three ga= me series with the NL Central leading Cubs (27-17) tonight with a national audience as ESPN televises the game from Juicy-Fruit.  The ‘Stros lost the first se= ries with the Cubbies 1-2, but that was the team that went 2-5 to open the seaso= n on the road and Lilly did not pitch in that first series.

Jastro will still be looking forward to watching JD, Bill Brown and Patti Smith on FSN, after watching ten games of Dodger, Giant and Ranger broadcasters; and tonight with Joe Morgan. 

The ‘Stros must take full advantage= of the friendly Juicy-Fruit fans and sweep this series, a feat that should land the ‘Stros atop the Central.  The big lumber did make the trip back to Texa= s and the team chose to save it for the Cubbies rather than Dallas.  Welcome back Jim Edmonds.

Jastro pencils the starting line-up for t= his today’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berky, LF Lee, 3B Wiggy, C Ausmus, P Moehler and Bourn batting ninth and playing centerfield.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game.

For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro selects Wiggy in the second, Berky (righty) in the third and Ausmus with a = slam in the firth.  Let’s keep winning with a series sweep of the Cubbies starting with a convincing win on national TV tonight, GO ASTROS!

Thanks for checking in and please check b= ack for more.

‘Stros Win 5-4

Bourn went 2-4 with a bunt-hit and walked once, but was caught swiping second twice.=   Berky and Pence had a couple of hits each and Berky even reached aft= er whiffing on a wild-pitch by LHP Wilson and stole second on another wild pitch.&nb= sp; Towles collects a RBI double, going 1-4 with two whiffs, one called.  Matsui collected two = hits, Tejada hit safely three times (including a RBI double) and Loretta added a = hit and two walks.

Backe looked real good on the mound, until the back-to-backers that drove him from the game in the seventh, and he nev= er had to bat.  Valverde gives up= a single and a double, but whiffs three of the six batters he faced.

Jastro is more disappointed by the commen= ts by Oswalt and Coop after yesterday’s game than the fact the ‘St= ros have lost two games to Dallas<= /st1:City>.  Roy says, in an article by Jim Molony of mlb.com po= sted on the ‘Stros website today that he said he was done after six innings yesterday.  Coop, in the same article and on a sound-bite from KTRH’s pre-game today, claims that Ro= y said he could go back out to pitch the seventh.  Roy also says he felt the pain from the groin while pitching in the sixth innin= g.  Folks, that is scary to Jastro, wa= s it simply a miscommunication?

Back to today’s action:<= /span>

Backe retires Dallas in order thru three innings on three fly balls, four grounders and two whiffs.  The ball is not carrying for the Rangers.

The ‘Stros plate three in the fourth when Tejada leads off with a grounder up the middle, takes second on Berky’s grounder to left, both runners move up a base on Pence’s thirteenth infield hit of the year, and Tejada scores on a full-count walk = to Loretta.  Wiggy beats out the = 6-4-3 DP for a RBI fielder’s choice as Berky scores.  Towles collects his second hit, a = RBI double, in his last 27 at-bats, scoring Pence.  Bourn whiffs with Wiggy and Towles watching from third and second.

Backe gives up lead-off singles to Kinsle= r and Catalanotto, but escapes when Kinsler tries to score on Young’s popou= t to Matsui in shallow center and Bradley whiffs.  Let’s keep scoring…

The ‘Stros add two more runs in the fifth as Matsui gets the ball rolling by beating Gabba= rd to first on the grounder to first and scores on Tejada’s double.  Tejada takes third on Berky’s single and scores on a sacrifice fly by Lee.  After a force-out and another walk= to Loretta, the ‘Stros strand two on Wiggy’s groundout.=

Backe retires the Rangers in order on a f= lyout, groundout and whiff number four.  Let’s keep scoring…

RHP Rupe allo= ws a one-out single to left by Bourn, but is caught-stealing on a play that earns Coop his second ejection of the series.&nb= sp; Matsui, batting righty, is retired on a flyout.  Backe is looking good thru six as = he retires the side in order on a grounder, a pop foul and his fifth strikeout, first called.  DINGERTIME!!!!!=

The ‘Stros strand Tejada and Pence singles in the sixth and the wrong team starts homering.  With an out after the seventh inni= ng stretch, Catalanotto singles and scores on Bradley’s two-run homer.  Murphy chases Backe in favor of Br= ocail after the back-to-backer.  Bro= cail retires Laird on a flyout and Boggs on a grounder.  Six outs to go so let’s score more!

RHP Wright gives up a two-out perfect bunt hit to Bourn, but Bourn gets caught stealing for the second time today and = his third of the year (in his last three attempts.

After a two out single by Kinsler in the eighth, Brocail is relieved by Valverde.&n= bsp; With Kinsler running, Catalanotto doubles him in.  Young grounds out to second, endin= g the inning.  We need more runs!

Valverde whiffs the ninth, stranding a two-out hit by Laird<CAR>

5-18-08 Pre-Game:  Backe (2-5, 4.62 ERA) vs. LHP Kason Gabbard (1-0, 2.12 ERA) @ 2:05 CDT<= /h1>

The Astros (24-20) will not win every ser= ies, but the Dallas Rangers (22-22) have claimed their seventh straight series after whooping the ‘Stros in the first = two games of the three game series at the Ballpark in Arlington. If Jastro knew that the ‘Stros would only win one game of this series, he would pick this gam= e so they come home winners to face the first-place Cubbies for a three game ser= ies in Houston.

On paper, today’s pitching match-up favors Dallas.  Backe must keep us in the game this afternoon and the mighty lumber must appear for the ‘Stros.  Jastro pencils the starting line-u= p for this today’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berky, DH Lee, LF Cruz, 3B Wiggy,= C Towles and Bourn batting ninth and playing centerfield.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game.

For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro duplicates yesterday’s expectation that every ‘Stros starter wi= ll dinger in this game.  Jastro i= s not certain whether that will be four back-to-back jacks or a back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to backer today, but the group will all play long-ball.  Jastro was hoping = to see Jennings on the mound and, if we knock the ball around enough, maybe he can= !  Let’s start winning again wi= th a convincing whooping of Dallas<= /st1:place> this afternoon, GO ASTROS!

Jastro hopes to enjoy this game with a fe= w of his favorite beverage and a roll-his-own smoke, so he may be too busy to po= st the play-by-play for today’s game.&n= bsp; Bulldookie, Jastro will surely post something.  Thanks for checkin= g in and please check back for more. 

Dallas Wins Game 2, 6-2, Six Flags is Looking Good!

Padilla gave the ‘Stros their first inning run when he walked Matsui and Matsui swiped second (#9), and then sc= ored on Tejada’s single.  Roy gave up a two-= out single to Hamilton, who scored on Bradley’s homer in the first; and an infield hit on a swinging bunt by Catalanotto in the second prior to Byrd’s homer.

Jastro is sure he can smell poop, it must= be the neighbors’, right?  =

Roy has his first 1-2-3 inning of the night in the third.

Jastro thinks that the team should go acr= oss the street to SIX FLAGS after t= he game tomorrow, before returning to Houston.

Dallas has stranded five thru five, three= in scoring position.  It is DINGE= RTIME for your ‘Stros?

Wow, Berky singles on a grounder to right= for his 32nd hit in his last 52 at-bats—you do the math.  Nine outs to whoop ass.=

What a DP!  Good call by Berky that Byrd did n= ot re-touch second as he rounded it on Vazquez’s popout to Pence.

Bourn is caught stealing for the first ti= me this regular-season to end the sixth after a one-out single.

Byrdak relieves Roy= with two on and two out in the seventh and Boggs watched two pitches by Roy.  After a whiff by Boggs, Byrdak is = told to walk Bradley. Game over for Jastro and the ‘Stros.

Jastro is happy to be an Astro Fan, as always, and thinks that the only thing he does is something he doesn’t do; miss an Astro game:  But t= hat is another story, don’t you know….  Jastro thinks that Roy is too slow to the plate while chun= king in a hurry.

Jastro, without baseball experience, is thinking we have a fox in the Coop; if He would only hit Bourn ninth, playi= ng center.  Jastro has never been= a LaRussa fan (well, until he got busted for DUI) and understands the stomach-churning feeling of ‘Stros fans with the thought of batting a lead-off batter in the ninth-spot.  Jastro’s over it, are you?&nb= sp; Besides, the conclusion of the Streets of Laredo is one hour into the recording, meaning no commercials, just remote-time.  James Garner suc= ks as Captain Call, don’t you know.

Away on the manger, not streets of Laredo, when …..Sissy Spacek is homely-cute, too, as the whore, Maggie….

Jastro hopes to see you tomorrow and than= ks you for clicking in! <CAR>

5-17-08 Pre-Game:  Roy (4-3, 5.05 ERA= ) vs. RHP Vicente Padilla (5-2, 3.23 ERA) @ 6:05 CDT

The Astros (24-19) need to win the second game of this three game weekend series against the Da= llas Rangers (21-22) at the Ballpark in Arlington so they can claim the series in the finale tomorrow afternoon.  The ‘Stros were out-everythi= nged in the 16-8 loss last night and Jastro knows that won’t happen tonigh= t.

On paper, tonight’s pitching match-= up favors Dallas.  Don’t believe that, as the ‘Stros are going to bring lumber and leather to support Roy’s arm tonight.  Jastro pencils the starting line-u= p for this today’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berky, DH Lee, LF Erstad, 3B Wigg= y, C Towles and Bourn batting ninth and playing centerfield.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game. Jastro read that Coop and Berry want Bourn to make = more contact, like Juan Pierre of the Dodgers.&= nbsp; Jastro thinks goals should be obtainable.  In the fifth inning of today’= ;s Dodger game, the FOX crew stated that Pierre had 208 strikes this season and has swung and missed—a true whiff—only eight times. =

For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro expects every ‘Stros starter to dinger in this game.  Jastro is not certain whether that= will be four back-to-back jacks or a back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to backer toda= y, but the group will all play long-ball.&nbs= p; Jastro was hoping to see Jennings on the mound and, if we knock the = ball around enough, maybe he can!  Let’s start winning again with a convincing whooping of Dallas, GO ASTROS= !

Jastro will enjoy this game with a few of= his favorite beverage and a roll-his-own smoke, so probably too busy to post the play-by-play for today’s game.  Thanks for checking in and please check back for more.

5-16-08 Game Done:  Dallas 16-8 <= /o:p>

Villarreal may have pitched his career-en= ding inning (6R, 6H, 3-HR, 3B, W; and the walk was his best choice to keep Hamilton from a cycle).   

Well, career-ending may be harsh because Jastro would have lost a bundle if some BB-nut with a gambling problem would have bet that the ‘Stros would lose a game by eight runs after scoring eight runs of their own.  It i= s more like Jastro, who has cut down significantly on ciggy-butts and only puffs them outside anymore, has an ash ignite the neighbor’s car—which started leaking fuel in the 95 degree Portland day—blowing the neighbor’s car and its contents to bits.

We have got these Rangers just where we w= ant them—playing dinger-ball with the ‘Stros’ dinger king on = the mound tomorrow; LOOK OUT IN THE CHEAP-SEATS TOMORROW!  Towles will be fine, after he gets= over his daddy issues—Woody should be the one to tell Towles that Woody wasn’t going to pitch forever, don’t you know—and begins a barrage of extra=3Dbase hits with RBI……Chacon is relieved as the Wright’s win and lose tonight.  Is there anyone out there other than Jastro missing Ensberg yet?

The following is Jastro’s play-by-p= lay that ends with Villarreal still on the mound in the eighth inning, so thanks for checking in and please check back for more.

Stros First:  Pence makes a bid for a double on = a foul ball and grounds out to Vazquez at third.&= nbsp; Matsui doubles on a deep fly that pops out of Hamilton’s glove.  Tejada chases a 3-2 pitch for Ponson’s first whiff today.  Berky flies out to the Crawford boxes in Arlington, named Boggs.

Dallas First:  Kinsler flies the first pitch to Lee at the same spot that Berky hit.  Young hits a slicing-liner off of = Matsui glove and reaches on the fielding error.&n= bsp; Hamilton, the MLB RBI king, lines a single to Lee and Young takes se= cond.  Bradley flies out to left and Murp= hy lines a shot over a ducking Chacon, scoring Young and moving Hamilton to second.  Boggs plates both runners on a dou= ble lined to right-center.  Catala= notto grounds out to short, stranding Boggs at second.  Chacon is having some pitches smok= ed by Dallas batters.

Stros Second:  Lee doubles to left on the first pitch.  Erstad doubles down the first-base line, plating Lee.  Wiggy grounds out to second, moving Erstad to third with one out.  Bourn collects his seventh RBI on a grounder to short and Towles grounds out to third.

Dallas 2nd:  Saltalamacchia pops out to Erstad at first.  Vazquez grounds out to Matsui and = Chacon walks Kinsler on four throws.  Young strands Kinsler by grounding out to Tejada.

Stros 3rd:  Pence breaks the bat grounding out= to short, so he will have the homer-bat next time to the plate.  Matsui flies out to left and Tejad= a is whiffed by his former Orioles teammate.

Dallas= 3rd:  Dallas is going to need a lot more runs!  Hamilton hammers his ninth dinger and collects his 45 RBI, now two u= p on Berky.  Bradley lines out to a diving Bourn in shallow center.  Murphy grounds out to Tejada and Boggs, on a 3-2 pitch, walks.  Catalanotto grounds out to Erstad = at first.

Stros 4th:  Berky flies out to left again.  Lee grounds out to third.  Erstad becomes the ninth batter re= tired in a row by Ponson on a deep flyout to Hamilton.

Dallas 4th:  Saltalamacchia homers to right leading off the inning, whew!  Vazquez draws the walk and Kinsler watches and walks Vazquez to second.  Chacon is starting too many batters with 2-0 counts.  Young lines out to Pence for the f= irst out, runners hanging.  Hamilton belts a three-run dinger, number 10 with 48 RBI, and Coop yanks Chacon.  Borky pitches to Bradley and Bradl= ey beats out a broken-bat grounder to third for a hit.  Tejada pulls Murphy’s pop-up= to shallow left out of his bag of tricks and holds Bradley at first.  Boggs ends the inning with a groun= der to Erstad.  Jastro knows long-bal= l is not over just yet! 

Stros 5th:  Wiggy, Bourn and Towles need to re= ach for a Pence slam!  Wiggy singl= es on a grounder up the middle.  Bou= rn reaches on Ponson’s fielding error on a swinging bunt.  On a 0-2 wild-pitch, both runners = move up a base.  Towles plates Wigg= y on a grounder to short (ha!) and Bourn takes third.  Pence gets a hit and RBI on a swin= ging bunt misplayed by Vazquez at third.  Matsui grounds out to second with Pence running safely there.  Tejada doubles in Pence and Matsui= takes third, bringing Berky to the plate.  Berky singles on a crippling grounder off of Ponson, Tejada to third, and Lee represents the tying run.  Lee singles in Tejada and is thrown out at the plate after Berky sco= res on Erstad’s double.

Dallas 5th:  Catalan= otto grounds out to Borky.  Saltalamacchia whiffs and Vazquez beats out a grounder to short for = an infield hit.  Kinsler grounds = out to Wiggy on a recovered-bobble.

Stros 6th:  Righty Francisco pitches and Wiggy= pops out to second.  Bourn singles = on a soft-liner to center.  Towles = flies out to Boggs at the base of the wall as Bourn watches from first.  Bourn steals second on the first b= all to Pence.  Pence walks on three m= ore pitches as Chacon looks for another no-decision.  (Double-steal on a 2-0 count to Ma= tsui?) Nope, runners going on two 3-2 pitches that Matsui fouls-off, and again when Matsui drives in Bourn with a single to center as Pence takes third.  Tejada whiffs as Pence and Matsui = watch from the bases.

Dallas 6th:  Young p= ops out to Lee.  Hamilton gets to face Wright as the ‘Stros try something to retire him.&= nbsp; Hamilton reaches on the errant throw by Wiggy, ruled a hit and throw= ing error, with Hamilton going to second.  Bradley intentionally walks Hamilton to second.  Murphy grounds in = to the 3-6, missed by Tejada, to load the bases.&= nbsp; Boggs forces Hamilton out at the plate on the old 2-unassisted swinging-bunt.  Dewey chats with the youngster battery-mates.  Shelton bats for Catalanotto and flies = out to Pence at the wall in right for Jastro’s play-of-the game (you will se= e it on SPORTSCENTER), let’s go now ‘Stros!

Stros 7th:  Berky, playing small-ball, starts = it off with a lined single to right, bringing in righty reliever Jamey Wright.  Lee is robbed of a hit on an opposite-field fly caught by Murphy.  Wright picks off Berky at first (Ooopps).  Erstad grounds out Shelton to Wrig= ht at first.

Dallas 7th:  Saltalamacchia whiffs.   Vazquez grounds out to Matsui.  Kinsler watches four throws by Wright and walks.  Young watches Kinsler steal second= and score as Young singles to center.  Kinsler is safe on the strong throw to the plate by Pence, (ejecting Coop on the call) as Young takes second.&n= bsp; Hamilton plates Young on a triple, = Hamilton’s = firth hit of the game and he’s a double shy of the cycle.  Birthday–boy Brocail relieves Wright and Bradley whiffs on a 3-2 pitch as Hamilton watches from third.=

Stros 8th: DINGERTIME!  Wiggy grounds out to third for the= new righty, Joaquin Benoit.  Bourn grounds out to the first-base bag.  Towles makes it a 1-2-3 inning for Benoit with a flyout to left.

Dallas 8th:  Villarr= eal pitches to Murphy, who greets Oscar with a dinger of his own.  Boggs, on a 3-2 pitch, flies out t= o a hauling Pence in shallow right-center.&nbs= p; Shelton homers on Oscar’s first pitch with a dinger of his own.  Saltalamacchia reaches on a pop-up fielding error by Towles in front of the plate.  You won’t see this very ofte= n, but since Hamilton walked Jastro is done with this game; for now.

<CAR>

5-16-08 Pre-Game:  Chacon (0-0, 3.53 ERA) vs. RHP Sidney Ponson (2-0, 3.16 ERA) @ 7:05 = CDT

The Astros (24-18) begin interleague base= ball with a three game weekend series against the Dallas Rangers (20-22) at the Ballpark in Arlington.  The ‘Stros lost the ‘S= ilver Boot’ last year with a 2-4 record, and were 9-9 in interleague play.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  Dallas has been playing better bas= eball lately, but Dallas will remain a sub-500 team as long as they continue to g= ive up the most runs in the majors this year with 229 and the ‘Stros shou= ld sweep this series and return home from a 9-1 trip.

Ponson has hit two batters and offered up= one dinger in 25 innings this season; that ratio will become 2:1 and Chacon will get his first win after tonight’s game!  The ‘Stros bought a strong D= H a couple of years ago and should sweep Dallas out of Arlington.  Jastro pencils the starting line-u= p for this today’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berky, DH Lee, LF Cruz, 3B Wiggy,= C Towles and Bourn batting ninth and playing centerfield.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game and if Loretta plays DH Jastro will be pissed. =

For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro expects Pence to connect in the third inning—a slam--before back-to-b= ack jacks by Wiggy and Towles in the sixth inning.  Let’s keep winning with a convincing whooping of Dallas, GO ASTROS!

Jastro will post the play-by-play for today’s game so thanks for checking in and please check back for more= .

5-15-08:  ‘= Stros WIN; 8-7 with three late-inning Dingers

With today’s come-from-behind win, = the ‘Stros find themselves in second place in the NL central, 1 ½ games behind the Cubbies.  Jastro’s play-by-play follows so thanks for checking in and pl= ease check back for more.

Stros First:  The temperature is hotter than Lincecum’s 94 mph heater.  Bourn whiffs on the eighth pitch.&n= bsp; Matsui flies out to left.  Pence looks ugly on another whiff by Lincecum.  That’s okay, Berky will floa= t one in McCovey Cove today!

SFBBGiants First:  Lewis flies out to left, Vizquel g= rounds a single up the middle and Winn lines a single to Pence, as Vizquel takes third.  Rowand grounds a DP ba= ll that played Loretta for an error and Rowand gets an RBI when Vizquel scores= and Winn takes third.    Bowker scores Winn on a sacrifice fly to Bourn.  Aurilla, on a 3-2 count and with R= owand running, grounds out to short.   Sampson may not get an at-bat.

Stros Second:  Berky walks and steals second as L= ee whiffs.  Blum flies out to Row= and in left-center as Berky watches from second.&= nbsp; Loretta flies out to right, stranding Berky at second.

SFBBGiants Second:  Holm grounds out to Loretta on a bobble.  Burriss whiffs on a c= urve in the dirt.  Lincecum, batting lefty, grounds out to Matsui on the first pitch.

Stros Third:  Towles is called out on a strike a= fter fouling two pitches.  Sampson grounds out Bowker to Lincecum.  Bourn grounds out on a good play by Burriss.&nbs= p; Its time, second thru the order, Lincecum!

SFBBGiants Third:  Lewis lines a single to left and t= akes second on Vizquel’s infield hit stopped by Matsui.   Winn knocks Lewis home and V= izquel to third on a double off of the leftfield wall.  Rowand plates Vizquel on a grounde= r to left and Winn takes third.  Bo= wker scores them both on a double off of Bourn’s wrist in deep center.  Bowker takes third on Aurilla̵= 7;s flyout to Bourn.  Holm, on a 3= -2 count, whiffs.  Burriss ground= s out to Loretta.

Stros Fourth:  Matsui lines a single to center and moves to third on Pence’s double off of the rightfield wall.  = Berky plates them both on a liner to right.  Lee whiffs and Berky takes second on the wild-pitch.  Blum grounds out to short and Berky takes third.  Loretta singles = Berky home on a two-out liner to left.  Towles whiffs on three called strikes while Loretta watches from fir= st as well.

SFBBGiants Fourth:  Lincecum flies out to Bourn in left-left-center.  Lewis groun= ds out to second.  Vizquel collects h= is third hit and second infield hit of the game as Berky stops the grounder be= hind the base.  Winn collects his t= hird hit and second double of the game and Rowand, with two runners in scoring position, grounds into the error by Loretta on the throw to first as Vizquel scores.  Bowker flies out to B= ourn.

Stros Fifth:  Getting to the third time thru, Timmy-time!  Sampson whiffs.  Bourn flies out to left.  Matsui walks on a full count pitch= .  Pence watches Matsui swipe second = on a ball in the dirt and third on another ball in the dirt.  Pence walks.  Berky, on a full count pitch, stra= nds the runners as he whiffs on a ball in the dirt.

SFBBGiants Fifth:  Aurilla grounds a single to left a= nd takes second on Holm’s groundout to Loretta.  Burriss sends Aurilla to third on a groundout to Matsui.  Lincecum grounds out to Loretta.

Stros Sixth:  HOMERTIME!  Lee drives a single off of the lef= tfield wall and steals second on a 2-1 pitch to Blum.  Blum flies out to center and Lee s= tays by second.  Loretta needs a di= nger to even out the runs allowed by his errors and whiffs.  Towles whiffs for the third time a= gainst Lincecum, who has whiffed nine today.

SFBBGiants Sixth:  Lewis grounds out to Loretta, Vizq= uel whiffs and Winn grounds out to Blum.  Sampson has his second 1-2-3 inning of the game.

Stros Seventh:  Everyone still has a chance to sco= re at least once with nine outs remaining!  Lefty Taschner retires Cruz on a deep fly ball to Rowand.  Bourn pops out to short.  Matsui, batting righty, lines a do= uble to leftfield.  Righty (and birthday-boy) Tyler Walker pitches to Pence with two down and Matsui on second.  Pence grounds out to Vizquel with Matsui watching from second.

SFBBGiants Seventh:  Borky pitching the seventh.  Rowand greets Borky with a grounde= r up the middle for a single.  Bowk= er lines into an unassisted DP at first.  Aurilla grounds out to short.

Stros Eighth:  SCORE!  Berky, batting lefty, grounds out = to second.  Lee homers into the umbrellas in the leftfield bleachers, his ninth.  Blum reaches on the strikeout ball= in the dirt.  Loretta singles Blu= m to second on a liner to center, bringing up Erstad, pinch-batting for Towles in the eighth-spot, as the tying run.  Erstad ties the game with a liner over the leftfield fence, WOW!  Ausmus, hitting for Borky, walks o= n a 3-2 pitch.  Lefty Hinshaw pitc= hes to Bourn, who whiffs on a 3-2 count, giving Hinshaw his first MLB whiff.  Matsui singles Ausmus to second on= a soft-liner to left, chasing the rookie pitcher in favor of righty Vinnie Ch= ulk to face Pence.  Chulk chunks a steady stream of breaking pitches and retires Pence on a foul-pop to first = on a play into the stands by Bowker.

SFBBGiants Eighth:  Geary pitching.  Holm pops out to Pence.  Durham grounds a single to right and Castillo bats for the pitcher.  Burriss is caught stealing except Castillo walks on strike three.  Two on with an out as Coop goes to the pen for Byrdak to face Lewis.  Molina bats for Lewis and flies ou= t to Pence with the runners holding.  Vizquel  also flies out= to Pence, ending the inning.

Stros Ninth:  WINTIME!  Berky dinger to lead off the innin= g is still floating in the cove; Jastro felt a drop from the cool splash all the= way in JASTROWORLD!  Lee singles to center on a liner.  Blum flies= out to right.  Loretta (where̵= 7;s Tejada?) singles on a soft-liner to center and Lee takes second.  Chulk chunking to Tejada, pinch-ba= tting for the eighth-spot, flies out to Ortmeier in right.  Ausmus whiffs on three pitches as = Lee and Loretta watch from second base.

SFBBGiants Ninth:  Valverde pitching to Winn and Winn grounds out to Berky with Valverde covering first.  Rowand whiffs on a foul-tip.  The SFBBGiants’ last hope in= this game, Bowker, whiffs on a foul-tip-3-2-pitch.

Thanks for checking in and please check b= ack for more.

<CAR>

5-15-08 Pre-Game:  Sampson (2-3, 6.27 ERA) vs. RHP Tim Lincecum (5-1, 1.61 ERA) @ 2:45 = CDT

The Astros (23-18) go for the win of the = four game series (2-1) against the Giants (17-24) today in San Francisco.  The ‘Stros, with a win today= , will assure a winning road trip before they step foot in A= rlington to complete the trip with a three-game inter-league match-up with the Dallas Rangers.

First things first and the ‘Stros w= ill contend with the Giants’ ace in this afternoon’s game on getaway-day.  The ‘Stros= will also be contending with temperatures in the mid-90’s, albeit a dry he= at, during the game.  No doubt Coo= p will play the Bench team today, this being a day game after a night game on geta= way day and all, and Jastro is confident that even with the B-team LincecumR= 17;s terrific ERA will rise like the temperatures.  Lincecum, before today, has only t= hrown three dinger-balls in over 50 innings of work.  He also bats left-handed, irreleva= ntly.

[Speaking of irrelevance, what’s go= ing on with Dusty Baker?  First hi= s team bats out of order, and yesterday Arroyo got the start on three days of rest= ; in the middle of a pennant-race in May!]

The Giants have the definite advantage on= the mound today and the advantage will further favor the home team as Coop rest= s players like Tejada.  To beat the Gian= ts today the ‘Stros must score runs early and often to give Sampson a cushion on the mound.  Jastro pencils the starting line-up for this today’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, 3B Blum, C Towles, P Sampson and Bourn batting ninth and playing centerfield.  Of cours= e, Coop will turn in his line-up card prior to the game, probably with the mig= hty Loretta playing short and batting third.&n= bsp;

For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro expects Berky to connect in the third inning—a slam--before back-to-b= ack jacks by Blum and Towles in the sixth inning.  Let’s keep winning with a convincing win on getaway-day, GO ASTROS!

Jastro will post the play-by-play for today’s game so thanks for checking in and please check back for more= .

5-14-08 Post-Game:  Berky and Pence keep ‘Stros Streaking

This game is what Jastro’s talking about, another team effort!  Lifeless loss last night followed by scoring action tonight.  Jastro is partying tonight, again.=

Jastro’s GAS-X stunk-it-up play of = the game honors go to Michael Bourn (0-4, Sac) for the {ruled} sacrifice in the seventh that moved Cruz to second before Cruz scored the winning run on Tejada’s hit (way before Ausmus’s 2-run dinger).

Thanks for checking in and please check b= ack for more.

5-14-08 ‘Stros Win 6-3:=   Jastro’s Play-by-Play

Stros First:  Bourn grounds out to short on a 0-1 count.  Matsui, batting righty= , lines a 1-1 offering up the middle for a single and steals second on the first pi= tch to Tejada.  Tejada plates Mats= ui with a hard liner to center.  = Berky, batting righty, homers to left-center and its 3-0 ‘Stros!  Lee whiffs and Pence flies out to = Winn in right-center.

SFBBGiants First:  Lewis pops out to shallow left on a decent play by Loretta, Durham= grounds out and Winn flies out to Bourn.

Stros Second:  Loretta lines a single to left and watches from first as Ausmus flies out to right, Moehler whiffs after faili= ng on three bunt attempts and Bourn lines out to first on the first pitch. 

SFBBGiants Second:  Four straight batters reach on a L= ewis single, a 2-run dinger by Rowand, and singles by Bowker and Castillo; two r= uns scoring on the dinger.  Burriss beats out the 6-4-3 force-out on Castillo as Bowker takes third.  Misch executes the safety-squeeze = with Bowker scoring on the 1-2 passed ball by Ausmus, ruled a RBI sacrifice hit = with Burriss moving to third, E1 on the throw.&= nbsp; With runners at the corners, Lewis whiffs and = Durham grounds out to end the inning.

Stros Third:  Misch whisks thru Matsui, Tejada a= nd Berky on a called third strike and two nice plays by Castillo on grounders = to third.

SFBBGiants Third:  Winn flies out to lee, Molina adds= to his single with a double to left and Rowand moves Molina to third on a grou= nder up the middle.  Bowker pops out weakly to center and Castillo whiffs as the runners on the corners stood and stared.

Stros Fourth:  Its time to play baseball!  Lee singles on a soft liner and Pe= nce moves Lee all the way to second on a grounder to left.  Loretta pushes Lee to third on a f= lyout to right.  Ausmus whiffs as Pe= nce swipes second and Moehler, after a 3-2 count, watches strike three, leaving= Lee and Pence in scoring position.

SFBBGiants Fourth:  Burriss grounds out to Matsui, Mis= ch grounds out to Loretta and Lewis grounds out Berky to Moehler, on Moehler’s fifth pitch to end the inning.

Stros Fifth:  Here we go!  Bourn’s average dips to .188= on a groundout to second.  Matsui g= rounds out to short.  Tejada lines a = single to center and watches Berky just miss a pitch as he pops out to really shal= low left.  Mark Jastro’s wor= ds, next inning!

SFBBGiants Fifth:  Durham, the bull, singles to left and is tagged out at second.  Winn doubles to left (ha-ha-ha) and Molina moves Winn to third on a deep flyout to Pence.  Rowand flies out to Bourn in deep centerfield.

Stros Sixth:  Can you feel it now?  Lee fouls out on a nice play by Wi= nn in foul territory.  Misch plunks = Pence in the toe on a 0-2 count.  Lo= retta pops out, foul, to Bowker.  Au= smus whiffs on a 1-2 count with Pence beating a silly throw to second.

SFBBGiants Sixth:  Byrdak pitching because Moehler did Coop’s five innings.  Bo= wker grounds out to Berky.  Castill= o doubles past a diving Lee (nobody in his way, but they tape-up Lee’s left wri= st) and Burriss bunts him to third on a grounder to Berky, ruled sacrifice (?).  After the announcement of pinch-batter Ortmeier, Villarreal relieves Byrdak.  Ortmeier grounds out to Loretta.

Stros Seventh:   Lefty Jack Taschner throws to Cruz, batting for Villarreal, and they work the count full.  Cruz walks to first again.  Bourn takes a ball that struck and sacrifices Cruz to second as Taschner tags Bourn out.  Matsui pops out in foul territory = to Bowker and Taschner is relieved by RHP Billy Sadler.  Tejada, always swinging, drives in= Cruz with a hard liner to center.  = Berky is walked, as a lefty, and Lee pops out to second (really high, tho) to end= the inning.

SFBBGiants Seventh:  Wright foils a couple of bunt atte= mpts by Lewis and retires him on a grounder to short.  Durham walks with Geary warming up in the pen (without glasses--?)  Winn flies out to Bourn and Geary = comes on to pitch to Molina.  Molina= sends Durham = to third on an error by Matsui on a grounder.  No harm as Rowand grounds out to Matsui.

‘Stros Eighth:  Pence promptly singles to left, Lo= retta whiffs on a called strike three.  Ausmus scores Pence on his first dinger of the year.  ‘Stros 6-3 and pinch-batter = Blum singles on a liner to center and watches as Bourn is called out on strikes.  Matsui walks, bringi= ng in RHP Vinnie Chulk, and Tejada grounds into the 6-4 force. 

SFBBGiants Eighth:  Bowker greets Brocail (being the e= ighth inning and all) with a single and Castillo whiffs and Velez bats for Burriss.  Velez grounds into t= he 6-4 fielders’ choice and Aurilla, pinch-batting, pops out to Lee.

Stros Ninth:  We could use a run.  Righty Yabu gets Berky, batting le= fty, on a grounder to first.  Lee g= rounds out to third and Pence whiffs.

SFBBGiants Ninth:  Valverde, with Erstad in left, ret= ires Lewis on a grounder to Berky/Valverde.&nbs= p; Durham doubles off of the rightfield wall.  Winn grounds out to Loretta and Molina flies out to Pence to end the game. 

<CAR>

5-14-08 Pre-Game:  Moehler (1-0, 4.26 ERA) vs. LHP Pat Misch (0-0, 5.63 ERA) @ 9:15 CDT=

The Astros (22-18) go for win number two = in the four game series (1-1) against the Giants (17-23) tonight in San Francisco.  The ‘Stros must win tonight = to have a chance of winning this series.

The ‘Stros must also start another winning streak tonight and will need to score more runs than the two they plated in last night’s loss.  The ‘Stros collected seven hits (including a solo-dinger and t= wo doubles) and walked four times but stranded nine runners on base in the loss last ni= ght.

Jastro thinks the ‘Stros have the advantage on the mound tonight with the experience factor.  To beat the Giants tonight the ‘Stros must score runs early and often.  Jastro pencils the starting line-u= p for this tonight’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, 3B Wiggy, C Towl= es, P Moehler and Bourn batting ninth and playing centerfield.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game.  =

For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro expects Berky to connect in the third inning—a slam--before back-to-b= ack jacks by Wiggy and Towles in the sixth inning.  Let’s start winning again wi= th a convincing win tonight, GO ASTROS!

Thanks for checking in and please check b= ack for more.

5-13-08:  GAME OVER:  GIANTS Win 4-2

Jastro believes the ‘Stros will win games by scoring runs and will not win any 2-run games in the regular season (unless Wandy’s pitching), so he’s sulking.  Thanks for checking in and please = check back for more.

5-13-08 Pre-Game:  Backe (2-4, 4.64 ERA) vs. RHP Matt Cain (1-3, 4.50 ERA) @ 9:15 CDT

The Astros (22-17) go for win number two = in the four game series against the Giants (16-23) tonight in San Francisco.  The ‘Stros are the hottest t= eam in MLB and have 11 wins both at home and on the road, where they also have 11 losses and will still have 11 road losses after tonight’s game.<= /o:p>

Tonight’s pitching match-up favors = the home team on the mound and at the plate, but it is so close Jastro is certa= in it should not be a game factor.  = Jastro thinks that the ‘Stros will get to any pitcher in MLB by the third ti= me thru the line-up.  Both pitche= rs have four hits in their eight starts this season with a double and a dinger, but Cain has two RBI, two walks and six whiffs to Backe’s lone RBI, no walks and four whiffs.   =

Jastro thinks the ‘Stros must just = come out scoring early and often to beat these Giants every game of this series starting again tonight.  Jastro pencils the starting line-up for this tonight’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, 3B Wiggy [Ooopps, sore ribs from that bean-ball last night; Blum at third, batting seventh and the lead dinger in the back-to-back jack= s], C Towles, P Backe and Bourn batting ninth and playing centerfield.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game.  =

For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro expects Berky to connect in the fifth inning, after back-to-back jacks by W= iggy and Towles in the fourth inning and Matsui and Tejada in the first inning.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  Let’s keep winning with a se= ries sweep of the Giants, starting with a win tonight to make it five in a row a= gain for those streaking ‘Stros; GO ASTROS!

5-12-08:  ASTROS = WIN AGAIN, 7-3

Roy pitches to 29 batters over eight stro= ng innings, surrendering 3 runs on 5 hits—lead-off grounder to left by L= ewis in the first, lead-off bunt-hit to Wiggy by Burriss in the third that score= d on Lewis’ double to left, RBI [ruled] double to center by Vizquel that C= ruz went horizontal barely missing and a one-out dinger to right by Bowker--retiring the last 14 not-so-Giants he faced.  Roy whiffs three of his strikeout victims, records 12 groundouts (including a sacrifice bunt by mound-mate Zi= to) and six fly balls that were all well-struck.   Roy wastes four plate appear= ances with runners on base each time, going 0-4; leaving runners on first and thi= rd in the seventh when he was called out on strikes and a runner on third with= two outs in the eighth when he grounded to third.

Berky keeps on hitting, righty or lefty.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  He brought wood to the plate four = times, lining a single to center leading off the second, whiffing on a called stri= ke in the fourth inning after Tejada was caught stealing, homering in the sixth with Loretta on first to tie the score at three and doubling as a lefty aga= inst Valdez in the eighth; and he scored twice.

The ‘Stros had trouble with Zito through five innings--18 batters—and jumped on him when Pence started= the sixth inning with a single, took third on Loretta’s single and scored= on Tejada’s sacrifice fly to right.&nbs= p; That’s when Berky parked one in the cheap-seats to tie the sco= re.

That pretty much shook the Giants.  Please read Jastro’s play-by= -play below for further detail of this win.  Thanks for checking in and please check back for more.

Play-by-Play, according to Jastro

FIRST:&n= bsp; Pence flies out to center on a 2-2 count.  Loretta grounds out to Zito on a 1= -2 count.  Tejada grounds out to = short on the first pitch.  Zito show= ed all of his pitches and looks very much in command of them.

Lewis grounds an excuse me single to left= on the eighth pitch.  With Lewis running, Vizquel grounds out to short, Lewis takes second.  Winn whiffs on a 1-2 curve.  Molina strands Lewis with a ground= out to Wiggy.

SECOND:&= nbsp; Berky, batting righty, lines a single to center.  Lee grounds into a 6-4-3 DP.  Wiggy lines a single to left.  Cruz, a Frisco favorite, grounds i= nto a force-out, third to second.

Rowand is robbed of a double by Berky on a groundout to first.  Bowker gr= ounds out to short.  Aurilla lines o= ut to Lee.

THIRD:&n= bsp; Ausmus, fouls off three 3-2 pitches, and collects his 1500 hit as he singles on a grounder to left.  Oswalt fouls two bunt attempts and bunts into a 3-6 force-out (Boo, = is Berry allowed to= work with the hurlers?).  Pence, on= a 3-2 count, flies out to leftfield.  Loretta, on another full-count, pops out to Burriss at second—stranding Roy.  The ‘Stros will get to Zito = in the fourth inning!

Burriss bunts a hard grounder to Wiggy, w= ho bear-hands the ball and misses; ruled a hit (probably an error had Lewis not hit a clean single in the first).  Zito moves Burriss to second on a well-executed sacrifice bunt.  Lewis doubles Burriss in on a line= -drive double to left.  Vizquel doubl= es on a liner to center that gets by a diving Cruz, scoring Lewis.  Winn grounds out to Oswalt, moving Vizquel to third.  Molina flie= s out to Cruz in center.

FOURTH:&= nbsp; Tejada grounds a single to left, but is caught stealing on a 3-1 str= ike to Berky, who is called out on the next strike.  Lee grounds out to short.  Terrible, Berky actually swung at = ball four as Tejada was running, as though to protect the runner—forgiven, because the ‘Stros are going to pound Zito soon!

Rowand grounds out to Wiggy on a full-count.  Bowker homers to right.  Aurilla grounds out to short.  Burriss grounds out to Wiggy.

FIFTH:&n= bsp; Wiggy grounds out to first on the first Zito offering.  Cruz walks on a 3-1 count, the fir= st walk by Zito.  Ausmus lines ou= t to Lewis on a well-played sinking liner.  Oswalt flies out to right, stranding Cruz.  The third time thru the ‘Stros’ order is killer!

Zito, on a 3-2 pitch, grounds out to short.  Lewis grounds out to s= hort as Berky digs out the throw.  Vizquel lines out to Cruz.  Roy has one whiff= in 20 batters faced.

SIXTH:&n= bsp; Pence lines a single to left, here we go!  Loretta moves Pence to third on a grounder to left.  Runners on = the corners for Tejada, who scores Pence on a sacrifice fly to right.  The Giants’ bullpen gets bus= y as Berky deposits a 3-1 count into the first row of the cheap seats in left-ce= nter on a rope, 3-3 score.  Lee whiffs.  Wiggy flies out to Wi= nn on Zito’s 103rd pitch.

Winn whiffs, the second for him and Roy.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  Molina lines out to Pence.  Rowand grounds out to Wiggy.<= /o:p>

SEVENTH:=   RHP Vinnie Chulk pitches to Cruz, hitting lefty, and Cruz greets him with a grounder to right.  Aus= mus singles on a hit-and-run liner to right as Cruz moves to third.  Runners on the corners and Roy is swinging a= way on the first pitch, fouling.  Aft= er a foul-bunt, Roy is called out on strikes.  Wha= t s going on with Roy at e plate?  Pence plates Cruz= on a sacrifice fly caught in foul territory in right that Winn maybe should have= let fall.  Loretta flies out to ri= ght.

Bowker whiffs on a back-door breaking ball called a strike.  Aurilla lies= out to Cruz for the tenth straight batter retired by Roy.&n= bsp; Burriss whiffs, strikeout number four for Roy with two this inning.

EIGHTH:&= nbsp; RHP Valdez pitches as Tejada grounds out to short.  Berky, batting lefty, doubles down= the rightfield line and is a triple shy of the cycle.  Lee is intentionally walked.  Wiggy is plunked in the ribs to lo= ad the bases for Cruz with one out.  = Cruz, still batting lefty, plates Berky on a sharp liner to left.  Double switch time as Yabu comes i= n to pitch, batting eighth and Velez comes in to play second, batting ninth.  With the bases juiced, Yabu throws= a pick-off attempt into rightfield, scoring the speedy runners Lee and Wiggy,= and Cruz settles for third.  Ausmu= s is called out on strikes and Roy<= /st1:City> grounds out to third to end the three-run eighth for the ‘Stros. 

Cruz moves to left and Bourn comes in the game playing center—smart move Coop!=   Velez whiffs on a called strike.&nb= sp; Lewis flies out to Bourn in deep right-center.  Vizquel watches strike-three for <= st1:place w:st=3D"on">Roy’s sixth = whiff of the game and fourth in the last six batters and the 14th consecu= tive Giant retired; since Bowker’s dinger in the fourth inning.

NINTH:&n= bsp; Pence, on a 3-2 count, beats out an infield-hit to short for the ‘Stros twelfth hit—all singles except Berky’s double and dinger.  Loretta grounds into = the 5-4-3 DP and Tejada whiffs.

Geary pitches the ninth and Winn greets h= im with a lined single to right.  Molina moves Winn to second on a groundout to third.  Rowand flies out to Pence and Bowk= er walks on a full-count.  Geary is rel= ieved by Valverde in a save situation.  Aurilla surprises everyone with a bunt single to Wiggy, bringing the pinch-batter Durham= to the plate as the tying run.  Durham flies out t= o Cruz in left to end the game.

5-12-08 Pre-Game:  Oswalt (3-3, 5.33 ERA) vs. LHP Barry Zito (0-7, 6.95 ERA) @ 9:15 CDT

The Astros (21-17) begin a four game seri= es against the Giants (16-22) tonight in San Francisco.  The ‘Stros went 2-4 against the Giants last year—but the= se aren’t the same ‘Stros—and play them eight times during t= he regular season this year.  Jas= tro thinks 7-1 will suffice during the regular season in 2008 and believes this= is an obtainable goal.  The Giant= s were on a two-game winning streak, before tonight, and come into this game one g= ame over .500 at home.

Today’s pitching match-up has to fa= vor the ‘Stros, but you have to agree with the Giants that Zito will prob= ably return closer to historical form at some point.  The Giants, without Bonds, have on= ly hit 23 homers in 38 games this season.  <= /span>Roy has already surrendered 11 dingers in 49 innings pitched this season.  Prior to 2008, Roy has allowed 112 dingers in 1413 1/3 innings pitched; roughly a dinger every 12 ½ innings pitched. 

JASTROSTAT of the day:  Bourn has hit lead-off in 28 of the ‘Stros 38 games this season.  He hit safely six times (2 IF hits, 2 grounders up the middle, a lin= er to left and a grounder to right), walked twice and reached on an error.  He has scored five runs (both IF h= its, a grounder up the middle, walk and the reached on error).  He has whiffed seven times, four called.  In the last 12 games = in which Bourn has hit lead-off, he has no hits, no runs scored, two walks and three whiffs, two on called strikes.  Jastro is referring to the actual lead-off plate appearance in these numbers.  You do the math…….

Jastro thinks the ‘Stros must just = come out scoring early and often to beat these Giants every game of this series.  Jastro pencils the st= arting line-up for this tonight’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, 3B Wigginton, C Ausmus, P Oswalt and Bourn batting ninth a= nd playing centerfield.  Of cours= e, Coop will turn in his line-up card prior to the game. 

For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro expects Berkman to connect in the fourth and sixth innings and Ausmus will connect for his first dinger of the year in the fifth inning.  Let’s keep winning with a se= ries sweep of the Giants, starting with a win tonight; GO ASTROS!

5-11-08 Game Over:  ‘Stros Go Wild, Win 8-5

The Astros (21-17) sweep the Dodgers (19-= 18) in LA for the first time in sixteen years.=   Please read Jastro’s play-by-play while Jastro celebrates, and, Happy Mothers Day!

Pierre grounds out and Ethier singles to center.  On Kemp’s infield hit to sho= rt, Tejada errs on a throw to second that should never have been made, Pierre to third on= the error.  With Loney batting, Ke= mp is caught stealing the empty base resulting from Tejada’s error.  Loney smacks a two-run homer into = the rightfield bleachers.  Martin = grounds out to short.  Amazingly, Tejada’s error saved a run!

Second:&= nbsp; Berky flies out to deep center and Lee grounds out to third.  Pence walks on a full-count and wa= tches from first as Wiggy flies out to center on a 3-0 count. 

DeWitt singles to right and watches Young whiff.  Hu grounds into the 4-= 6-3 DP.

Third:&n= bsp; Towles grounds out to Hu, Chacon pops out to Loney and Bourn flies o= ut to left.  Jastro thinks the ‘Stros will get to Kuroda the next time around!

Kuroda grounds out to Towles, Pierre grou= nds out to Berky and Ethier singles to center again.  Kemp flies out to right, stranding Ethier.

Fourth:&= nbsp; Matsui flies out to right, Tejada is hit by a pitch and Berky beats = out the 6-4-3, reaching first on the fielders’ choice.  Lee strands Berky on a foul-pop to= third.  Scully is really repeating himself now…..and the ‘Stros are hitless….

Loney flies out to Lee on the first pitch.  Martin doubles to the right-center gap.  DeWitt flie= s out to left.  Tejada misses a foul= -pop by Young; Young pops another foul that Towles can’t field because Young’s back-swing smacks Towles on the right arm, and finally whiffs= on a 3-2 count—stranding Martin at second.

Fifth:&n= bsp; Pence whiffs and Wiggy and Towles fly out to left.  The ‘Stros are going to put a whooping on Kuroda the third time around!

Hu grou= nds out to second, Kuroda grounds out to short and Pierre reaches on a groundball hit to right.  Ethier whiffs, strandi= ng Pierre at first.<= o:p>

Sixth:&n= bsp; Chacon is called out on strikes, Bourn grounds out to first and Mats= ui takes a four pitch walk.  Mats= ui takes second on a passed-ball and Tejada whiffs after working the count full—he’s not liking his pink bat so far.

Kemp flies out to Bourn on the first pitc= h, Loney flies out to Lee and Martin walks on a 3-2 pitch.  Chacon picks off Martin to end the inning.

Seventh:=   <NO-HITTER-JINX> Berky whiffs, Lee flies out to center and Pen= ce spoils the no-no with a clean single to left.  Wiggy walks on four pitches, Pence= to second, and Blum comes to the plate for Towles.&nb= sp; After throwing ball-one to Blum, Kuroda is relieved by the lefty Joe Beimel, turning Blum to a righty.  After two more balls, Pence and Wiggy execute the double-steal.  Blum walks, loading the bases for Loretta, batting for Chacon.  Loretta drives in Pence and moves up Wiggy and Blum on an RBI walk; bases juiced for Bourn with two down and the Dodgers up 2-1.  Jastro pinch-hits for Bourn in this situation.  Bourn fouls off two pitches, takes two pitches (the second of which should have been called strike-three) and flies out to deep center, surprising Kemp for a brief mom= ent before catching up to the clank, stranding his teammates. 

Wright is greeted by a double to right by DeWitt and throws the ball wide to Matsui covering first after Young’s bunt.  DeWitt gets third on the sacrifice and scores on the error incorrectly ruled a missed catch by Matsui.  Hu is on first after walking, Young to second, and Geary comes in to pitch to Kent with Young on second and= Hu on first.  Geary is late throwing= to second for the force out on Kent’s grounder, Young to third and Kent on first with one out.  Pierre grounds int= o the 6-4-3 inning-ending DP.

Eighth:&= nbsp; Righty Jonathan Broxton pitches and Matsui singles, takes second on Tejada’s single and scores on Berky’s single; Tejada to second.  Lee singles in Tejada, Pence singles in Berky, steals second with Lee on third, and Wiggy whiffs f= or the first out.  Ausmus singles= up the middle, scoring Lee and Pence.  Pitching change, lefty Hung-Chih Kuo to face pinch-hitter Erstad, and Erstad doubles to right, sending Ausmus to third.  Bourn plates Ausmus on a sacrifice= fly to center and Matsui whiffs to end the six-run eighth.

Brocail is greeted by a double off of Ethier’s pink bat, but Ethier is stranded as Kemp whiffs, Loney pops = out and Martin grounds out.

Ninth:&n= bsp; Tejada singles with the pink bat, takes second on Brocail’s sacrifice bunt, takes third on Lee’s groundout and scores on Pence’s third straight hit—a double off of the leftfield wall.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  Wiggy grounds out.

DeWitt singles off of Brocail and moves to third on Young’s double.  DeWitt scores on Hu’s groundout and Young takes third.  Andruw Jones plates Young on a deep sacrifice fly to right-center that Bourn makes a fabulous catch on.  Pinch-hitter Sweeney singles, chas= ing Brocail for closer Valverde.  = On a 3-2 count, Valverde earns his eighth save as Ethier pops out to third.<CAR&g= t;

5-11-08 Pre-Game:  Chacon (0-0, 3.60 ERA) vs. RHP Hiroki Kuroda (1-2, 3.95 ERA) @ 3:10 = CDT

First of all, Jastro would like to say “Happy Mothers Day” to all the Mommies out there!  Jastro is not a Mother but, as loyal visitors have probably gathered, Jastro has been called one a time or two.<= o:p>

Today’s game features an even pitch= ing match-up, so again Jastro believes that the story of the game will be the s= hade of the pink bats.  The Astros (20-17) are swinging the hot-pink bats while the Dodgers (19-17) bats are a funky-pink.  Kuroda has been w= orse at home, where he is 0-0 with a 5.87 ERA.&= nbsp; Of course, Chacon has walked twice as many batters as Kuroda in only four more innings pitched this season.&nbs= p;

Jastro thinks the ‘Stros must again come out scoring early and often to assure the series sweep because the Dod= gers will be much better when they come to Houston for four games just before the 4th of July.

Jastro pencils the starting line-up for t= his afternoon’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, 3B Wigginton, C Ausmus, P Chacon and Bourn batting ninth and playing centerfield.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game.  Jastro’s guess of Coop’s line-up card for this game, bei= ng a day-game after a night game on getaway day and all, would be as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, 1B Berkman, L= F Lee, 3B Blum, CF Cruz, SS Loretta, C Ausmus and Chacon batting ninth and pitchin= g.

For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s h= omer contest, Jastro expects Cruz to hit his first dinger as an Astro in the sec= ond inning and his second, batting right-handed this time, in the eighth inning; and Cruz will want to keep his pink bat.  Ausmus will connect for his first d= inger of the year in the fifth inning.

Jastro plans to post the details of this = game every inning or so; or at least scoring innings, but your guess is as good = as Jastro’s!  Thank you for checking in and please check back for Jastro’s recap of this game.  Let’s keep winning with a se= ries sweep of the Dodgers, starting with a win today; GO ASTROS!

5-10-08:  Astros Shut-out the Dodgers 5-0

The streaking ‘Stros are at it agai= n, this time whooping the Dodgers well for the second straight night.  Those Dodgers are a darn good team= and it will take much more offense by the ‘Stros to sweep them tomorrow.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  Sampson must not cut his hair or s= ee a model named Delilah, because he looks quite good; with a lead—ROAD WARRIOR.  Jastro really apprec= iates that you have checked in and promises that soon, you will never leave!  After a snooze, Jastro will re-up = the babble.  Pleasant dreams and don’t let the bed-bugs bite.

Before you get too comfortable, Jastro expects Pence to lead the streaking ‘Stros charge tomorrow, with Cruz= in center and Dartmouth behind the plate for Chacon’s first win of the season!

GAME OVER:  ‘Stros Win Shut-out Dodgers 5-0

Pence gets a rest after 2 games since the= off day, is he hurt?  Bourn ground= s out to first on a full-count pitch.  = Matsui singles to right and advances to second on Billingsley’s first wild-p= itch of the inning.  Tejada is hit = by a pitch and he and Matsui take another base on Billingsley’s second wild-pitch; necessitating an intentional walk to Berky.  Lee plates Matsui and Tejada takes= third on Lee’s sacrifice to center.  Erstad scores them both on a double to the right-center gap and Wiggy grounds out to end the inning.  3R 2H 2B 2HB IW LO2

Sampson retires the side in order with ten pitches on two liners and a grounder to end the first.

The ‘Stros hang a pair more in the second inning, even after recording outs at the plate (Tejada) and between second and third (Matsui).  To= wles reached on DeWitt’s throwing error and watches as Sampson whiffs on failed bunt attempts.  Bourn s= ingles sharply to center on the first pitch and Towles takes second.  Matsui draws a walk, loading the b= ases for Tejada.  Tejada plates Tow= les and Bourn on a single and Matsui is caught between second and third for the second out.  Berky doubles, but Tejada is pegged at the plate by a great relay from = Kent.  It is no wonder Sampson is not MLB caliber as a position player if he can’t advance a runner on a sacrif= ice bunt.  2R 4H 2B W E LO2 2BR-ou= ts

 Sampson issues a harmless two-out w= alk to Loney as Andruw Jones whiffs on three pitches to end the second inning.

<CAR>

5-10-08 Pre-Game:  Sampson (1-3, 7.96 ERA) vs. RHP Chad Billingsley (2-4, 4.54 ERA) @ 9= :10 CDT

The Astros (19-17) go for the series win tonight against the Dodgers (19-16), so they can complete the three-game sw= eep tomorrow afternoon before heading up the coast to San Francisco.  Unfortunately, Jastro will probabl= y view the game on Comcast’s Extra-I= nnings package, which will probably be the Prime-FSN-Ticket broadcast with Vin Scully broadcasting.&nb= sp; Jastro loves Scully and Milo, on the radio.

The key to this game will again be the hitting and fielding for the ‘Stros, and Sampson needs to make each Dodger-baserunner earn his way on base.&nb= sp; Jastro is somewhat surprised that Sampson will be pitching after an extra day of rest, since less than two weeks ago the words from the Astro organization indicated that Sampson was overthrowing because he had too much rest……..

Jastro pencils the starting line-up for tonight’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, 3B Wigginton, C Towles, P Sampson and Bourn batting ninth and playing centerfield.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game.  For a= trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, Jastro predicts that Wigginton will smash one= in the second inning, Towles will connect in the fourth inning and Tejada will start a back-to-backer with Berky in the sixth inning.

Jastro plans to post the details of tonight’s game every inning or so.&n= bsp; Thank you for checking in and please check back for Jastro’s r= ecap of this game.  Let’s keep winning with a series sweep of the Dodgers, starting with a win of the seco= nd game tonight; GO ASTROS!

5-9-08 Game Over:  ‘Stros Win 7-1; who’s not on first or batting, but Hu ba= ts eighth, playing short!

The following is Jastro’s recollect= ion of tonight’s game.

Bourn grounds out to Lowe after Lowe toss= ed ball-one.  Matsui whiffs on th= ree pitches and Tejada grounds out on the first pitch, Hu to first, for the out= .

Pierre walks after never swinging the bat on a 3-2 count, but Moehler whiffs Martin and Kemp on called strikeouts.  Kent flies out to Bourn, Pierre gets his glove at second base.<= /o:p>

Berkman doubles to the left-center wall a= nd Lee doubles Berky in on a grounder to the leftfield corner for a double.  Blum lines a single, sending Lee to third.  Pence grounds Lee home= on a ball Kent just couldn’t play anymore, for an error.  After two called strikes, Ausmus g= rounds into the 1-Hu-3 DP, Blum to third.  Moehler whiffs in his first at-bat of the season (?). 

Moehler retires Loney and Jones on grounders.  DeWitt grounds a h= it up the middle, but watches Hu whiff on a called strike, from first.=

‘Stros plate a pair more in the thi= rd as Bourn (just about when the Padres announced that they released Edmonds) reaches on an infield hit when Lowe is slow to first.  Bourn swipes second, luckily for h= im (16/16), and Matsui doubles Bourn home.&nb= sp; Tejada moves Matsui to third on a grounder to second.  Berky was the only player that kne= w He had walked and convinces the Blue, Matsui on third and Berky on first for L= ee, who scores Matsui on a shallow sacrifice fly to center with no throw; as the Jazz beat the Lakers in Utah.  Blum pops up a 0-2 count to center, no sacrifice and three outs.

Pence made a nice sliding catch to retire= Kent leading off the Dodger’s third inning.  Loney singles a tune and moves to = second on a single by DeWitt after Jones pops out.  On 0 & 2 to Chan-Ling-Hu, Hu g= rounds out to Tejada to end the threat.

Blue ruled the ‘Stros’ fourth, whiffing Pence and Moehler with an Ausmus groundout sandwiched.<= /span>

Lowe singles to start the Dodger’s = half of the fourth, moves to second on Pierre’s attempt for a bunt-hit—ruled a sacrifice—but the Dodgers leave Lowe when Moeh= ler retires Martin on a grounder and whiffs Kemp.

A two-out single by Tejada followed by Berky’s twelfth dinger of the year added two more runs for the ‘Stros in the fifth inning.  Lee ends the inning with a flyout.

Moehler whiffs Lowe and retires Pierre on a ground= er before Martin singles to left in the fifth.  Martin watches from first as Kemp Moehler’s throwing tuff threw five, stranding all five singles and the walk, with five whiffs (3 called)…..

Back to business, the ‘Stros scored again in the ninth inning when Matsui walked with one out, scored on Berky’s double.  Berky t= ook third on Tejada’s grounder to rightfield and they both got their mitts delivered after Proctor retired Lee and Blum.

Byrdak pitched the scoreless sixth and Ge= ary shut the Dodgers down in the seventh and eighth before Borkowski and the ‘Stros gave up a mercy-run to the Dodgers in the ninth after Jones doubled to start the inning.   That about covers the game, ‘Stros whooped the Dodgers well!  <CAR>

5-9-08 Pre-Game:  Moehler (0-0, 7.04 ERA) vs. RHP Derek Lowe (2-2, 3.42 ERA) @ 9:40 CD= T

The Astros (18-17) begin the 10-game road trip tonight with the first of three games against the Dodgers (19-15).  Both teams have lost their last ga= mes and have equal home records of 11-6, but the dodgers had a day off yesterday and the ‘Stros are playing in their ballpark.  The ‘Stros went 4-3 against = the Dodgers last season and will play them seven times again in the 2008 regular season.  Jastro thinks Joe Tor= re looks funny in Dodger Blue and the ‘Stros should greet Torre’s return to the NL by going 5-2 during the regular season this year.

This should be the toughest opponent on t= his road trip and the ‘Stros would like to improve on their lousy road-re= cord (7-11).  The key to beating th= ese Dodgers will simply be to out-slug them, which the ‘Stros are doing coming into this game.  The Do= dgers have played one fewer game this season but have 23 more hits, but the ‘Stros have 20 more extra-base hits.

Brian Moehler gets his first MLB start in over a season so Jastro will have Ausmus do the receiving tonight.  Moehler, Sampson and Chacon just n= eed to keep the ‘Stros in these games and allow the hitters and fielders to = win.  Derek Lowe is 2-0 at Dodger Stadiu= m this season with a 1.89 ERA.  Before tonight, Lowe had surrendered three dingers.  In his last four games he has not pitched more than five innings and his ERA has jumped a full run.  Look for the ‘Stros to conti= nue driving Lowe’s ERA upward!

Jastro pencils the starting line-up for tonight’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, 3B Wigginton, C Ausmus, P Moehler and Bourn batting ninth and playing centerfield.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game.  For a= trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, Jastro predicts that Wigginton will smash one= in the second inning, Towles will connect in the fourth inning and Tejada will start a back-to-backer with Berky in the sixth inning.

Jastro plans to post the details of tonight’s game every inning or so.&n= bsp; Thank you for checking in and please check back for Jastro’s r= ecap of this game.  Let’s sta= rt winning again with a series sweep of the Dodgers, starting with a win tonig= ht; GO ASTROS!

5-8-08:  Game Over:  Nats Win 8-3; Disappoin= ting to Settle for 5-1 on Homestand

Jastro is not happy about this game, but hopes fans attending at least found parking for $5 or less, and Backe deser= ved the loss:  Surely he didn̵= 7;t think that the ‘Stros would react in his favor to the lead-off walk/r= un in the first inning?  Striking= out all of the batters is about as good as homering on every pitch—and neither will ever happen in MLB.  If Backe was on SURVIVOR, he would take over the dumbest-player-of-Survivor ho= nors from Erik; who won it tonight.

It is time to put the kiddies to bed, Jas= tro is giving you a moment; but, is “Tommy-John” surgery—so prevalent today—performance enhancing?  The player of the game is not a Na= t; Backe had the biggest influence in the outcome.

Jastro loves Bourn in centerfield, but the ‘Stros really can’t afford to bat him five times a game. 

The following is the play-by-play of tonight’s loss, according to Jastro…..

A four-pitch walk to lead-off batter Harr= is results in a run for the Nats in the top of the first.  Harris was erased at second on a g= round ball by Guzman and Guzman beats the throw to first, scoring on a first pitch double to right by Johnson after Zimmerman whiffs.  Johnson is stranded at second when= Kearns flies out to center.

Lannan was dumber than Backe because he walked Bourn, also on four pitches.  Bourn swipes second as Matsui whiffed on a full-count.  Tejada flies out to center, also o= n a full-count.  Berky grounds out= to first, stranding Bourn at second.  Wipe your brow, Lannan.

Backe retires Belliard on a fly ball to Pence, but Mackowiak singles on a soft-liner to center.  Bourn bobbled the ball and recover= ed nicely, which was important because Nieves grounded into the 6-4-3 DP to end the top of the second.

The ‘Stros wasted a two-out double = to left-center by Wigginton, stranding him there for the second Astro to be le= ft on second in as many innings. 

The Nats connect for their sixth dinger of the season when Harris parks one in the rightfield seats after Backe retired his counterpart on a called strike three.&= nbsp; Backe’s curve is working as he whiffs Guzman and Zimmerman (again), but; the Nats are swinging over-aggressively.  Do you think its Hilton’s homer-time?

Lannan has a 1-2-3 inning on seven pitche= s, with no whiffs. 

Backe whiffs the side again, but walks Johnson to start the fourth.  Johnson watched the whiffs from first.  Tejada, Berky and Lee = are due up, is it homer-time? 

Tejada singles on a grounder to left, mov= es to second on Berky’s infield-hit to Zimmerman at third, and both runn= ers advance on a fly-ball out on Tal’s Hill by Lee.  Pence gets an infield hit RBI as T= ejada scores and Pence beats the throw by Guzman, who spent a tad-bit too much ti= me looking Berky back to second.  Wigginton flies out and Towles grounds out, stranding Berky and Pence. 

Backe whiffs Nieves, Lannan grounds out a= nd Backe records his personal career-best ninth whiff by retiring Harris for t= he first time tonight!  Is it Homer-Time, with Backe leading off?

Backe singles on a grounder up the middle, Bourn whiffs, Matsui sends Backe to second on a groundout and Backe watches from second as Tejada grounds out to the mound. 

Guzman takes a few pitches and grounds a = ball thru the right side of the infield on a 3-1 count.  Zimmerman sends Guzman to third on= a line-drive to Bourn.  Byrdak s= tarts to warm-up in the bullpen as Johnson—showing patience at the plate—walks on another full-count.&n= bsp; Get the hook, DR 2 MD; bases Natty.=   Kearns lines a two-run single to center, Johnson to second base.  No hook and Belliard batting with Nats on 1 & 2.  Belliard sends a deep ball into Lee’s glove, as does Mackowiak.  Nieves grounds into the 6-4 force out.  Wow, is it homer-time yet? 

Berky grounds a single thru the hole to l= eft and takes second on Lee’s liner to left.  Pence watches a meeting on the mou= nd and grounds hardly, on a full-count pitch, into the shortstop unassisted to fir= st DP, Berky to third.  Wiggy str= ands Berky with a grounder to short. 

Byrdak comes in and Boone, the pinch-batt= er for Lannan, doubles on a hard-hit ball to left.  Harris pops out to Tejada and Guzm= an lines into a life-saving 1-4 DP.  Jastro is certain its homer-time now! 

Righty Saul Rivera comes out to pitch the bottom of the seventh and retires Towles on a pop-out, pinch-batter Erstad = flies out to left, Bourn finds the hole on the right and steals second, but is stranded on Matsui’s grounder to Rivera. 

Villarreal takes the mound and Zimmerman singles to center and takes second on Bourn’s second error of the yea= r on a wild throw to second.  Johns= on moves Zimmer to third on a grounder to second and Zimmer scores on a full-count/PB walk to Ke= arns.  Belliard whiffs and Mackowiak depo= sits a 3-1 pitch into the Crawford boxes (Villarreal’s ninth allowed).  Nieves singles on a grounder to ri= ght and moves to second on a walk to pinch-batter Pena.  Harris whiffs, but Villarreal can’t be too happy allowing three runs this inning.  The ‘Stros have six outs to collect six more runs, Jastro’s ready! 

Righty Ayala is greeted with an infield single by Tejada to short.  Be= rky, even though he can’t possibly hit a six-run dinger, is walked after a full-count; Tejada takes second.  Lee scores Tejada on a grounder to left that Mackowiak should have pegged Tejada at the plate, were it not for the cut-off.  Pence blisters a highlight play, Belliard to Guzman for the force-out., Berky to third.  Berky scores on another fielder= 217;s choice groundout and Cruz, pinch-batting for Towles, whiffs on a called str= ike.  Two runs better than none! 

Wesley Wright pitches the ninth, batting = in Towles’ spot, and Ausmus catches, batting ninth.  Guzman grounds a single off of Tej= ada, ruled a hit, ran to third on a single by Zimmerman (3-5, 2K, 2RS), and scor= es on the 6-4-3 DP by Johnson.  <= st1:place w:st=3D"on">Kearns flew out to Pence to retire the Nats in the ninth. 

Righty Jon Rauch retires Ausmus on a grounder, whiffs Bourn and induces the game-ending pop-out by Matsui.  Jastro’s not feeling the warm-fuzzies just now, so thanks for checking in and please check-back soon= !  <CAR>

5-8-08:  Pre-Game= LHP John Lannan (2-3, 3.74 ERA) vs. Backe (2-3, 4.42 ERA) @ 7:05 CDT=

The Astros (18-16) host the final game of= a three-game series with the Nationals (14-20) en route to the sweep.  The ’Stros have won five gam= es in a row and will put a seven-game home winning streak on the line tonight.

Lannan has pitched well for the Nats and = is coming to play after his worst outing of the season last Friday when he pit= ched only three innings while giving up six hits, two walks, five earned runs and recording zero whiffs in the loss.  Backe continues to issue free-passes to opposing batters and has been fortunate to have good fielders behind him and good hitters in front.<= /o:p>

With the ‘Stros leaving for Los Angeles after = the game tonight, the ‘Stros need to jump on the Nats early and often and win = this game for the streak and the home-crowd; and avoid extra-inning heroics.  Jastro pencils the starting line-u= p for tonight’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, 3B Wigginton, C Towles, P Backe and Bourn batting ninth and playing closest to the flagpole on Tal’s Hill.  Of course, = Coop will turn in his line-up card prior to the game.  For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro predicts that Wigginton will smash one in the second inning, Towles will connect in the fourth inning and Tejada will start a back-to-backer with Be= rky in the sixth inning.

Thank you for checking in and please check back for Jastro’s recap of this game.  Let’s keep winning with a se= ries sweep of the Nats, starting with another win tonight, GO ASTROS!

5-7-08:  Astros W= in Again, 4-3 in Ninth

Roy recorded six whiffs in the first two innings and allowed a one-out grounder to Lee by Guzman followed by a two-r= un opposite field dinger by Zimmerman in the first inning before Johnson and Milledge were called out on strikes.  The ‘Stros got rolling with a one-out walk to Matsui, who took third on a two-out single by Berky.  Lee whiffed, stranding those ‘Stros.  Wiggy walked with one down in the second, but was stranded.  The ‘Stros go down in order in the third.

Roy whiffs his mound-mate, making seven straight outs recorded at the pla= te, before Lopez doubles to right-center and takes third on a flyout to Bourn by Guzman.  Zimmerman whiffs at a= 0-2 curveball to end the threat.  = Johnson led off the fourth with full-count walk, takes second on a sacrifice bunt a= nd moves to third on a groundout to Berkman by Kearns.  Kearns was stranded when La Duca grounded out to first as well.<= /h1>

Berky smashes a homer to the tracks leadi= ng off the ‘Stros fourth and Lee grounds out to short.  Pence burns Zimmerman on a hard one-hopper and takes second when Wigginton is hit by Perez (?), even though Pence was running.  Perez gets= a gracious third strike call on a full-count to Ausmus; but, during the at-ba= t, Pence steals third and Wiggy swipes second on the next pitch.  That was important, because Roy drives them bo= th in on a single to center:  Bourn rea= ches on a ground ball E3, ruled a hit, and Oswalt takes second, but both are stranded when Matsui pops out to right, Stros winning 3-2.

After a 1-2-3 fifth, Zimmerman homers off= Roy to tie the gam= e in the sixth inning.  The excitement = is in the air, you just know the ‘Stros are going to win!  Pence earns a full-count walk and = takes second on Wiggy’s grounder to right.=   Pence and Wiggy advance on Ausmus’s sacrifice bunt to the new Nats’ pitcher, lefty O’Conner.=   Oswalt screws up a couple of squeeze attempts and lines out to O’Conner.  Bourn strands= the ‘Stros with a grounder to third.&nbs= p;

Pena doubles with two out in the seventh, including Roy’s ninth whiff of the game and watches as Oswalt walks pinch-hitter Boone.  Lopez lines a single to Bourn, who throws out Pena at the plate (after Wily Mo trips rounding third):  Score 3-3.   Matsui walks off of righty H= anrahan in the seventh and steals second before Lee grounds out to second and Berky= is intentionally walked.  Lee whi= ffs and Pence flies out to center to strand both ‘Stros.

Brocail comes on to pitch, being the eigh= th inning and all, and gives up a one-out single off of Tejada’s elongat= ed glove by Zimmerman.  After whi= ffing Johnson, Brocail retires Milledge on a grounder to Tejada. 

With the score 3-3 Wiggy led off the eigh= th with a groundout and Erstad followed suit, pinch-hitting for Ausmus.  Cruz walks and Bourn strands him at first with a whiff.

Valverde retires Kearns on a grounder to short, whiffs Nieve—catching for Hanrahan in the seventh—and Wily Mo= pops to Pence in shallow right to end the Nats’ ninth.

Matsui takes a four-pitch walk from Hanra= han and Tejada watches strike-two as Matsui swipes second.  Tejada whiffs and the Nats walk Be= rky to pitch to Lee.  Willie Harris t= akes the ninth-spot and plays center as righty Colome comes on to pitch, hitting eighth and pitching to El Caballo with runners on first and second and an out.  Lee whoops Milledge on a game-winner off Milledge’s glove in center, scoring Matsui.  Valverde gets the win and Hanrahan= the loss when the ‘Stros win 4-3 and are looking to sweep a series after sweeping a series!  <CAR>= ;

5-7-08:  Pre-Game= LHP Odalis Perez (0-3, 3.18 ERA) vs. Oswalt (3-3, 5.57 ERA) @ 7:05 CDT

The Astros (17-16) host the second game o= f a three-game series with the Nationals (14-19) en route to the sweep.  The ’Stros have won four gam= es in a row and have put together a six-game home winning streak that will be tes= ted by Perez tonight.

Perez has pitched well for the Nats and, = like Roy, will be making his eighth start of the season tonight.  Roy has pitched two and one-third innings more than Perez this season, but he h= as pitched to 29 more batters, given up 15 more hits, 13 more runs and 4 more dingers than Perez.  Like Roy, Perez has not faced the ‘Stros in the reg= ular season, but--fortunately for Roy--Roy won’t ha= ve to at all.

Perez did face the Grapefruit ‘Stro= s on March 20 when he pitched six strong innings and gave up two runs on four hi= ts while striking out six and offering no free-passes.  Tejada homered and Pence doubled o= ff of the leftfield wall in that game and Tejada recorded both RBI against Perez.  Perez got the no-decis= ion and the ‘Stros won the game with a two-run ninth inning. 

The ‘Stros need to jump on the Nats early and often and win this game for Roy and the home-crowd.  Jastro pe= ncils the starting line-up for tonight’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, 3B Wigginton, C Ausmus, P Oswalt and Bourn batting ninth a= nd playing closest to the flagpole on Tal’s Hill.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game.  For a= trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, Jastro predicts that Perez will lose a ball on the tracks off of Tejada’s bat in the first inning, Au= smus will park a Perez pitch into the Crawford boxes in the second inning and Pe= nce will go tracks in the seventh off of the Nats bullpen.

Thank you for checking in and please check back for Jastro’s recap of this game.  Let’s keep winning with a se= ries sweep of the Nats, starting with another win tonight, GO ASTROS!

5-6-08:  Home-Hap= py ‘Stros Win 6-5; Going for the Sweep

The Astros (17-16) whooped the Nationals (14-19) and Chacon records his seventh no-decision of the year.  Brocail gets the win even after gi= ving up a first-pitch dinger to Kearns in the eighth because the ’Stros ha= d an eighth of their own when Lee clanked a two-run double (triple?) to right.

Berkman had his first career—and fi= rst of this season—5-5 day, going 5-5 with two doubles, three singles, fo= ur runs scored and one RBI; and he was left second after the first of two stol= en bases.  Jastro wonders who sho= uld be the star of this game.

Another team effort and win……….&n= bsp;            = ;            &n= bsp;            = ;            &n= bsp;      

<CAR>  Thank you for checking in and plea= se check back for more on this game, this series and who knows what else, late= r.

5-6-08:  Pre-Game= RHP Shawn Hill (0-0, 3.50 ERA) vs. Chacon (0-0, 3.32 ERA) @ 7:05 CDT=

The Astros (16-16) open a three-game seri= es with the Nationals (14-18) after the Cinco de Mayo day off yesterday and be= fore the ‘Stros begin a ten-game road trip to LA, SF and back to Texas to = play the Rangers in Arlington.  The= Nats are hot right now, winning eight of their last ten, including three of four against the Pirates last weekend in Washington.  The ‘Stros went 2-5 against = the Nats last season and play six games against them in the 2008 regular season= , so 5-1 sounds good to Jastro.

The Nats are lousy on the road, where they have yet to win a series and have been swept in three-game series’ wi= th the Cards and the Mets.  Thank= s to last weekend, the Nats are 5-5 verses the NL Central so far this season.  The ‘Stros are riding a six = game home winning streak and look to make it nine games with a three-game sweep = of these Nats.   =

Jastro pencils the starting line-up for tonight’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, 3B Wigginton, C Towles, P Chacon and Bourn batting ninth and playing closest to the flagpole on Tal’s Hill.  Of course, = Coop will turn in his line-up card prior to the game.  For a trip with Paris in Hilton= 217;s homer contest, Jastro predicts that Hill—yet to surrender a dinger in three starts and 18 innings of work this season--will run into trouble in t= he first inning and give up a dinger to Matsui.  Berkman, Pence, Wiggy and Towles w= ill also hit homers in this game--in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings.  Yep, Wiggy and Towles will have back-to-back jacks to the delight of the home crowd.  For bonus points, Bill Brown will = tell listeners that Cinco de Mayo is San Jacinto Day.

Thank you for checking in and please check back for Jastro’s recap of this game.  Let’s keep winning with a se= ries sweep of the Nats, starting with a win tonight, GO ASTROS!

5-6-08:  Max Sche= rzer Pitched without Offense or Defense in 11-4 Loss

The story of this game was 45-year old Fi= lly lefty Jamie Moyer, who spread six hits and two runs over seven innings and struckout five Snakes.  Moyer = also singled and doubled off of Scherzer in the game.  Scherzer was in trouble early and = often, but pitched four innings and recorded the loss as the Filly’s scored = five runs (two earned) on seven hits, two walks, a hit batter (Bruntlett on a bu= nt attempt) and five strikeouts.

5-4-08:  Homers B= eat the Brew, Again, 8-6 in Twelfth

In the jungl= e,

The mighty j= ungle,

The Lion sle= eps tonight.

In the ballp= ark, called JuicyFruit, the Astros sweep today!

That’s all Jastro knows about that….just another walk-off in their first extra inning affair for the season.  Jastro knows what he = will be doing tomorrow, watching Max Scherzer pitch against the Fillies in the desert!

The Ast= ros (16-16) sweep the Brewers (16-15) with a win again this afternoon and look tough to beat at JuicyFruit.  A 2-run, walk-off homer by Pence in the twelfth inning extends the home winning-streak to six games as the ‘Stros win their third game in a row.  Out homer the Brew, that’s what Jastro says.  When Jastro’s happy, it is all good.  Even after watching this game to Bill Schroeder and Brian Anderson o= n FOX-WISCONSIN.

Was Sampson exceptionally slow today, or = was it just the announcers?

<CAR>  Thank you for checking in and plea= se check back for more on this game, this series and who knows what else, late= r.

5-4-08:  Pre-Game= RHP Ben Sheets (4-0, 1.64 ERA) vs. Sampson (1-3, 7.15 ERA) @ 1:05 CDT

The Astros (15-16) attack the Brewers (16= -14) again this afternoon and look to sweep this three-game series at JuicyFruit.  To sweep this ser= ies the ‘Stros must tattoo Ben Sheets and the Brew with a steady barrage = of dingers.  Jastro predicts that Sheets’ ERA will skyrocket and give Sampson breathing room on the mound.  After the win today, t= he ‘Stros will want to trade their day off tomorrow for another day!

Jastro pencils the starting line-up for today’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, 3B Wigginton, C Towles, P Sampson and Bourn batting ninth and playing closest to the flagpole on Tal&= #8217;s Hill.  Of course, Coop will tu= rn in his line-up card prior to the game.  For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, Jastro predicts Sheets will also run into trouble in the first inning and give up back-to-back-to-back-to-back jacks = by Tejada, Berkman, Lee and Pence.  Towles and Matsui will homer in the fourth and Wigginton will homer = in the sixth inning.

Thank you for checking in and please check back for Jastro’s recap of this game.  Let’s keep winning with a se= ries sweep of the Brew, GO ASTROS!

5-3-08:  Homer Ha= ppy ‘Stros Win 6-2; Going for the Sweep

The Astros (15-16) whooped the Brewers (16-14) with back-to-back homers by Backe and Bourn to lead-off the five-run fifth inning.

<CAR>  Thank you for checking in and plea= se check back for more on this game, this series and who knows what else, late= r.

5-3-08:  Pre-Game= LHP Manny Parra (1-1, 4.94 ERA) vs. Backe (1-3, 4.65 ERA) @ 6:05 CDT=

The Astros (14-16) attack the Brewers (16= -13) again tonight as they look to avenge that horrible 5-13 record against the = Brew last season.  Jastro is not gr= eedy and figures that 14-1 would be a good record against the Brew this season and t= he key to beating the Brew is simple— out homer them.<= /h1>

The ‘Stros will offer a better bunc= h of hitters in tonight’s game with Backe and Towles in the line-up.  Jastro pencils the starting line-u= p for tonight’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, 3B Wigginton, C Towles, P Backe and Bourn batting ninth and playing closest to the flagpole on Tal= 217;s Hill.  Of course, Coop will tu= rn in his line-up card prior to the game, and Cruz will probably start against the lefty in place of Bourn.  For = a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, Jastro predicts Parra will run = into trouble in the first inning and give up back-to-back jacks by Pence and Mat= sui, Towles and Backe will homer in the fourth and Wigginton will homer in the s= ixth inning.

Thank you for checking in and please check back for Jastro’s recap of this game.  Let’s keep winning with a se= ries sweep of the Brew, starting with a second win tonight, GO ASTROS!

5-2-08:  Homer Ha= ppy ‘Stros Win 7-4; Going for the Sweep

The Astros (14-16) whooped the Brew with back-to-back-to-back homers by Tejada, Berkman and Lee in the sixth inning tonight at Juicy-Fruit.  If yo= u are at all interested in Hilton’s homer contest, Jastro won a three-week subscription to the monthly rag, Vanity Fair; because Tejada and Berkman did hit back-to-back-jacks in the game.

Roy pitched six innings and the ‘Stros’ four-run sixth inning assured he was recorded a win to = even his record at 3-3 for the season.  The Brew scored first when Weeks led off the game with a grounder th= at earned Matsui both a fielding and throwing error, doubling Matsui’s e= rror total for the season, and Weeks takes second base.  Cameron whiffed, but Braun blasted= a two-run opposite field homer that gave the Brew a 2-0 lead.  Roy whiffed Fielder, walked Hart a= nd whiffed Hall on a called third strike to end the inning.<= /h1>

With two down in the second inning, Roy hit Kendall with a pitch as Kendall leaned out o= ver the strike zone (Kendall’s fifth of the year and 250th of = his career), and Kendall was the second Brew runner to be stranded on base.  With two-out in the third, Fielder doubled and Roy walked Hart and Hall to load the bases for Hardy, who popped out; stranding= three more baserunners.   Roy r= etired the Brew in order in the fourth, with a couple of smooth fielding plays by Wigginton at third.

Roy ran into trouble in the fifth inning when Cameron led off with a dinger.  Braun popped out and Fielder single down the left-field line (his second hit to left in the game).  Hart singled to left a= nd took second when Lee threw behind Fielder, who took third on the play.  Roy intentionally walked Hall and Hardy plated Fielder with a softly grounded infield hit to short.  Roy again stranded three baserunners when he struck = out Villanueva and Kendall grounded-out on a= nother smooth play by Wigginton.  Roy retired the Brew in order in the sixth, whiffing two more.  6IP, 4R, 3ER, 6H (2 homers and a double), 4W, HB, 6K and win number three.

Villanueva retired the first 11 Astros he faced, four by strikeout, until Tejada touched him for a single with two-ou= t in the fourth.  Villanueva was gr= eeted by a Lee double to start the bottom of the fifth inning and Pence homered L= ee home.  Wigginton grounded a si= ngle up the middle and took second on Oswalt’s one-out single.  Bourn grounded into the 4-6-3 double-play to end the threat; Brew 4-2.&n= bsp; Matsui greeted Villanueva with an infield hit in the sixth, before t= he back-to-back-to-back jacks that made a winner out of Oswalt.  Pence added his second homer of th= e game in the eighth off of Riske.

<CAR>  Thank you for checking in and plea= se check back for more on this game, this series and who knows what else, late= r.

5-2-08:  Pre-Game= RHP Carlos Villanueva (1-2, 4.66 ERA) vs. Oswalt (2-3, 5.75 ERA) @ 7:05 CDT

The Astros (13-16) begin a six-game homes= tand when they host the Brewers (16-12) for a three-game weekend series, beginni= ng tonight.  The Brewers come to = Houston after winning two of a three-game series in = Chicago, beating K= erri Wood after a ninth-inning rally yesterday.=   The ‘Stros were horrible against the Brew last season, going 5= -13, but this is a different group of Astros and they only meet 15 times in the = regular season this year.

Tonight will be the first look at the ‘Stros, as put together on paper by Ed Wade, with Ty Wigginton set to join the starting line-up after a stint on the DL.  The ‘Stros must come out bla= sting the baseball and keep on scoring thru the weekend so they can enjoy their d= ay off Monday.  Jastro pencils the starting line-up for tonight’s game as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, 3B Wigginton, C Towles, P Oswalt and Bourn batting ninth a= nd playing closest to the flagpole on Tal’s Hill.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game.  For a= trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, Jastro predicts Villanueva will run into trou= ble in the first inning and give up back-to-back jacks by Tejada and Berkman, a= nd Wigginton will homer in the sixth inning.

Thank you for checking in and please check back for Jastro’s recap of this game.  Let’s start winning again wi= th a series sweep of the Brew, starting with a win tonight, GO ASTROS!

4-30-08:  ‘= Stros Lose 8-7, Blowing Four-Run First Inning

The Astros (13-16) lost to the Diamondbac= ks (20-8) 8-7 after scoring four runs in a blast-off to start this game.  The ‘Stros will return home = after going 4-4 on the road trip, which is much better than the last trip.   This loss was more disappoin= ting then the other three losses on the road trip and Jastro doubts the ‘S= tros will be enjoying their day off.

Pence led off with a hard groundball sing= le to left and watched Matsui whiff on a foo-foo count.  Tejada singles Pence to second on a hard-hit grounder up the middle.  Berkman hits a hard-liner to center, scoring Pence and sending Tejad= a to third base.  Lee clanks a thre= e-run homer to left, 4-0 ‘Stros. 

The Rattlers bust out with a pair of their own in the bottom half of the inning when Young singles to center and takes second on a groundout by Byrnes.  Hudson doubles Young home and, after Jackson whiffs, scores on a dou= ble down the Loretta-line.  Drew l= ines out on another well played out by Matsui at second base. 

Ausmus led off the second with a double p= ast Burkypoo at third and took third on Chacon’s sacrifice-bunt single to Burkypoo (get the game-plan?); scoring on Pence’s second groundball single to left as Chacon, who should have taken second as Burkypoo tried to wish his bunt foul, took over second base.=   Matsui sacwificed both runners up a base= and Tejada took the empty base with an infield hit.  Berkman scored Chacon, finally, on= a fielder’s choice that retired Tejada at second and Lee left Berkman on first when he grounded-out to short; ‘Stros up 6-2.  The Unit pitched scorelessly in the third and fourth innings, allowing only a two-out (2nd) double by Ausmus in the third.

Chacon recorded his fourth and fifth whif= f in the third, but got beat on a homer by Jackson.  After retiring Drew in the fourth = Chacon walked Burkypoo (WHAT?), who scored after Chacon gave up a single to Montero and a double to Salazar—pinch-hitting for Johnson—and Montero scored on Young’s groundout.  Chacon whiffed Byrnes for the second time, ending the fourth inning = with the ‘Stros still leading, 6-5.

RHP Medders took over the pitching duties= for the Snakes in the fifth, pitching to four batters and walking Lee, harmlessly.  Chacon retired the Snakes in order, recording his seventh whiff of the game.  ‘Stros still on top, 6-5.

Medders ran into trouble in the sixth, walking pinch-hitter Erstad after whiffing Ausmus.  Erstad went to third and Pence ran= to second on shortstop Drew’s two-base fielding error.  Matsui’s sacrifice fly scored Erstad and sent Pence to third, where Pence was stranded after Tejada’= ;s groundout, ‘Stros up 7-5 and Wright entered the game to pitch the Snakes’ sixth.

Drew greeted Wright with a double to left-center and, after whiffing Burkypoo and retiring Montero on a flyout; Wright is replaced by Borkowski after the Snakes announced that RHP Micah Owings would pinch-hit for Medders.  Owings blasted a two-run opposite field homer to right on Borkowski’s first pitch, tying the score at 7-7.  Young doubled and scored on a sing= le by Byrnes, ending the scoring for this game.

Ausmus added his third hit of the night in the eighth and Matsui singled in the ninth.  Berkman walked in the ninth.  Qualls retired all three batters he faced in the seventh.  Geary g= ave up a lead-off single to Jackson in the eighth but retired the other three batters he faced, including whiff= s by Upton and Burkypoo.  Byrdak ga= ve up a double to Montero leading off the eighth, the only Snake he faced, and Brocail retired the three Snakes he faced to end the inning.

On a lighter note, rookie pitcher Max Scherzer (remember him?) has been announced as the starter for the Snakes in their home game against the Fillies on Monday.  Jastro offers a caution for the Snakes:  The Big Units’ fastball is very hittable after batting against Scherzer the previous night= !

Thank you for checking in and please check back for more on this game, this series and who knows what else, later. 

4-30-08:  Pre-Game Chacon (0-0, 2.45 ERA) vs. LHP Randy Johnson (1-1, 2.70 ERA) @ 2:40 CDT

The Astros (13-15) look to win two of the three game series against the NL West leading Diamondbacks (19-8) at Chase Field in Phoenix with a win this afternoon, before returning home for an off-day tomorrow.  The ‘Stros can hand the Snak= es only their fourth home-loss of the young season if Chacon can make the Snak= es earn their way on base and the ‘Stros’ hitters show up again to= day.

Chacon has no decisions in his five starts this season and he is as responsible as poor run support by his teammates.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  In his previous five starts, Chaco= n has walked 17 and allowed 25 hits in 33 innings pitched.

To win the game and the series this afternoon, the ‘Stros need to come out blasting the baseball and Jast= ro pencils the starting line-up as follows:&n= bsp; RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, C Towles, 3B Loretta, P Chacon and Bourn batting ninth and playing centerfield.  Jastro believes sitting Hunter Pen= ce sends the wrong message and takes away an offensive tool that this team nee= ds to rally around.  Of course, C= oop will turn in his line-up card prior to the game.  For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro predicts Johnson will surrender back-to-back-to-back jacks to Tejada, Berkm= an and Lee in the first inning (the Big Unit’s fastball just ain’t= what it used to be).

Thank you for checking in and please check back for Jastro’s recap of this game.  Let’s keep winning with a win again this afternoon, GO ASTROS!

4-29-08:  ‘= Stros Win 6-4, but Rattler-Rookie Scherzer Steals the Show

The Astros (13-15) beat the Diamondbacks (19-8) 6-4 to even the series with a huge four-run third inning capped by G= eoff Blum’s one-out bases loaded double that plated all three runners.  Blum scored on Towles’ two-o= ut double, which actually cleared the homer line over the leftfield wall, but bounced = back into play as ruled by the third-base umpire.

The Astros ran themselves out of some opportunities, but scored two runs in the first inning.  Matsui walked and was immediately = caught stealing.  Bourn singled and s= cored on Tejada’s double.  Aft= er Berkman whiffed on a full-count called strike three, Lee singled Tejada home.  = Cassel hit a two-out single in the second and was thrown out at the plate (by a mi= le on a great relay by Drew) after a Matsui double.

The story in this game was about a 24-year old rookie, right-hander Max Scherzer, making his major league debut with t= wo outs and Towles on second base in the third inning.  Scherzer retired all 13 Astros he = faced in four and 1/3 innings, striking out seven Astros (= Cassel, Bourn-twice, Tejada, Berkman, Cruz and Towles).  Scherzer consistently threw the ba= ll between 95 and 97 mph and painted all sides of the strike zone.<= /span>

Cassel pitched four and 2/3 innings, givi= ng up three runs on four hits.  W= ith two out in the first, and a 2-0 Astro lead, Hudson singled and scored on Conor Jackson’s two-run homer to left.&nbs= p; Upton led off the Snakes’ second inning with a single thru the left side of= the infield but was erased on a ground ball double play.  After pitching a perfect third inn= ing, Cassel surrendered a triple to Hudson lead= ing off the fourth inning, and Hudson scored o= n a groundout to second by Jackson= .  After whiffing Salazar to start the fifth inning, Cassel walked Snyder, who = was erased on a fielder’s choice on Scherzer’s sacrifice bunt attem= pt, and then walked Young with two outs. 

Byrdak came on in relief and retired Drew= for the third out.  Byrdak walked = the only batter he faced in the sixth, causing Coop to bring in Villarreal.  Villarreal induced the around-the-= horn double-play and struck out Reynolds to end the inning.  Villarreal was in hot water starti= ng the seventh after a bloop hit by U= pton and a walk to Salazar.  He str= uck out Snyder and Coop brought Brocail out to pitch after pinch-hitter Miguel Montero was announced.  Montero singled in Upton for the fourth and final run by the Snakes in the game and Brocail retired = the next five Snakes.  Valverde struckout the side in the ninth inning for his fifth save of the season, ev= en though Salazar doubled with one out in the inning.  Pinch-hitter Chris Burke was Valverde’s second whiff of the inning.

Jastro thinks that about covers the game,= for now.  Thank you for checking i= n and please check back for more.

4-29-08:  Pre-Gam= e RHP Jack Cassel (1-0, 5.40 ERA) vs. RHP Edgar Gonzalez (1-1, 4.66 ERA) @ 8:40 CDT

The Astros (12-15) look to even the three game series against the NL West leading Diamondbacks (19-7) at Chase Field = in Phoenix with a win tonight.  T= he ‘Stros are 3-3 on the trip, after three consecutive disappointing los= ses, and it will not be easy against the Snakes, who own the best record in baseball.  The ‘Stros we= re 2-5 against the Snakes last year, when neither team could score runs, and will = only face them six times in 2008.

Cassel pitched five innings (plus the lead-off batter in the sixth, who singled) and gave up three runs in the fi= rst two innings in his outing last Thursday in Cincinnati, but the ‘Stros’ offense also scored three times in the first two innings and handed him the win with a two-run fifth inning, and excellent relief pitching.  The Snakes’ pitchers have more hits, extra-base hits and RBI than any team in the NL (a= nd, of course, the majors) and the ‘Stros come into tonight’s game = with two pinch-hits in 32 attempts.

To win the game tonight, the ‘Stros need to come out blasting the baseball and Jastro pencils the starting line= -up as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Mats= ui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, C Towles, 3B Blum, P Cassel and Bourn batting n= inth and playing centerfield.  Jast= ro believes Hunter Pence, unorthodox swing and all, will attack from the start= and that is what this team needs to win baseball games.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game.  For a= trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, Jastro selects Pence with a slam in the fourth inning, again.

Thank you for checking in and please check back for Jastro’s recap of this game.  Let’s start the next winning-streak with a win tonight, GO ASTROS!

4-28-08:  ‘= Stros Snake Bitten, Lose 5-3

The Astros (12-15) lose to Dan Haren (4-1, 3.13 ERA) and the Diamondbacks (19-7) in series opener, as Haren faces the minimum over the first four innings, giving up three runs on five hits over eight and 2/3 innings, striking out five, walking one and hitting a batter.=   Qualls struck out Berkman, the only batter he faced, to end the eighth and Brandon Lyon pitched a perfect ninth= for his eighth save, striking out Loretta to end the game.

Sampson pitched five and 1/3 innings, giv= ing up all five runs on seven hits, two walks and a hit batter—one walk a= nd the hit batter later scored—and whiffing none.  Young led off the Snakes’ fi= rst inning with a single thru the left side of the infield but was erased on a ground ball double play.  After pitching a perfect second inning, Sampson surrendered a double off of the centerfield wall to Drew leading off the third inning, who scored on a one-= out double by Haren.  Sampson walk= ed Hudson to lead off the fourth and Hudson went to second on a single by = Jackson.  Both runners scored on Reynolds= 217; double and, after a one-out walk to Drew, Reynolds scored on a single by Snyder.

The ‘Stros got on the board with two runs in the fifth inning when Berkman walked, went to third on a double by = Lee and scored on Pence’s groundout, and Lee took third on the play.  Loretta scored Lee with a single, = moved to second when Haren plunked Towles and took third to load the base when Sampson singled on his sacrifice bunt.&nbs= p; Matsui popped out and Bourn whiffed to leave the bases juiced.<= /o:p>

With the score 4-2, Sampson hit Byrnes wi= th a pitch to lead off the fifth inning and Byrnes scored, after moving to secon= d on a ground ball out, on a single by Jackson.=   Borkowski came on in relief and retired all five batters he faced, f= our on strikeouts.  Villarreal str= uck out two of the three batters he faced in a perfect seventh inning of work.<= o:p>

Bourn was surprised when he doubled with = two outs in the eighth off of Haren, but he scored on Tejada’s double.  Enter Qualls to whiff Berkman, end= ing the threat.

Geary comes on to pitch the eighth and promptly litters Chase field with rattlers on three consecutive walks.  Wright comes in to bag the Snakes = with a whiff and another groundball double-play.

Jastro thinks that about covers the game.  The Streaking ‘St= ros will go come back to Chase Field tomorrow to even the series, but Jastro wi= ll discuss that later.  Thank you= for checking in and please check back for more.

4-28-08:  Pre-Gam= e RHP Chris Sampson (1-2, 6.38 ERA) vs. Dan Haren (3-1, 3.03 ERA) @ 8:40 CDT=

The Astros (12-14) begin the last leg of = the eight game road trip with a three game series against the NL West leading Diamondbacks (18-7).  The ‘Stros are 3-2 on the trip, even after the last two disappointing los= ses, and the warm, dry desert air may help their cold bats; that and the likelih= ood the ‘Stros will miss Snakes’ ace, starter RHP Brandon Webb (6-0, 1.98 ERA) in the series.

Sampson pitched well in his outing last Wednesday in Cincinnati, when the ‘Stros spotted him nine runs over f= our innings after Sampson gave up a first inning solo dinger to Griffey.  The Snakes have scored 148 runs in= their 25 games, the most in the majors this season, and the ‘Stros’ b= ats must come alive in this game to give Sampson any chance.<= /h1>

The ‘Stros are looking for the swee= p in Arizona, starting with the game tonight, and Jastro pencils the starting line-up as follows:  RF Pence,= 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, C Towles, 3B Blum, CF Bourn and Samp= son batting ninth and pitching.  J= astro means no ill toward Bourn by batting him low in the order, it just seems mu= ch more important to this team for Bourn to stop runs than make them at this point, batting lower in the order may relieve some pressure and Bourn may s= ee better pitches.  Of course, Co= op will turn in his line-up card prior to the game.  For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro selects Pence with a slam in the fourth inning, again.

Thank you for checking in and please check back for Jastro’s recap of this game.  Let’s start the next winning-streak with a win tonight, GO ASTROS!

4-27-08:  Redbird= s Win 5-1

The Astros (12-14) couldn’t get on = base after a one-out walk to Pence with one out in the fourth.  Pence was doubled off on a liner to second by Loretta.  Berkman sc= ored the only ‘Stros run after leading off the second inning with an infie= ld hit and moved to second on a one-out groundout by Pence, then scored on a line-drive hit by Loretta.  Ba= cke and Tejada had singles in the third inning, but were left on first and seco= nd.  RHP Kyle McClellan earned his firs= t save after coming in to pitch the last three innings with a 4-1 score and allowi= ng no baserunners.

Backe allowed three singles (Miles-2, Rya= n) and three walks (Ankiel, Pujols and Molina) over the first four innings bef= ore imploding in the four-run fifth, walking two (Ankiel and Pujols), who score= d on a Ludwick double, and Ludwick scored on Glaus’ first homer as a Redbird.  Backe also struck ou= t five in his five innings of work.  Villarreal pitched a perfect sixth, Moehler gave up a solo homer to Pujols in the seventh and Borkowski gave up a single to Molina in the eight= h.

Thank you for checking in and please check back for more on this game and the three-game series starting tomorrow in <= st1:place w:st=3D"on">Arizona.<= span style=3D'font-family:"Book Antiqua";color:green'>

4-27-08:  RHP Bra= ndon Backe (1-2, 4.15 ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Lohse (2-0, 2.54 ERA) @ 1:15 CDT

The Astros (12-13) look to even their rec= ord with the Cardinals (15-10) and the league this season with a series win in = St. Louis this aft= ernoon at Busch Stadium II.  Backe has shown pitching-brilliance against the Redbirds in post-seasons past and Jas= tro expects him to be pumped for the rubber match of this series on the road.  Backe’s bugger-boo has been = the walk, issuing 15 free passes in 26 innings pitched this season.<= /span>

Walks please the Redbirds, who lead the majors with 128 (14 intentional) in 25 games.  You do the math.  Conversely, the Redbirds have issu= ed 68 free-passes, best in the NL; the ‘Stros have benefited from 68 free passes, 14th in the NL, while issuing 79, 4th best in= the NL this season.  Backe has pit= ched roughly 12% of the ‘Stros’ innings this season and has issued roughly 20% of the walks for the team.

During the three-game series in Houston, where the Redbirds won two of three, the Redbirds scored 14 runs and were walked 13 times.  Two of those runs were batters that were walked.  The ‘Stros were walked six times and two of those batters scored.  Before today’s game, both te= ams have scored six runs in this series.  The ‘Stros have walked 13 Redbirds resulting in four runs and = the Redbirds have walked three ‘Stros that were stranded.  Interesting, right?  If Backe plays his Cards right, it= could be a big K day!

A Michael Bourn playing anything less than normal (98.6%) probably doesn’t play in the big leagues.  Jastro prefers Bourn’s defen= se in centerfield to his ability to swipe a base.  It was fairly obvious that Bourn w= as not playing centerfield anywhere resembling normal yesterday.  If the ‘Stros run this horse= out of the majors, well, that could ultimately happen. 

For the finale of this three-game series, Jastro pencils the starting line-up as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, C Towles, 3B Blum, P Backe and Erstad batting ninth and playing centerfield.  Of cours= e, Coop will turn in his line-up card prior to the game and, with a day games follo= wing a day game yesterday, your guess is as good as anybody’s.  For a trip with Paris in Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro selects Pence with a slam in the fourth inning, Erstad in the sixth and Lee= in the tenth inning (Tony’s not pitching to Berkman today). 

Thank you for checking in and please check back for Jastro’s recap of this game.  Let’s start the next winning-streak with a win this afternoon, GO ASTROS!

4-26-08:  Adam Wainwright (3-1, 2.79 ERA) Stops the Streak, Wins 4-3

All good streaks must come to an end so another one can start.  Wainwr= ight pitches the complete game giving up five hits, including solo-homers to Mat= sui in the first, Berkman in the fourth and again in the seventh.  Tejada and Matsui had the other As= tro hits in the game and Wainwright issued walks to Berkman and Lee in the ninth but struck out Pence on a full-count to end the threat.  Borkowski started pitching the nin= th and walked pinch-hitter Barton on four pitches.  Barton was out at second on a bunt= ed fielder’s choice by Wainwright, who took second on a single by Ryan, = and Wright came in to pitch to Schumaker and Izturis came on to run for Wainwright.  Schumaker deliver= ed the RBI single on a full-count, scoring Izturis and handing Borkowski the loss (0-1, 3.72 ERA).

Oswalt labored thru six innings, striking= out five, walking three, hitting one and allowing five hits.  The Redbirds did their damage agai= nst Oswalt in the third inning when Schumaker earned a one-out walk, moved to second on Ankiel’s and scored with Ankiel following on a Pujols doubl= e.  Pujols took third on a single by <= st1:place w:st=3D"on">Duncan and scored = on a sacrifice fly by Glaus.  Byrdak pitched the seventh and issued a one-out walk to Ankiel, who was doubled of= f on the Astros’ 24th double-play of the season to end the inning.  Brocail pitched a 1-2= -3 eighth. 

Jastro sure is glad for MLB.TV on these F= ox baseball Saturdays, even if it has to be FSN-Midwest.  Thank you for checking in and plea= se check back for more on this game and the series.

4-26-08:  Oswalt = (2-3, 6.00 ERA) vs. Righty Adam Wainwright (2-1, 2.73 ERA)

Wainwright has allowed only one dinger th= is year, expect that to change this afternoon at 12:10 CDT as the Streaking ‘Stros (12-12) get their first swings at him and the Redbirds (14-10).  Wainwright’s n= ice ERA will surely rise and Roy’s will be no worse after this game.  For this afternoon’s game (featuring the return of Bourn on Blum’s 35th birthday) Jastro pencils the starting line-up = as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui,= SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, 3B Blum, C Ausmus, P Oswalt and Bourn batting n= inth and playing centerfield.  Of c= ourse, Coop will turn in his line-up card prior to the game and, with two day games following the late night game yesterday, your guess is as good as anybody&#= 8217;s.  For Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro selects Pence with a slam in the fourth inning, Matsui to hit his first din= ger as an Astro in the first inning, and Ausmus to join the dinger parade in the seventh. 

Thank you for checking in and please check back for Jastro’s recap of this game.  Let’s make it seven in a row= and keep on rolling with another win this afternoon, GO ASTROS!

4-25-08:  ‘= Stros Storm to Sixth Straight Win

After a two-hour rain delay the Astros co= me up with a storm of their own when they were losing 2-0 and batting in the ninth.  Erstad, who already ha= d a double— one of three Astro hits thru eight innings — pulled out= a super-quality at-bat with one out and poked a seeing-eye single to left fie= ld off of closer Isringhausen; and Tejada tripled Erstad home on a full-count pitch.  Berkman plated Tejada = on a sacrifice fly to left to tie the game, much to the dismay of LaRussa, Isringhausen and the Redbird faithful that had already braved the weather.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  Lee, not to be out-done by Tejada = or Berkman, promptly homered to left and scored the go-ahead run for those streaking ‘Stros.  Valve= rde enters, screen left, and records his fourth save of the year; and young Wes= ley Wright wins his third game after pitching the eighth inning with two whiffs= and a walk.

Chacon started the game and it took him a= ll of eight pitches to walk the first two Birds, who later scored; which gave = the Birds the 2-0 lead that lasted until the ninth inning.  Another team effort and the sixth straight win for the Astros.  = Please check back as Jastro surely will have more to say about this series and tho= se streaking ‘Stros as soon as he quits laughing at the FSN MIDWEST came= ra shot of LaRussa talking to himself in the dugout—and Jastro doubts the skipper with the law degree was brief!

4-25-08:  Astros (11-12) vs. Cardinals (14-9)

The Astros (11-12) are the hottest team in baseball as the open a three game series against the Cards tonight at 7:15 = CDT in St. Louis.  Actually, two teams have longer st= reaks, both losers—the Rangers and the Royals.  Shawn Chacon (0-0, 2.77 ERA) will = start for the streaking ‘Stros against righty Braden Looper (3-1, 5.49 ERA).  One of Looper’s wins came ag= ainst the Astros in Houston on April 9th, but the ‘Stros were not hitting way back then!  Chacon has pitched well= for the Astros, as indicated by his ERA, but has been victimized by a combinati= on of poor run support and poor relief pitching.  Fortunately for Chacon, the Astros= will need to pound out double-digit hits and score at least five runs to beat th= ese Cards—not a far-fetched task considering recent performances. 

The Astros are looking to sweep their fir= st three-game series (and first on the road) this season and catch the Cards in the NL Central standings while paying them back for taking two of a three-g= ame series from Houston in Houston two weeks ago.  It all starts with a win tonight a= nd Jastro pencils the starting line-up as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, C Towles, 3B Blum, P Chacon and Erstad batting ninth and playing centerfield.  Of cours= e, Coop will turn in his line-up card prior to the game.  For Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro selects Pence with a slam in the fourth inning and Matsui to hit his first dinger as an Astro in the first inning, again.  Let’s make it six in a row a= nd keep on rolling with another win tonight, GO ASTROS!

4-24-08:  Astros = Streak to Five with 5-3 Win

The Astros (11-12) extended their winning streak to five games this afternoon and Jack Cassel gets his first win in h= is Astro debut, collecting his first major-league hit—an RBI single̵= 2;in the second inning.  Berkman wa= s the offensive star for the ‘Stros as he was a triple shy of the cycle for= the ump-teenth time of his career with a walk in four plate appearances, three = RBI and a stolen base.  Pence adde= d a single and a double, scoring a run and was caught stealing second base after his single to lead off the game.  Matsui, on a five game hitting streak since making his debut with the Astros, did not start this game but had his streak end when he struck out a= s a pinch-hitter to end the ninth inning.

Cassel= pitched to Hairston leading off the sixth and left the game for reliever Byrdak after Hairston singled.  Cassel looked very hittable early = in the game as he gave up to hits and a run in the first before the Astros turned their 23rd double-play in as many games.  Encarnacion led off the second wit= h a single to extend his 13-game hitting streak and scored on Hatteberg’s double.  Hatteberg scored on e= x-Astro Bako’s single to give the Reds (9-14) a 3-1 lead after two innings.  Cassel retired the next 10 Reds until Patterson hit a two-out single in the fifth.  Fortunately for the As= tros, leading 5-3 at the time, Patterson was picked off of first base by Towles a= fter bluffing a steal and failing to get back to first before the throw.  Of course, Hairston singled in the= sixth but was picked off by Byrdak on a 1-3-6-1 play—with Griffey at the plate.  Byrdak retired Griffey= on a called strike three.  Byrdak s= urrendered a hit by Encarnacion in the seventh, but retired the side without any damage.  Byrdak also collected= his first major league hit when he led off the eighth.

Brocail pitched a perfect eighth and Valv= erde pitched his second 1-2-3 ninth in as many days to earn his third save of the season, striking out Phillips and Dunn to end the game.  Carlos Lee had the afternoon off, = as did Ausmus and Bourn.

Erstad had an RBI single and scored a run, Tejada walked and scored a run, and Towles added his second double of the season, scoring on Cassel’s hit.  The ‘Stros 5-6-7 batters (Bl= um, Cruz and Loretta) were a combined 0-12 with two strikeouts.

All of the Astros’ runs were earned= and charged to Cueto on eight hits (HR, 3-2B) and two walks with three strikeouts.  Mercker gave up t= he single to Berkman in the eighth and Cordero pitched a perfect ninth for the Reds.

This was another team effort with good defense, pitching and hitting.  The Astros have not had a five game winning streak since April last year.  The Astros are off to St. Louis for a three-game weekend seri= es with the Cards.  Jastro’s excited, are you?  Thank you f= or stopping in and please check back for more on the streaking ‘Stros.  Let’s go win a three game se= ries, starting with the game tomorrow night against another divisional foe! =

4-23-08:  Astro F= ans, We Have Lift-Off!

The Astros (10-12) extended their winning streak to four games tonight with the third double-digit hitting performanc= e in as many games, with the Reds (9-13) and Bronson Arroyo on the losing end of tonight’s 9-3 ballgame.  Sampson pitched seven strong innings, giving up two runs on eight hi= ts and a walk (to Griffey), including a solo homer by Griffey (career #597), doubles by Ross, Phillips and pinch-hitter Patterson (RBI in the seventh).<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  Sampson struck-out six Reds in his= seven innings of work.  Wright gave = up Phillips’ second double of the night in the eighth inning, but strand= ed him at second.  Geary surrende= red a lead-off homer to Encarnacion in the ninth, which extended the Reds’ third-sackers’ hitting streak to 13 games.  Hairston had two singles in a 2-5 = night, both off of Sampson.

All of the Astros’ starting position players had hits and all but Towles scored with Pence and Lee scoring twice.  Down 1-0 on Griffey= 217;s first inning homer, the Astro bats came alive in the second inning.  Lee led off with a double and scor= ed on a double by Pence.  Pence scor= ed on a single by Loretta.  Towles followed with a single, the Astros’ fourth hit to start the inning, a= nd Loretta moved to second on the hit.  After a meeting on the mound, Arroyo settled down, retiring Sampson = on a sacrifice bunt that moved Loretta to third and Towles to second.  Arroyo retired the next five Astro= s, striking out two and giving Arroyo three strikeouts in three innings so far= .

Pence led off the fourth inning with a ve= ry patient plate appearance with a walk on a full-count pitch.  Pence went to third on a double by Loretta and Arroyo struck out Towles and Sampson.  Matsui singled in both baserunners, Erstad singled and Tejada and Berkman hit RBI singles, chasing Arroyo with Tejada on second and Berkman on first.&nbs= p; Righty Mike Lincoln came to pitch in relief and was greeted by an RBI singles by Lee and Pence, closing the book on Arroyo for the night (2 2/3 innings pitched, eight earned runs, 10 hits, five strikeouts and a walk).  Pence’s hit was of the swing= ing bunt variety and Lincoln ill-advisedly attempted the throw to first, scoring Lee and sending Pence to second.  Loretta was retired o= n a fly ball, ending the seven-run inning.   Interesting that Lincoln gets charged an unearned run th= at scored on his errant throw.  E= rstad (6th, off Josh Fogg) and Pence (7th, off Fogg) singled again in the game, giving them both three-hit nights.  Both runners were left on base.

Sampson benefited from the great run supp= ort and great fielding, including two more double-plays by the infield.  Matsui was charged with a very tou= gh error in the ninth inning on a well-struck ball by Votto that many second-baggers would never have reached, but Votto was stranded at second a= fter moving up on fielders’ indifference.=   This was another total team performance, which is becoming the rule,= not the exception and Jastro hopes you are enjoying it as much as he is!

A couple of notes that may be of interest were provided by the broadcasters on FSN-Ohio (Chris Welch and Tom Brennaman):  Griffey’s d= inger was the first run scored by the Reds in the first inning in 15 games and the Reds have lost the opening game in each of the eight series they have played this season.  Jastro doubts th= at had much to do with naming Walt Jocketty as the new President and GM of the Cincinnati Reds th= is afternoon.  Several commercial= s on FSN-Ohio starring a singing, guitar playing Arroyo were as bad as Arroyo’s start today.

Tomorrow at 11:35 CDT righty Jack Cassel = will make his Astros debut to face rookie righty Johnny Cueto (1-1, 3.42 ERA).  Please click on The Real Story f= or Jastro’s thoughts on the first-quarter of the first-half of the 2008 season. Thank you for stopping in and please check back for Jastro’s = game recap as only can be seen here.  Let’s make it five in a row and a second series sweep in a row with another win on Thursday, GO ASTROS!

4-23-08:  Astros = Begin Eight Game, Three City Roa= d Trip

The ‘Stros (9-12) arrive in Cincinnati early t= his morning to begin a short, two game series with the Reds (9-12) tonight at 6:10 CDT.  Just when you think the = Astros are finished with Hairston for the regular season they run into Jerry Hairs= ton, Jr. , Scott’s little brother, who was called up by the Reds Monday and went 4-5 with a double, three RBI, and a stolen base as the lead-off batter= for the Reds yesterday.  The Astro= s are going for their fourth win in a row and the Reds are coming off of a split = in a two game series with the Dodgers, winning last night 8-1 and collecting 15 hits.  Chris Sampson (0-2, 8.7= 4) will start for the Astros and the Reds will send righty Bronson Arroyo (0-2, 5.48 ERA) to the mound in a battle of winless starters this year.

Michael Bourn is expected to miss tonight’s game again as he nurses a sore groin and ankle.  Jastro cannot figure why Coop seems insistent on batting Pence so far down the line-up, especially if Bourn is = not leading off.  For tonight̵= 7;s game, Jastro mixes it up as follows:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, C Towles, 3B Blu= m, P Sampson and Erstad batting ninth and playing centerfield.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game and Loretta hasn’t started in four games.  For Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro selects Pence with a slam in the fourth inning and Matsui to hit his first dinger as an Astro in the first inning.

Please click on The Real Story f= or Jastro’s thoughts on the first-quarter of the first-half of the 2008 season. Thank you for stopping in and please check back for Jastro’s = game recap as only can be seen here.  Let’s make it four in a row and win again tonight, GO ASTROS!<= o:p>

4-22-08:  Astros = Sweep Padres with 11-7 Exciting Win

The ‘Stros came very close to hangi= ng a loss on Peavy (still 3-0, but the ERA jumped to 2.00 and he has tagged for a dinger by Blum leading off the fourth inning and a 2-run shot by Pence in t= he sixth to put the ‘Stros back on top 4-3), but Adrian Gonzalez blasted= a 3-run dinger to give the Padres a 3-2 lead in the sixth—the only runs allowed by Backe in seven innings of work and everybody started slugging!  Folks, if you missed this game, yo= u owe it to yourselves as Astro fans to watch the highlights on ESPN’s ‘Baseball Tonight’.

This game was another total team effort, = with every position-player contributing at the plate and in the field.  The Astros pounded out 15 hitsR= 12;a season high after hitting a season high 13 yesterday.  Ditto with scoring 11 runs, after scoring 10 runs yesterday.  Te= jada had his second four-hit night in as many games and Berkman was perfect (?) = at the plate going 2-2 with two walks and a sac-fly.  Matsui had outstanding at-bats all= night and drove in the go-ahead runs in the eighth with a 2-RBI single.  Jastro will post more on this game later, so please check back and thanks for stopping in…..<= /span>

4-22-08:  Astros = Play for Series Sweep

The brooms will be out at Juicy-Fruit ton= ight at 7:05 CDT when the Astros (8-12) look for a sweep of the two game series = with the Padres (9-11).  Jastro exp= ects to see El Caballo fans riding stick ponies with broom tails above left-cent= er field.  The Astros will need to piece together the Peavy puzzle when the Padres send righty Jake Peavy (3-0, 1.20 ERA) to the mound against Brandon Backe (1-2, 4.26 ERA) for the Astros.  Peavy pitched seven scoreless innings against the Astros in the season opener at PETCO field a = day more than three weeks ago in a 4-0 shut-out.  Backe was on the losing end of a 2= -1 win by the Padres the next evening.

As the Padres found out last night, the Astros are swinging the bats much better now.  Peavy should expect to give up some runs, raising his ERA tonight, and should not expect to drive in two runs l= ike he did against Oswalt in that first game.

Backe was hit hard by the hard-hitting Fillies in his last outing, but pitched well against the Padres in his first start, giving up a 2-run dinger to Padres’ centerfielder Hairston.  Most likely, Padres’ skipper= Bud Black will have Jim Edmonds start in center tonight.  This is a very important start for= Backe and the result for the Astros will be the difference between a winning or losing record at home before they leave for an eight-day road trip thru Cincinnati, St. Louis and Arizona after the game—arriving in Cincy ab= out 3:00 am tomorrow morning.

Tonight will provide a good test for the surging Astro hitters with Peavy pitching.=   Jastro is sticking with the line-up he thinks will win games:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, C Towles, 3B Blum, P Backe and Bourn batting ninth and pla= ying closest to the flagpole.  Of c= ourse, Coop will turn in his line-up card prior to the game.  For Hilton’s homer contest, = Jastro selects Pence with a slam in the fourth and Backe in the third.  Thank you for stopping in and plea= se check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can be seen here.  Let’s make it three in a row= and win again tonight, GO ASTROS!

4-21-08:  Astros = Rout Padres 10-3

The ‘Stros won this game in the fir= st inning after Oswalt needed eight pitches to retire Giles, McAnulty and Gonz= alez and the home-team scored their first run of the game on Germano’s eig= hth pitch of the game, an RBI single by Tejada on the first pitch.  The ‘Stros continued their a= ssault by scoring their first five batters, and the first eight reached the bases safely. 

Jastro conjures up three bone-head plays = by Germano alone, the first of which was walking Bourn on the first four not-even-that-close pitches, knowing the MB’s instructions from the dugout had to be to take pitches, and MB stole second on the first pitch to= the patient Matsui.  Germano had no problem retiring Bourn on a fly ball with two pitches to end the disastrous first inning, but in the fourth inning he pitches around MB, who grounds a = ball off of Germano’s glove for an infield hit on a full-count to lead-off= the three-run inning.  =

Edmonds did no defensive damage to the ‘Stros, but he did homer off of Oswalt with one out and no Padres on = base in the second for the first of three earned runs Oswalt allowed in seven in= nings of work.  Gonzalez also had a = homer off of Roy to lead off the sixth inning, the seventh homer Roy has curved u= p in only his fifth start of the season.

Roy gets the win; his second of the season, and improves his ERA to 6.00; while Germano goes to 0-2 and his ERA sky-rockets to 5.01 from 1.35.  Tejada was a triple short of the c= ycle and had what Jastro thinks was the first four-hit game of the season for the Astros.  A consecutive game te= am effort by the ‘Stros for the two-game winning streak, and Peavy should reconsider any night-cap Mrs. Oswalt may offer him tonight! 

Thank you for stopping in and please check back for more from Jastro.

4-21-08:  Astros = (7-12) Look to Even Regular Season with Padres (9-10)

Both teams enter this two-game series rid= ing one-game winning streaks, but the Padres—without ‘Stros killer Jim Edmonds—won three of four against the ‘Stros in San Diego to open the 2008 season.  Both teams are at the bottom of th= eir divisions in hitting, but the Padres out-hit the ‘Stros by 19 singles= in the earlier series.  The ‘Stros won the season series in 2007 4-3 and need to win both games to even the record against the Padres and at home this season—starting w= ith the game tonight.

First, Jastro is still annoyed that Wandy= was allowed to start last Saturday against the Fillies when the trainers, coach= es and skipper knew he was nursing tenderness in his left groin.  Is Coop under so much pressure tha= t he would risk further injury to Garner a win?=   Jastro can think of a few times this season when the services of a certain veteran pitcher on the ‘Stros’ payroll could help the team….but Woody’s probably too busy playing bingo or shuffleboa= rd with Frank Thomas.

JASTROSTAT of the Day:   The Astros have had 13 plate appearances this season with the bases juiced and have scored two runs, bot= h on walks.  That is 0-11 with the = bases loaded this season and four of those 11 were by starting pitchers.  Now, six of those thirteen times w= ere in the 5-1 Astros’ win against the Marlins on April 13th where the runs were not needed.  Jas= tro has no doubt that the Houston offense will take-off soon, and tonight would= be an outstanding time; for Roy and the home crowd.

Roy Oswalt (1-3, 6.65 ERA) will take the mound at 7:05 CDT against righty Justin Germano (0-1, 1.35 ERA) and Jastro fully expects Oswalt’s ERA to continue to fall while Germano’s = will continue to climb.  Jastro is sticking with the line-up he thinks will win games:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, C Towles, 3B Blum, P Oswalt and Bourn batting ninth and playing closest to the flagpole.  Of course, Coop will turn in his line-up card prior to the game, which is gett= ing better all the time.  For Hilt= on’s homer contest, Jastro selects Pence in the fourth and sixth innings and Tow= les in the second.  Thank you for stopping in and please check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can= be seen here.  Let’s make i= t two in a row and win again tonight, GO ASTROS!

4-20-08:  Astros Improve to 7-12, Beat Rockies 6-4

Kazuo Matsui had the game-winning 2-run single in the eighth after a single by Pence and walk to Loretta, and Tejada drove him in with a double for good measure.  Valverde records a save with a wal= k and an infield hit that the Rockies stranded= in the ninth.  Matsui, Tejada and Berkman also singled in the 2-run fifth to take a 3-2 lead that Atkins eras= ed in the sixth with a solo homer off of Chacon.  Blum had an RBI hit in the fourth = and Lee singled in the second to complete the Astros’ 8-hit attack.  Rockies pitchers issued 7 walks, hit Towles by a pitch for the fourth time this sea= son, and tossed in a run-scoring wild-pitch.&nb= sp; This was an Astros’ team effort. 

Thank you for stopping in and please check back for more on this game and the roster moves required by sending Wandy to the 15-day DL for a strained groin.

4-19-08:  It̵= 7;s Still Saturday in Portland

Absolutely no nig deal, the ‘Stros = are 6-12 and just where everybody in the National League thinks they should be.  They can’t win this series and will have a losing home-record regardless of the outcome of tomorrow’s game.  Chacon= vs. righty Ubaldo Jimenez, who claims to be born in 1984 but told the gal at the Silver Dollar on Buffalo Speedway last night that he was only 22; arrest the ruffian.

Jastro is sticking with the line-up he th= inks will win games:  RF Pence, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, 3B Blum, C Towles, P Chacon and Bourn batting ninth and playing closest to the flagpole.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game, which is getting better all the time; and, it’= ;ll be a full moon here.  For Hilton’s homer contest, Jastro selects Pence in the fourth and sixth innings and Chacon in the third—if he makes it to a plate-appearance.=   Thank you for stopping in and plea= se check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can be seen here.  Let’s start winning again by winning this game this morning (11:05 Portland), GO ASTROS!

4-19-08:  Give Pa= tti Smith Jastro’s Number (13)

Exhausted Astros keep on losing, this time 3-2 against those pesky Rockies.  ‘Stros baseball takes a back= -seat to many things so far this young season, and tonight it is the Rockettes.  Jastro wants anybody that knows Pa= tti Smith to let her know that she can interview Jastro anytime she wants, at h= er place or his; she can talk to Jastro all night long; and when Patti talks, Jastro will listen.

Back to the baseball game….Coop shuffled the line-up a bit tonight; unfortunately, it really appears to be = only just that, all shook up.  Jast= ro proudly posts the followings Jastroids from this evening’s game (there is still light outside [40 degrees] in Portland):

 

  • The line-up is all= about the hot-hand, today, not hysterical numbers; Pence should lead-off and Bourn should Caboose
  • Barnes is a good-l= ooking ballplayer at second-base, no surprise Kazuo was available.=
  • Bummer for Blumble= on the double that Spilborghs “caught” in the seventh; weak on Coop in protest.  The play energized the crowd, what energized the ‘Stros?
  • Lo-Retta’s average is lower than CB’s lifetime, which tumbled in just a cou= ple of years
  • Houston has the best-looking girls in the Americas= ; Portland is 220% better than Jastro imagined
  • If Lee wants to po= ut some more, he can do it from the bench—Berkman can join him for = that matter.
  • Jastro= knew he liked Coop during the spring, but it is all politics now.
  • Jastro thought he saw Scott in the boxes, bored in memory…..=
  • When p= laying the Rockies, there is no honesty in baseball; like in Survivor
  • Matsui= is a great #2 hitter………..

Thanks for stopping in and please check b= ack as Jastro may post again on this loser……

&n= bsp;

4-19-08:  Way-Rod= will Even Series Tonight

It must have been embarrassing for Drayto= n at game time last night, when it looked like about half of the 34,272 official attendance had made it into the stands and the owner’s boxes were practically empty.

Unless Coop decides to pitch Mark Loretta tonight at 6:05 CDT, the ‘Stros (6-11) should even the series with th= e Rockies (8-8) when Wandy (1-0, 2.33 ERA) takes the = mound against righty Aaron Cook (1-1, 3.79 ERA).=   Jastro expects that Wandy will have his great curve tonight, which m= eans the Rockies’ right-handed batters will be late on the fastball—= not a good night for Bourn to be shading to the left.  With that in mind, Jastro mixes it= up as follows for this game:  RF Pen= ce, 2B Matsui, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Cruz, , 3B Blum, C Towles, P Wandy and Bo= urn batting ninth and playing closest to the flagpole.  Of course, Coop will turn in his l= ine-up card prior to the game, which might put Loretta at third.  For Hyatt’s homer contest, J= astro selects Pence in the fourth and sixth innings.  Thank you for stopping in and plea= se check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can be seen here.  Let’s start winning again by= winning this game tonight, GO ASTROS!

4-18-08:  Sampson= Tires Rockies in 1st Inning, ‘= ;Stros Lose 11-5

Where is Woody when Jastro needs him?  Sampson works the Rockies thru the line-up in the first inning:  = Giving up six runs on six hits and two walks; including 2 RBI doubles (Tulowitzki, Innetta) and a 2 RBI single (Baker) while pitching to 10 Rockies in 0.2 innings.  The ‘St= ros countered with four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning on an inf= ield hit (?), a walk, an RBI double (Puma), an RBI groundout (Horsie), flyout, another RBI double (Pence), another walk, an RBI hit (Towles) and a whiff by Moehler—who never imagined hitting in a real game, much less in the f= irst inning.  But, in the game, it = was the ‘Stros that appeared tired.  Are Sampson and Backe related to Towles and Woody? 

Thanks for stopping in and please check b= ack as Jastro may post again on this loser; Dr. House is on TV in Portland right now……

4-18-08:  Astros = Open 5-Game Homestand vs. the West

At 7:05 CDT the ‘Stros will play the first of a 5-game set against the National League West and they can gain so= me respectability by sweeping both series, three games with the Rockies and two against the Padres.  T= he Astros (6-10) can improve to 11-10 if they put together a nifty little stre= ak with each starter collecting a win.  The two games against the Padres will complete the regular season schedule with the Padres and Astro victories will even the wins at three ea= ch.

The Astros need to climb all over the tir= ed Rockies (7-8) tonight.  The Rockies needed 22 innings to b= eat the Padres last night and the Astros were back in Houston before that game even started.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  Jastro sure would like to see Wandy pitch tonight, but Chris Sampson (0-1, 4.22 ERA) is scheduled to make his t= hird start of the season and Wandy will pitch tomorrow.  Sampson’s task should be eas= ier tonight because of the 22 inning affair and very early flight into Houston by the def= ending National League champions.  Th= e Rockies only have three things the Astros need̵= 2;one more win and two less losses!

The Rockies will start lefty Franklin Morales (= 0-1, 6.30 ERA), who will be making his third start of the season as well.  Kazuo Matsui should join the Astros tonight.  Jastro mixes it up as follows for this game:  RF Pen= ce, 2B Matsui, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, SS Tejada, 3B Blum, C Towles, P Sampson and Bou= rn batting ninth and playing center.  Of course, Coop will turn in his line-up card prior to the game, whi= ch might put Loretta at third.  F= or Hyatt’s homer contest, Jastro selects Pence in the fifth inning.  Thank you for stopping in and plea= se check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can be seen here.  Let’s start winning again by winning this game tonight, GO ASTROS!

 

4-17-08:  Astros = (6-10) are Whopper-Whooped 10-2 by Fillies (8-8)

Backe sucked, Valverde sucked, everybody = on the Astros and Eric Bruntlett sucked, except Tejada, Q and; please check back…..

On Backe:  21 batters over 3 innings (faced D= obbs who scored on Utley’s homer in the fourth before Backe removed from game), 6 runs scored on 10 hits (2-2B and the homer), 2 errors by Blum (one resulting in a run on Backe), 2 walks (including one to Myers leading off of the second inning) and, thanks to a GIDP by Howard and an 8-6-2 put-out of Burrell at the plate, 6 LOB.  = The real difference between this outing and Backe’s last outing against t= he Marlins last Saturday was that half of the baserunners scored today.  His ERA is rising, to 4.26 after today’s action.

On Valverde:  Jastro is tickled-pink that Valver= de has been looking at films of his disaster last Tuesday night; why didn’t = he notice his gut?  The Fillies&#= 8217; batting averages were increasing before Valverde ever threw a pitch.  The boring Fillies announcers were= even worse when Valverde was on the mound.  And, of course, Tejada aged two years…….

On Bruntlett:  0-5 today with two whiffs, 0-4 yes= terday with a whiff and for the series he had one hit, one walk, one stolen base a= nd a GIDP in 12 plate appearances—he’s much better for the ‘St= ros when he’s on someone else’s payroll…. <= /h1>

On Pence:  If most baseball people, including= Coop, believe Pence will hit for average and power; what harm would it do to play Pence? 

Jastro’s bonehead-play-of-the-game honors would be tied between the base running of Brett Myers and Carlos Lee, except that neither player is paid to score from second base; so, the honor goes to…….Geoff Blumble for his 3K’s in an 0-4 with two errors leading to one run against vs. none-scored day!  

And, finally for this article, if the ‘Stros are going to be out-homered this year, it is going to be a long season.  Thank you for stoppin= g here and please check back….because Jastro thinks he might post a real sto= ry soon……

4-17-08:  Early 1= 0:05 PDT Start on Get-Away Day

Jastro likes the Astros chances to win th= eir second straight series, first on the road, with righty Backe (1-1, 2.25 ERA) taking the mound for the surging Astros (6-9) against righty Brett Myers (1= -1, 5.00 ERA) for the Fillies (7-8).  Ausmus has played two games in a row, so he should keep Loretta̵= 7;s hover-round warm in the dugout this afternoon, and Jastro expects to see Q doing the receiving for Backe today.

Jastro mixes it up as follows today:  RF Pence, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, L= F Lee, 3B Blum, C Quintero, P Backe, CF Bourn and Loretta playing second base, bat= ting ninth.  Of course, Coop will t= urn in his line-up card prior to the game, and that probably means that Cruz will = get the start for the slumping Pence—who still is being bobbled around inconsistently by Coop.  For Hyatt’s homer contest, Jastro expects a trio; Pence in the second and fifth, and Tejada in the seventh.  Thank you for stopping in and please check back for Jastro’s g= ame recap as only can be seen here.  Let’s start winning again by winning this game tonight, GO AST= ROS!

4-16-08:=   Oswalt Wins 2-1 @ Philly

Michael Bourn is the star of the game with his 2-4 night, 2-runs scored and, of course, the RBI on the homer in the fi= fth; not to neglect the stolen base that led to the first run in the fifth.  Lee had an RBI double to score Bou= rn in the first.  The Fillies also s= cored in the first    on t= hree of the six hits allowed by Roy= , with Howard’s’ RBI single driving in Werth.  Utley doubled off of Roy in the third, but was stranded afte= r a semi-intentional walk to Howard.  Wesley Wright was lovely in the eighth inning as he struck-out Feliz, Utley and Burrell; the only Fillies he de-faced.  Brocail was wonderful in the ninth, striking out two Fillies and allowing a pinch-hit single by Rollins.  Thank you for stopping in and plea= se check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can be seen here.

4-16-08:  Oswalt Looking For First Win of Season

It makes the task of winning a 3-game ser= ies much more difficult after losing game one, but the Astros (5-9) will attemp= t to do just that when Roy Oswalt (0-3, 9.00 ERA)  takes the mound in Philadelphia to= night at 6:05 CDT.  The Phillies (7-= 7) will throw righty Kyle Kendrick (1-1, 6.14 ERA) at the hopefully patient ‘Stros’ hitters.  Yesterday was, well, yesterday and today will be soon enough.  This will be a huge win for the struggling ‘Stros.

 

Jastro mixes it up as foll= ows today:  RF Pence, SS Tejada, 1= B Berkman, LF Lee, 3B Blum, 2B Loretta, C Ausmus, Oswalt on the mound and Bourn batting ninth, playing center.  Of cou= rse, Coop will turn in his line-up card prior to the game.  For Hyatt’s homer contest, J= astro again predicts it will be Pence in the fifth and Ausmus in the seventh.  Thank you for stopping in and plea= se check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can be seen here.  Let’s start winning again by= winning this game tonight, GO ASTROS!

4-15-08:  Chacon = Kills Phil’s, Valverde Toils & Spoils, ‘Stros Lose #9—4-3…..

Ghosts of Woody were exorcised by Mr. Cha= con in Philly tonight and the ‘Stros let a game slip away, again.  Jeopardy is on, so thanks for chec= king in and please check back for Jastro’s recap, if he doesn’t close the Freedom Bar on MLK Blv= d in Philly.  Better yet, it has= been a couple of years since Jastro has been at Juicy-Fruit, but the trainer nee= ds to catch one of the varmints that live there and slowly, ritualistically, d= rain that suckers blood in front of Valverde.&n= bsp; Then go file his tax return, for him.

4-15-08:  Opening= a 3-Game Series in Philly on Tax-Day

Excellent finish the short homestand, win= ning a series and going 3-3.  Wandy looked great, again, going seven innings and allowing only the homer by Willingham leading off the fourth inning.&= nbsp; Four other Marlins reached first base on four singles and a walk whi= le Rodriguez struck out seven more.  Ross had three hits in the game, including a double off of Slow-Movi= ng Valverde, and stole second in the second inning.  Bourn hit his first homer as an As= tro and Towles hit his third, a two-run job in the second.  Towles walked in an RBI before his beaning in the eighth.  Berkman contributed an RBI double in the seventh.

This evening at 6:05 CDT the 5-8, last pl= ace in the Central Astros open a three game series in Philadelphia against the 6-7 Phillies.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  The Phillies will start righty Adam Eaton (0-0, 3.95 ERA) against Chacon (0-0, 3.75 ERA).  Chacon needs to keep the momentum rolling with a strong performance and his first win as an Astro.  Jastro mixes it up as follows today:  RF Pence, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, 3B Blum, 2B Loretta, C Ausmus, Chacon on the mound and Bou= rn batting ninth, playing center.  Of course, Coop will turn in his line-up card prior to the game.  For Hyatt’s homer contest, J= astro predicts it will be Pence in the fifth and Ausmus in the seventh.  Every time Chacon takes the mound = Jastro will see a ghost of Woody in the ballpark.=   Ausmus will gain insight from catching Chacon, the weakest of the ‘Stros starting five, and that could be very important to the team.  Thank you for stopping in and plea= se check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can be seen here.  Let’s keep on winning by win= ning this game tonight, GO ASTROS!

4-13-08:  Wow, 5-= 0; Now, Let’s Win This Series!

Way to go Astros!  The Marlins were left all over the= bases (14 times) and held scoreless by four Astro pitchers.  Backe records the first win for an Astros’ starting pitcher and Brocail threw a perfect eighth inning, t= he only one recorded by an Astro pitcher.&nbs= p; Pence’s head will probably still be bobbling today when Coop throws him back down in the batting order today.  In his bobbledied debut, Pence whi= ffed twice, walked and was caught stealing in five plate-appearances.  Ausmus’s 2-4 night with a run scored, an RBI-double and a whiff improved his batting average 200 points, = but the Astros improved their average by 12 points, 33 points higher than Ausmus’s.  No doubt Ausm= us will not start today, after playing the night game and all.  Berkman continues to hit right-han= ded better than he hit anything last April and now has 4 homers and nine RBI go= ing into this afternoon’s game with a five-game hitting streak.

This afternoon at 1:05 CDT the 4-8, last place in the Central Astros need a win t= o even this three-game series with the 7-4, first place in the East Marlins.  The outcome of this game will not = change either team’s place in the standings, but a series win by the Astros = will be huge.  Cy Young candidate Wandy-Rod will go for his first win this season and hand the ‘Stros t= heir first two-game winning streak and first series win.  The Marlins should start the 25-ye= ar old righty Burke Badenhop (0-0, 0.00 ERA) against Wandy (0-0, 2.92 ERA).  Badenhop made his MLB debut when he pitched one scoreless inning of relief last Wednesday at Washington, whiffi= ng one Nat.  Jastro mixes it up as follows today:  RF Pence, SS T= ejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, 3B Blum, C Towles, 2B Loretta, Wandy on the mound and B= ourn closest to the flagpole, batting ninth.&nb= sp; Of course, Coop will turn in his line-up card prior to the game, and= he can’t go wrong with Wandy on the mound.  For Hyatt’s homer contest, J= astro predicts it will be Towles in the fifth and Pence in the seventh.  Thank you for stopping in and plea= se check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can be seen here.  Let’s win again by winning t= his game and series today, GO ASTROS!

4-12-08:  A “Must” Win

Tonight at 6:05 CDT the 3-8, last place Astros need a win to even this three-game series with the 7-3, first place Marlins.  A loss will guarante= e the Astros’ fourth consecutive series loss of the young season and should= be unthinkable.  The Marlins shou= ld start the 22-year old lefty Andrew Miller (0-1, 12.91 ERA) against Backe (0= -1, 3.27 ERA).  Jastro mixes it up= as follows tonight:  RF Pence, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, 3B Blum, C Towles, 2B Loretta, with Backe on the mound and Bourn batting ninth, playing center.  For Hyatt’s homer contest, J= astro predicts it will be Tejada in the third, Towles in the fifth and Berkman in= the seventh.  Thank you for stoppi= ng in and please check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can be seen here.  Let’s start winni= ng again by winning this game tonight, GO ASTROS!

4-11-08:  Wake-Up= Call

The Astros need a shake-up in their last place in the majors’ batting average.  A .221, Brad Ausmus’ career average is 31 points higher!  = Coop needs to do something before McLane does, and before Matsui comes back.  Tonight at 7:05 CDT the 3-7 Astros= will open a three-game series with the 6-3 Marlins.  The Marlins should start the recen= tly designated fifth starter, righty Ricky Nolasco (0-0, 0.00 ERA) against Oswa= lt (0-2, 6.00 ERA).  Jastro mixes= it up as follows tonight:  RF Pence,= 2B Loretta, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, SS Tejada, 3B Blum, C Towles, Roy on the mound and Bourn batting ninth playing center.  For Hyatt’s homer contest, Jastro hopes it will be Pence in the third, Te= jada and Towles in the fifth, and Berkman in the sixth.  Thank you for stopping in and plea= se check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can be seen here.  Let’s start winning again by winning this game today, GO ASTROS!

 

4-9-08:   Br= aden Looper (1-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. Chris Sampson (0-0, 2.70 ERA)<= /h1>

The Cards will throw another hittable rig= hty at the Astros tonight in the 7:05 CDT series finally.  For the game tonight, Jastro fills= out the new-look Astros’ line-up card as follows:  CF Bourn, SS Tejada, 1B Berkman, L= F Lee, RF Pence, 3B Blum, C Towles, P Sampson and Loretta at second base.  Of course, Coop will submit his li= ne-up before the game.  For the Hyat= t home-run contest, Jastro picks Pence to hit his first dinger of the season in the se= cond inning, followed by a Blum dinger on Looper’s next pitch.  Thank you for stopping in and plea= se check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can be seen here.  Let’s start winning again by winning this series today, GO ASTROS!

4-8-08:   Ca= rds tag Geary, Beat ‘Stros 5-3

Another tuff loss, this time at home, for= the Astros.  A two-out-three-run outburst in the third set the Astros in control of the game.  Jastro is always tuff to interpret= , but it went something like this, “FDSMHG.KJ:LHGFD$# LIGHREWER- LKJLH(8G= FDD @&%-96$#^*^&”.  = Well, thank you for stopping in, and please check back for Jastro’s game re= cap as only can be seen here.

4-8-08:   Th= ompson (rhp, 1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Chacon (0-0, 3.00 ERA)

Brad Thompson is hittable, though he pitc= hed well his last outing.  For the= game tonight, Jastro fills out the new-look Astros’ line-up card as follows:  CF Bourn, SS Tejada,= 1B Berkman, LF Lee, RF Pence, 3B Blum, C Towles, P Chacon and Loretta at second base.  Of course, Coop will su= bmit his line-up before the game.  = For the Hyatt home-run contest, Jastro picks Pence to hit his first dinger of t= he season in the second inning and his second in the fifth.  Thank you for stopping in and plea= se check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can be seen here.  Let’s win again today, GO AS= TROS!

4-7-08:  Wokin’ Wandy Would’ve Won, Walwerde Wucks up (Wins), La WuaWua= Wins Home Opener  <= /span>

The Astros (3-5) win the opener at Juicy-Fruit Field thanks in large part to La Guagua (Tejada’s nickname from fans from the Dominican Republic; ‘the bus’, because he carries the team). Tejada hit the game-winning homer= in the bottom of the ninth and made a great play on Molina’s grounder up= the middle to end the Cards’ three-run ninth. 

Solo homers by Berkman (2), Lee (3) and Towles (2) gave the Astros a three-run lead going into the ninth—including back-to-back jobs by Berkman and Lee in the seventh.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>   Wandy pitched 8.1 strong inn= ings, fanning six, walking none and giving up three hits (single in the first, do= uble in the fourth and an infield hit in the eighth that prompted Coop to send h= im to the showers with a 2-0 lead). 

Jastro recorded half a handful of bonehead plays in tonight’s game.  First, Coop pulled Wandy after Molina singled in the infield passed lead-armed Loretta’s wide throw to Berkman.  Secondly, Berkman was picked off of first on a designed play by Molina with Bourn on second and Lee at the plat= e with two outs in the eighth.  Final= ly, Valverde walks Izturis on four pitches after Miles singles to lead off the ninth.  Valverde (2-0, 11.25 E= RA and a save), last years’ save leader, looks like Cy Young with two wins e= arly in the season.  Thank you for stopping in and please check back for Jastro’s game recap, as only ca= n be seen here.

4-7-08:  Astros a= nd Wandy in Home Opener 

The Astros (2-5) will open at Juicy-Fruit tonight at 6:05 CDT with lefty Wandy Rodriguez (0-0, 7.20 ERA) against the Cards (5-1) with righty Todd Wellemeyer (1-0, 1.80 ERA).  Wellemeyer won last Wednesday, whe= n he pitched five innings against the Rockies in St. Louis, giving up a fourth inning so= lo homer, three other hits, three walks and six strikeouts. 

For the game this afternoon, Jastro fills= out the new-look Astros’ line-up card as follows:  CF Bourn, RF Pence, 1B Berkman, LF= Lee, SS Tejada, 3B Blum, C Towles, 2B Loretta and Wandy on the mound.  Of course, Coop will submit his li= ne-up before the game.  For the Hyatt home-run contest, Jastro picks Berkman to hit his second dinger of the seas= on in the third inning.  Thank yo= u for stopping in and please check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can= be seen here.  Let’s start winning again today, GO ASTROS!

 

4-6-08:  Derrick Lee’s 3rd Homer of Season Propels Cubbies to 3-2 Win 

The Astros (2-5) lost today’s rubber match on a seventh inning one-out homer by Derrick Lee off of Villarreal (L, 0-1) to spoil a nice outing by Brandon Backe.  Tejada hit his first dinger as an Astro--and in the NL—leading off the seventh against Zambrano (WP, 1-= 0) to tie the game at two.  Soria= no also homered off of Backe and Kerry Wood recorded his third save of the you= ng season for the Cubbies (3-3).  Thank you for stopping in and please check back later for Jastro’s complete game/series recaps as only can be seen here.

4-6-08:  Different New-Look Line-up for Astros in Rubber Match at Wrigley 

The Astros (2-4) will send Brandon Backe (0-1, 3.60 ERA) to the mound, most likely without the ailing Berkman and Wigginton at first and third, and will play the final game of the series expecting to beat the Cubbies (2-3) and limp home with a (should have been better) 3-4 record on this first road-trip of the season before opening at = home against the Cards Monday night.  Switch-hitting, right-handed Carlos Zambrano (0-0, 0.00 ERA:  pitched 6.2 scoreless innings in a no-decision) will lead the Cubbies on the field at 1:20 CDT.

For the game this afternoon, Jastro fills= out the different new-look Astros’ line-up card as follows:  CF Bourn, RF Pence, SS Tejada, LF = Lee, 3B Blum, 1B Erstad, C Towles, 2B Loretta and Backe on the mound.  Of course, Coop will submit his li= ne-up before the game.  For the Hyatt home-run contest, Jastro picks Blum to hit his second dinger of the season = in the fifth inning.  Thank you f= or stopping in and please check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can= be seen here.  Let’s start winning again today, GO ASTROS!

4-5-08:  Astros L= ose 9-7

Well, that was a lousy game folks.  Roy might’ve got the win if Coop had been kicked out of the game early on= .  There will be more to come on this= game later.  For a blast from the past-present, please check out The Real Story.<= o:p>

4-5-08:  Astros S= hould Even Record at 3-3 Today

Roy Oswalt (0-1, 5.06 ERA) will take the mound for the Astros (2-3) today at 12:05 CDT against the Cubbies (1-3) and righty Jason Marquis (0-0).  J= astro is confident that Roy will get his groove back after faltering in his season opener and the last couple of Grapefruit starts.  = For this afternoon’s game, Jastro fills out the new-look Astros’ line-up card as follows:  CF B= ourn, RF Pence, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, SS Tejada, 3B Wigginton, 2B Blum, C Ausmus and Oswalt on the mound.  Of cours= e, Coop will submit his line-up before the game.  For the Hyatt home-run contest, Jas= tro picks Pence to hit his first dinger of the season in the third inning.  Thank you for stopping in and plea= se check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can be seen here.  Let’s win again today, GO AS= TROS!

4-4-08:  Lead-Foo= ted Loretta Costs Sampson the Victory

Jastro threatened my job on this column.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  He told me to write what he thinks= , not what he says—is that screwed up, or what?  Jastro says that Loretta looked li= ke he was climbing up-hill on the beaches of San Diego when Fukudome hit the single in the seventh inning, prior to Soto’s 2-RBI single that sent Sampson to the showers.   Actually, he is correct about the lead-footed Loretta.&nbs= p; Golden gloves just didn’t pass Loretta by; Loretta couldn̵= 7;t catch one with Ozzie’s glove.  Sampson was great and deserved the win this afternoon, but he is qui= te content that the team won.  Lo= retta was worried that his 0-3 performance at the plate, with a walk, might troub= le his under-performing teammates. 

No worry there, because it was in the low 40’s at the friendly confines; and the Astros’ won.  Besides, Wesley Wright was buying dinner.  Jastro also challenge= d the Cubbies’ right-fielder to a game of Sudoka, figuring that if Fukudome could hit a grounder by Loretta, twice, he probably couldn’t play a gentleman’s game.  =

Jastro was glad that the game was played = in sunshine, else the bugs would have set in on the slower than Milo climbing stairs Valverde. 

4-4-08:  Astros W= in 3-1 at the Friendly Confines

Chris Sampson worked 6 2/3= innings and handed the ball to Wesley Wright to retire the final out of the inning.  The Astros scored two unearned runs in the seventh to give Wright his first victory in the big-leagues.  Towles hammered a two-run homer to give the Astros a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning.  Valverde surrendered a lined homer= to DeRosa in the ninth before recording his first save as an Astro.  Before you start printing out your playoff tickets, please check back for much more on this game.  Thank you for checking in and plea= se check out Jastro’s recap of the series with the Padres in The Real Story.<= o:p>

 

4-4-08:  Astros a= t the Friendly Confines

Chris Sampson will take th= e mound for the Astros today at 1:20 CDT against the Cubbies and lefty Rich Hill.  For this afternoon’s game, J= astro fills out the new-look Astros’ line-up card as follows:  CF Bourn, RF Pence, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, SS Tejada, 3B Wigginton, C Towles, 2B Loretta and Sampson on the mound.  Jastro still wants to see Bourn ag= ainst a lefty--sooner than later--and keeping Bourn out of yesterday’s line= -up didn’t accomplish much.  Of course, Coop will submit his line-up before the game.  For the Hyatt home-run contest, Ja= stro picks Tejada in the second and seventh innings of today’s game, again.  Thank you for stopping in and please check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can= be seen here.  Let’s start winning again today!

4-3-08:  Astros L= ose Game 3-2, Series 3-1

Three doubles (Loretta-RBI, Towles-RBI and Lee), three singles (Wiggy, Loretta and Cruz) and three walks (Towles, Chac= on and Cruz) were about three hits shy of a win this afternoon as the Astros l= eft six runners on base (five on second) in the loss.  Hairston (3-3, 3B, 2B, W and 2 runs scored) and Kouzmanoff (2-4, 2-run HR, KC) share player-of-the-game honors.  Astros’ 3-4-5 b= atters (Berkman, Lee and Tejada) were a combined 1-12 with a double and three swin= ging whiffs.  Villarreal takes the = loss, giving up a one out triple to center-right-center by Hairston (with a poor relay throw by Loretta after Cruz was caught shading to left) and the game-winning RBI single by Iguchi.  The Astros stole two more bases (Berkman and Wigginton, second off of Wolf), making them 6-6 in the stolen-base department for the season.  Lee was close to being thrown out = at second on his two-out double in the eighth because El Caballo’s blind= ers on the spaciousness of PETCO Park and his own power left him hesitating at = the plate.  Thank you for stopping= in and please check back for more on the series, with Jastro’s spin̷= 0;..

4-3-08:  Berkman = Serves Game-Winning 3-Run Homer to Hoffman in the Ninth

A three pitch strikeout by Berkman in the ninth inning Tuesday earned Hoffman his first save of the 2008 season.  Last night, after blowing the save= with a rally sparked by a two-out, full-count walk to Cruz, Hoffman earned a los= s on a Berkman three-run bomb over the centerfield wall at PETCO Park; and the Astros recorded their first win of the season beating the Padres 9-6.  Valverde gave up a go-ahead run fo= r the Padres in the eighth inning but recorded the win after surrendering a single and two strikeouts in the ninth.

 

There were SIX homers hit out of the spacious PETCO, four by Astros—includi= ng back-to-back dingers by Blum and Wigginton to take a 3-0 lead into the bott= om of the second inning.  Lee also joined the homer-fest with a lead-off blast in the sixth, his 1500th career hit.  Hairston hit a le= ad-off homer in the second and Gonzalez belted a two-run blast in the third inning= to give the Padres a 4-3 lead (both off of Wandy).

 

The come-from-behind victory was a total team effort and should restore faith in the Astros’ faithless.  = Bourn was 1-5 with two whiffs, including a called strikeout to start the game, bu= t he grounded a single thru the right side of the infield after the two-out walk= to Cruz and scored the game-winning run.  Pence doubled in the first and singled in the tying run with two-out= in the ninth.  Berkman doubled fr= om both sides of the plate (surpassing his total double production last April)= and launched the game-winning homer on a 3-1 count in the ninth.  Berkman stole third with one out i= n the eighth and scored on a Tejada (0-3, SF) sacrifice-fly to tie the game 5-5.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  Lee (1-5, HR) also reached in the = first on an overthrow to first by Kouzmanoff (the only error of the game) as El Caballo was trotting to first base.  Blum and Towles contributed singles and Cruz’s walk was the on= ly Astro free-pass.

 

Wandy looked good in his first outing and went five innings giving up four earned runs on eight hits (1 double off of the heal of Lee’s glove) while walking one and whiffing six (5 swinging).=   Borkowski gave up four hits and a run in the sixth.  Geary pitched a perfect seventh, striking out two Padres swinging.

 

The Astros attempt to split the series and will send Chacon to the mound at 2:35 CDT against the Padres’ lefty Randy Wolf.  Jastro thinks that Bourn deserves a start against the lefty.  Afte= r the game, the Astros will fly to the windy city for three more afternoon games against the Cubbies before returning to Houston for their home-opener.

 

For this afternoon’s= game, Jastro fills out the new-look Astros’ line-up card as follows  CF Bourn, RF Pence, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, SS Tejada, 3B Wigginton, C Towles, 2B Loretta and Chacon on the mound.  Of course, Coop will submit his li= ne-up before the game.  For the Hyatt home-run contest, Jastro picks Tejada in the second and seventh innings of today’s game.  Th= ank you for stopping in and please check back for Jastro’s game recap as = only can be seen here.  Let’s= win again today!

4-2-08:  JASTROby= tes from the Padres’ 2-1 Victory Last Night

Jastro watched the game last night as broadcast by San Diego Channel 4 (via MLB.TV) and the capable announcers were so modest that Jastro never got their names.  When Hairston hit the game-winning upper-decker to left, Jastro thought he saw an ex-wife, Melinda, in the stands eating a hotdog and wearing a hoodie.  Before Hairston rounded third, Jas= tro realized it couldn’t be Melinda.&nbs= p; First of all, she never sat in the cheap seats at the Dome when with Jastro.  Also, Melinda wouldn’t eat a hotdog in public or wear a hoodie even if she ever got cold—she was hot!

Did everybody notice the uncanny resembla= nce of our rookie catcher, Towles, to Woody Williams?

It was pretty obvious that Chris Young, w= ith runners on first and second and two outs in the inning, would walk Cruz to = load the bases so Young could pitch to Bourn.&n= bsp; If you didn’t see the broadcast on the = San Diego station, you had to wonder why Young threw four straight balls to Bourn.&= nbsp; In the bottom of the fifth inning, Young was shown on the bench in a very unflattering manner—coughing up some serious lung-cheese (a term used by the modest announcer).  The ball was probably sticking to his fingers!

 

Tonight, Wandy will take the hill for the Astros against these same Padres at 9:05 CDT.  The veteran righty Greg = Maddox will start for the Padres.  Wa= ndy should benefit from an Astros offense that is improving greatly from game to game:  From zero runs to one r= un scored, from four hits to six hits and from four walks to six walks; while simultaneously lowering the runs scored against them from four to two.  JastroDamus predicts that the Astr= os will win 4-0 while collecting nine each, hits and walks.<= /b>

 

For tonight’s game, = Jastro fills out the new-look Astros’ line-up card as follows  CF Bourn, RF Pence, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, SS Tejada, 3B Wigginton, C Towles, 2B Blum and Wandy on the mound.&nb= sp; Of course, Coop will submit his line-up before the game.  Thank you for stopping in a= nd please check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can be seen here.  Let’s start winning tonight!=

4-2-08:  Astros S= core a Run on Bourn’s RBI Walk, Lose 2-1

A 2-run no-doubt-about-it blast to the left-field upper deck at PetCo Field by Scott Hairston off of Backe in the fourth inning was all the Padres needed to hand the Astros their second los= s in as many games for the new season.  Bourn walked twice, stole his third base of the year and made another great catch= at the center field wall to earn Jastro’s player-of-the-game honors.  A double by Berkman, two hits by P= ence, singles by Tejada, Lee and Wigginton, and four walks (plus the previously mentioned walks to Bourn) completed the Astros’ offense.  Bases were left loaded twice by the Astros in the game.

Jastro’s bone-head play-of-the-game honors go to the Padres’ Hairston, who was tagged out off of third ba= se with two out in the eighth after thinking that McAnulty was thrown out on at first by Tejada on an infield-hit.  Please check back for more on the game and Jastro’s spin…= ;..

4-1-08:  2008 Astros’ Opening Day:  Roy Oswalt vs. Jake Peavy

Jake Peavy and the Padres started the 2008 season where they left off last year:  Peavy pitched seven scoreless innings and the Padres shut-out the As= tros 4-0.  The Padres recorded a major-league leading 20 shut-outs last season.  Last season’s pathetic Astros’ offense was shut-out seven times.  Peavy was the Padres offensive sta= r as well, going 1-1 with two RBI, a sacrifice fly and a walk—all off of h= is buddy Oswalt.  Jastro is glad = the team know has put the opening day jitters behind them and can now start to focus on the business at hand—winning baseball games!

 

Last night was the first opening day start for outfielders Bourn and Pence.  Bourne was quite impressive at the= plate and in the field last night.  = He started the game with a ground single up the middle and worked a seven-pitch walk with two out in the fifth inning.&nbs= p; Both times he reached first, he stole second base.  Unfortunately, Pence swung at the = first pitch in the first inning—before Bourn could swipe second.  Bourn also made a nice catch in de= ep right-center on a two-out, bases-loaded fly ball off the bat of Padres̵= 7; clean-up hitter Adrian Gonzalez to retire the side in the Padres’ six= th inning.

 

Tejada made a couple of nice defensive plays on ground balls hit up the middle and went 2-4 at the plate with a double.  He would have shared Jastro’s player-of-the-game honors with Bourn, except that he was thrown out at second base trying to stretch his lead-off single in the ninth inning into a double—with the Astros down 4-0.  Loretta had the only oth= er Astros’ hit and also walked.  Berkman walked twice in the game.&n= bsp; The Astros managed to only get to second base on the Padres (Bourn t= wice after stealing the base, Tejada on his double and Loretta after his walk an= d a fielders’ choice) and each time the runners were stranded.=

 

Unfortunately, Tejada’s base-running blunder did not win Jastro’s bone-head play-of-the-game honors.  Jastro’s Mother introduced him to baseball with the entry of t= he Colt 45’s into the major leagues.&nb= sp; She is a life-long Cardinals fan and Houston was the Cardinals’ farm c= lub (Buffalos).  Jastro’s Mo= ther always said that a manager should never burn all of his catchers in a game.  Sure enough, reminding = Jastro of Garner, Coop did just that in the seventh-inning last night.  Loretta walked with one out and Co= op pinch-hit Erstad for Ausmus.  = Erstad grounded-out, moving Loretta to second, and Coop pinch-hit Blum for the pitcher’s spot.  Blum hi= t a fly-ball out to center, stranding Loretta at second to end the inning.  Towles, still not 100% recovered f= rom a spring injury, took over the catching duties with Moehler on the mound in t= he bottom of the inning.  Ausmus,= Blum and Erstad were historical at this point.&= nbsp; Jastro guesses that Cruz or Perez (the only bench players left for C= oop) were still available to catch if something would have happened to Towles?

 

Wright retired the only batter he faced to end the Padres’ seventh and Geary pitched a perfect eighth, striking out two.

 

Tonight at 9:05 CDT, Backe takes the mound for the Astros against the Padres’ righty Chris Young.  Jastro fills out the new-look Astros’ line-up card as fo= llows  CF Bourn, RF Pence, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, SS Tejada, 3B Wigginton, C Towles, 2B Blum and Backe on the mound.&nb= sp; Of course, Coop will submit his line-up before the game.  Thank you for stopping in a= nd please check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can be seen here.  Let’s start winning tonight!=

3-31-08:  2008 Astros’ Opening Day:  Roy Oswalt vs. Jake Peavy

The Astros will open the 2= 008 season tonight in San Diego and face the reigning CY YOUNG winner when righty Jake Peavy takes the moun= d for the Padres at 9:05 CDT.  Jastro fills out the new-look Astros’ line-up card as follows:  CF Bourn, RF Pence, 1B Berkman, LF= Lee, SS Tejada, 3B Wigginton, 2B Blum (or Perez if Blum’s still healed), C Ausmus and Oswalt pitching.  Of course, Coop will submit his line-up before the game.  This should be a great ballgame an= d the Astros are fortunate that a long-time nemesis, Jim Edmonds, will not play during this four-game series.  Jastro expects a convincing win by the good guys tonight and predicts that Pence and Tejada will be the offensive stars for the Astros!  Thank you for stopping in and plea= se check back for Jastro’s game recap as only can be seen here.