Just reported by the AP:

Clemens asked to leave son’s baseball game
Associated Press
CRAIG, Colo. — Houston Astros pitcher Roger Clemens was asked to leave a youth baseball game over the weekend for arguing a close call that went against his son’s team.
Clemens was at the game Saturday watching his son, Kacy, compete in a 10-and-under game organized by Triple Crown Sports when Clemens contested a call at second base that went against the Katy Cowboys.
He spit sunflower seeds at an umpire’s leg and was asked to leave, said Jim Carpenter, a field supervisor with Triple Crown.
“I supported the umpire’s decision and he (Clemens) respectfully left,” Carpenter told the Craig Daily Press.
Katy lost the game to the Bakersfield Curve, 11-5.
Triple Crown Sports features a franchise system aimed at pitting top teams from across the country against each other.
Clemens’ agent, Randall Hendricks, did not immediately return a call today. Clemens has racked up 322 wins and 4,240 strikeouts in his 21-year major league career.

Thank goodness the ump’s name was not Piazza!

Adam Everett‘s eighth-inning suicide squeeze drove in the go-ahead run and Roy O beat the Reds again as the Stros came from behind to win 7-5 in Cincy on Sunday afternoon.
Morgan Ensberg had three RBIs for the Stros, including a sacrifice fly in the eighth that cut the Reds’ lead to 5-4. After Jeff Kent scored the tying run on John Riedling‘s (gotta love that Reds’ bullpen) bases-loaded walk to Bidg, Everett laid down a terrific bunt that plated Bags from third. Ensberg added an RBI double in the ninth to finish the scoring.
By the way, Riedling — who epitomizes the ghastly Reds’ pitching staff this season — gave up three hits, two walks and three runs in two-thirds of an inning. Appropriately, plate umpire Andy Fletcher ejected Riedling as he walked off the field after being relieved.
Oswalt was not particularly sharp, but he improved to 9-0 in 13 career appearances against the Reds, giving up five runs (four earned) and 10 hits in seven innings while striking out eight and walking two. Oswalt had a bad inning in the fourth as the Reds scored four runs. After that, Oswalt gave up just one hit in his final three innings. Dan Miceli worked a scoreless eighth, and Brad Lidge induced a game-ending double play in the ninth for his 11th save.
Meanwhile, our weekly review of the Stros hitters’ runs created against average (“RCAA”) and the Stros pitchers’ runs saved against average (“RSAA” and RCAA explained here) reflects the Stros’ current status in the National League — barely above average and holding on to a place in the wildcard playoff race by a thread. First, the Stros hitters’ RCAA numbers, courtesy of Lee Sinins:
Lance Berkman 37
Craig Biggio 11
Carlos Beltran 10
Jeff Bagwell 8
Mike Lamb 8
Eric Bruntlett 1
Jeff Kent 0
Chris Burke -1
Jason Lane -3
Orlando Palmeiro -4
Jose Vizcaino -5
Richard Hidalgo -10
Morgan Ensberg -12
Adam Everett -12
Raul Chavez -13
Brad Ausmus -23
The Stros continue to have only five players who are hitting above what an average player would generate. Berkman, Bidg, and Beltran are each having great seasons (Beltran would have a 25 RCAA if his numbers while playing with the Royals are included). Lamb is also having a solid season in part-time play, and it is indefensible to play Ensberg over Lamb while the club still has a chance at post-season play. And, as much criticism as Bags has taken this season, he is still the Stros’ fifth best hitter even though he now ranks toward the bottom of National League first basemen.
The big problems with the Stros are at catcher (Ausmus now has the worst RCAA among regular National League players and Chavez is not much better) and the left side of the infield (Ensberg’s -12 RCAA is depressing and Everett’s -12 number is defensible only because of his superb fielding) However, this team simply does not hit well enough to cover for both Everett and Ensberg in the lineup — the Stros’ are tied for ninth in team RCAA among the sixteen National League teams.
On the other hand, despite the ignorant mainstream media’s contentions that the Stros’ bullpen is primarily to blame for the club’s subpar season to date, the Stros pitchers are actually performing quite well. Indeed, the Stros pitching staff ranks third in the National League in total RSAA:
Roger Clemens 26
Brad Lidge 14
Roy Oswalt 13
Wade Miller 11
Octavio Dotel 5
Darren Oliver 5
Pete Munro 4
Dan Miceli 3
Andy Pettitte 3
Mike Gallo 2
David Weathers 2
Kirk Bullinger -1
Chad Qualls -1
Brandon Backe -2
Jeremy Griffiths -3
Ricky Stone -3
Chad Harville -5
Jared Fernandez -6
Brandon Duckworth -8
Tim Redding -11
Clemens, Oswalt, and Lidge are as good as any three pitchers on one staff in the National League. Oliver has been a nice pickup so far, and Munro has pitched far above expectations. With the exception of Redding and Harville, the rest of the current staff is either just above or just below average, which is fine. I do think it’s time to give a couple of other pitchers in the organization — one of whom should probably be Carlos Hernandez — a chance to replace Harville and Redding.
The Stros return to the Juice Box on Tuesday for a six game set against the Braves and the Virginia, er, I mean, the Montreal Expos. The Rocket takes on the Braves’ Russ Ortiz in the Tuesday night game, which should be a good one.

First, the Stros blew the suspended game from last night to the Reds in 13 excrutiating innings 3-2, but then they came back to salvage Saturday afternoon’s game, 8-0.
The completion of the suspended game was pure agony. 13 innings, four hits, only one extra base hit (a double) against the worst pitching staff in the National League. Watching bowling or billiards would have been much more exciting than enduring that travesty.
And despite Darren Oliver‘s five inning, one hit, no walks, 6 K performance in replacing injured Andy Pettitte in Saturday’s regular game, the Stros had scored only 2 runs through eight innings in that affair. There is no better indictment of the Stros’ main problem this season — hitting generally and hitting with power particularly — than scoring just 4 runs in 21 innings against this Reds pitching staff. The last time I looked, the Reds’ staff had a negative 63 RSAA, which means that they have given up 63 more runs this season than an average National League pitching staff has allowed.
Beltran cranked a three run yak and Lamb followed with a two run toaster to run the score up in the ninth inning of the Saturday afternoon game. But make no mistake about it: If the Stros cannot score more than 4 runs in 21 innings against this Reds pitching staff, then the wildcard playoff spot will likely be out of reach for the Stros in about another week.
Roy O goes against Cincy’s most reliable starter this season — Paul Wilson — in Sunday’s rubber game. The way the Stros are struggling at the plate, I recommend highly that you keep the clicker close so that you can check out the golf tournament at frequent intervals.

Bags singled home the tying run during a deluge in the top of the sixth inning and a third rain delay forced the umpires finally to make dinner reservations and call a suspended game between the Stros and Reds on Friday night in Cincy.
The game will resume Saturday at 11:30 a.m. with the score tied at 2 and two Astros on base in the top of the sixth. The regularly scheduled game for Saturday will follow, with Andy Pettitte seeing how many pitches he can throw in that one. The bullpen better be ready today.

The Stros dropped two games at home to the National League’s worst team as the Diamondbacks held on for a 6-4 win on Thursday afternoon at the Juice Box. The Stros go to Cincy 14Ω games behind NL Central-leading Cards and 5Ω games behind the Padres for the NL Wild Card playoff spot.
The crowd of nearly 40,000 booed the Stros lustily throughout the game, particularly starter Tim Redding, who again struggled with his control. Redding gave up six runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings, while walking two, both in the DBacks’ 3 run first inning. After his rough start, Redding recovered to retire 12 of the next 13, but started to unravel in the fifth. After giving up a double, Adam Everett made a key throwing error on an infield hit by Gonzo, and then Hillenbrand followed with a two run dinger. Those three unearned runs pushed the DBacks’ lead to 6-1.
All of that went over about like a turd in the punchbowl with the Juice Box crowd.
The Stros had nine hits — including two doubles and a yak by Bidg — but could never put together the big inning against the DBacks’ rookie starter to pull even. Bidg’s first double was the 544th double of his remarkable career, moving him past Tony Gwynn for 19th all-time in the majors. His double in the fifth allowed Bidg to pass Reggie Jackson for 70th on the career hits list. It was Bidg’s 2,586th.
Pete Munro pitches for the Stros against the Reds in the first game of their weekend series on Friday in Cincy. Although the Reds can flat out bash the ball, their pitching is even worse than the DBacks. So, this series ought to be another good opportunity for the Stros to pad their hitting statistics. That means that they will probably score five runs total in the three games. That’s the kind of season it’s been.

The Rocket pitched seven innings of five hit ball as the Stros continued their domination of the hapless DBacks by winning 6-1 in the third game of their four game series on Wednesday night at the Juice Box.
As usual, Clemens was reliable, striking out eight while giving up only one run. JK and Bags whacked yaks again, while the Stros continued to improve their hitting statistics against the DBacks pitchers not named Johnson or Webb.
Tim Redding takes the hill tomorrow in the Businessman’s Special against Lance Cormier, who has a 14+ ERA. The Stros then take off to Cincy for a weekend series before returning home next week to face the Braves and the Expos.

Roy O pitched seven shutout innings and Adam Everett cranked two solo yaks as the Stros downed the Diamondbacks, 10-3 on Tuesday night at the Juice Box.
Oswalt was masterful as he struck out five while giving up only two hits and walk during his seven innings. The DBacks jumped on Kirk Bullinger for their three runs in the eighth, but Chad Harville finally pitched a decent inning in throwing a scoreless ninth.
The Stros’ hitters had extended batting practice against the DBacks’ Edgar Gonzalez and Steve Sparks as they pounded 12 hits, including Everetts’ two yaks, JK‘s two run shot, and Bags‘ three run tater. Morgan Ensberg chipped in with a couple of doubles as he continues his long road to a respectable OPS.
The Stros are looking good again tomorrow night as the Rocket takes the hill against ex-Texas Aggie Casey Fossum (6.17 ERA). Isn’t it nice getting the DBacks when Randy Johnson is not pitching?

Brandon Webb handcuffed the Stros with his array of sinkers and dinkers as the Arizona Diamonbacks beat the Stros 4-1 Monday night in the first game of their four game series at the Juice Box.
Webb was masterful, giving up 6 singles and one run in 7 1/3rd innings. This game was essentially infield practice for the DBacks as Webb’s sinkers had the Stros pounding the ball into the ground with futility the entire game.
Andy Pettitte only gave up three hits in five innings, but the problem was that two of them were back to back gopher balls in the first inning to Gonzo and Hairston. That was all Webb needed on this night. Pettitte left after the fifth game because of soreness in his left elbow, a problem that has bothered him all season. Given the club’s disminishing playoff chances, the Stros will soon have to give serious consideration to shutting Pettitte down for the season.
The best news for the Stros on this day was the signing of Troy Patton, the Tomball High School lefty who was projected as a high draft choice until he announced that he would be attending the University of Texas on a baseball scholarship. Most major league clubs backed off on him as a result of that news, but the Stros took a flyer on him in the ninth round of the draft earlier this summer and the bet has paid off. Patton will report to the club?s affiliate in Greeneville of the Appalachian League.
Patton was 12-0 with an 0.91 ERA during his senior season at Tomball High. He struck out 142 hitters in 77.1 innings pitched, while walking only 24 and allowing 24 hits. Patton threw three no-hitters this spring, including one perfect game, and opponents hit only .122 against him in 2004.
Roy O tries to get the Stros back on track on Tuesday night against some fellow with a 12+ ERA for the DBacks. The way this season is going, the game will probably be a nailbiter.

Pete Munro pitched seven shutout innings and Mike Lamb drove in three runs with a pair of doubles to lead the Stros over the Brewers 9-1 on Sunday in the rubber game of their weekend series at the Juice Box. The Stros have now won four of their last five games.
After giving up a pair of singles to lead off the second inning, Munro (2-2/4.46 ERA/0 RSAA) settled down and retired 13 of his next 15 batters. He allowed six hits, struck out a season-high five and walked none.
The Stros took a 4-0 lead in the third on Lamb’s bases-loaded double off the left-field scoreboard and Morgan Ensberg‘s two-run single. Lamb, who started at first in place of Bags, made it 5-0 in the fifth with an RBI double, and Adam Everett doubled in another run in the sixth.
In one of the more entertaining moments of the game, Jeff Kent was ejected by plate umpire Chris Guccione in the seventh after arguing a called strike two on a pitch Kent thought was low. Kent — who, as baseball people say “has a little turd in him” and yelled at Guccione “with sincerity” — kicked and threw dirt on home plate before he left the field with gusto. Jose Vizcaino replaced Kent with a 2-2 count and promptly nailed an RBI double on the next pitch. After a run-scoring wild pitch, Brad Ausmus cranked a rare yak to complete the Stros’ scoring. The Stros ended up with 12 hits, five of them doubles.
Despite the Stros’ power surge over the past week, their runs created against average (“RCAA,” explained here) continues to lag near the bottom of the National League (11th out of the 16 teams). Here are the updated individual RCAA figures, courtesy of Lee Sinins:
Lance Berkman 35
Craig Biggio 13
Carlos Beltran 8
Jeff Bagwell 7
Mike Lamb 6
Eric Bruntlett 1
Chris Burke -1
Jeff Kent -1
Jason Lane -2
Jose Vizcaino -3
Orlando Palmeiro -4
Richard Hidalgo -10
Raul Chavez -11
Morgan Ensberg -12
Adam Everett -13
Brad Ausmus -23
Thus, the Stros have only five players who are hitting above what an average player would generate and four regular players (Ausmus, Chavez, Ensberg, and Everett) who are hitting well below what an average player would produce. Inasmuch as Ensberg is the only likely candidate of those four to improve much during the second half of the season, and Bagwell is unlikely to increase his relatively pedestrian production during the remainder of the season. Consequently, I do not expect the Stros’ offense to improve enough in the second half to make them a viable playoff contender.
Meanwhile, the Stros pitchers’ runs saved against average (“RSAA,” explained here) remains in the upper half of the National League (sixth out of the 16 teams). The individual RSAA numbers are as follows:
Roger Clemens 23
Brad Lidge 13
Wade Miller 11
Roy Oswalt 9
Octavio Dotel 5
Dan Miceli 4
Andy Pettitte 3
Kirk Bullinger 1
Mike Gallo 1
Darren Oliver 1
Pete Munro 0
Chad Qualls -1
David Weathers -1
Brandon Backe -2
Jeremy Griffiths -3
Ricky Stone -3
Jared Fernandez -6
Chad Harville -6
Brandon Duckworth -8
Tim Redding -11
Although the pitching staff is performing above-average overall, the production is still a bit deceptive. Miller and Dotel, both of whom contributed above-average production, are no longer pitching for the club (Dotel has been traded and Miller’s return this season is questionable at this point due to a shoulder injury). Moreover, Harville, Duckworth and Redding are time bombs every time they take the mound, as their well-below average RSAA numbers reflect. Oswalt is a definite candidate to improve his RSAA during the second half and Redding could if he returns to his form of last season, but some leveling off of Clemens‘ incredible performance is to be expected. Accordingly, even though I expect the Stros’ pitching performance to remain above-average, I do not expect the performance to improve enough over the last part of the season to compensate for the Stros’ below average hitting and allow the Stros to compete for the wildcard playoff spot.
And, just so you will not be misinformed by the Chronicle sportswriters’ baseless criticism of Stros’ management for trading Hidalgo, Wagner, and Dotel, each of those three players has had decidedly mediocre performance this season. Although Hidalgo has a +5 RCAA since joining the Mets, he is still a -5 for the season, which makes him the best paid below average rightfielder in the National League. Dotel has a barely above average RSAA when his numbers from Houston and Oakland are combined, and Wagner has battled injuries all season while posting a relatively mediocre +5 RSAA for the Phillies. Truth be known, Stros’ management did a good job in trading each one of those players, particularly given the over-market contracts that both Hidalgo and Wagner enjoy.
The Stros send Andy Pettiitte to the hill on Monday in the first game of a four game set with the DBacks at the Juice Box. After that series, the Stros go to Cincy for a weekend series with the Reds before returning home in the first week of August for a six game homestand against the Braves and Expos.

Tim Redding pitched three-hit ball over five innings in his return to Stros’ starting rotation as the Stros beat the Brewers 6-3 on Saturday night at the Juice Box.
Redding (4-6/5.66 ERA/-14 RSAA) was demoted to the bullpen after his a poor start against Texas on June 26. He made four relief appearances for the Stros before making his 15th start of the season, in which he fanned six and walked three. Darren Oliver — who the Stros picked up from Florida on Friday — made his first appearance and struck out three in two scoreless innings of relief work. After Mike Gallo made things interesting by giving up a couple of yaks (the Brew Crew has 17 against the Stros this season) and 3 runs in 2/3rd’s of an inning in the eighth, Brad Lidge gutted up after throwing over 40 pitches in last night’s game and pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up the save.
Adam Everett and Jason Lane cranked yaks for the Stros, and Everett also had a double and Lane a sac fly to plate another run. The Stros continued their mild hitting surge, whacking 11 hits that generated 20 total bases.
Pete Munro pitches the rubber game for the Stros in Sunday’s matinee at the Juice Box, while Andy Pettitte gets the start on Monday in the first game of the next series with the DBacks.