The Stros officially hit oblivion on Sunday afternoon as they they hacked away with futility at Jose Lima’s change up and lost the third of their four game series with the Dodgers, 7-4.
Roy O started on three days rest and battled gamely, giving up 3 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks over 6 innings. But then Weathers gave up a grand salami to Lo Duca in the eighth and the Dodgers cruised to the win. The Stros got their usual six hits, with Beltran and Everett cranking two run yaks to account for the Stros four runs.
The Stros are 44-44 at the All-Star break, 11 games behind the Cards in the NL Central, and 4 1/2 games behind the Giants for the NL Wild Card spot. Since winning 10 of 12 games for a 21-11 record as of May 11, the Stros are an atrocious 23-33. That’s a lousy two months, and the Stros’ hitting statistics reflect it.
Here are the Stros’ hitters’ runs created against average (“RCAA,” explained here) through Friday’s games, courtesy of Lee Sinins:
Lance Berkman 33
Craig Biggio 10
Jeff Bagwell 6
Mike Lamb 5
Carlos Beltran 4
Eric Bruntlett 1
Jeff Kent 1
Chris Burke -1
Jose Vizcaino -1
Jason Lane -3
Orlando Palmeiro -3
Raul Chavez -8
Richard Hidalgo -9
Morgan Ensberg -11
Adam Everett -17
Brad Ausmus -20
The Stros’ team RCAA has now plummeted to -13. During their feeble West Coast swing, the Stros have fallen from 7th to 12th out of the 16 National League teams (only the Brewers, Rockies, DBacks, and Expos are worse).
Berkman continues to have a solid overall season, but he has fallen to ninth and eighth in RCAA and OPS (on base average + slugging percentage) respectively after challenging Bonds for first place earlier in the season. Berkman’s RCAA now is the same as it was on May 30, so Berkman has been precisely an average player in the National League over the past month and a half.
But things get even worse. The Stros now have two players (Everett and Ausmus) among the worst ten hitters in the National League, and Ausmus is bearing down on Neifi Perez for the lead in that dubious category. Moreover, Ensberg — who followed up last weekend’s promising performance against the Rangers with a horrid West Coast trip — is not far from breaking into the ten worst hitters in the NL. That means that four out of the Stros’ nine hitters in most games (Everett, Ausmus, Ensberg, and the pitcher) are are producing far fewer runs than an average National League hitter would be generating.
And they aren’t the only ones not performing. Bags has had a -4 RCAA and is 43rd in OPS among regular players in the National League, the lowest position for Bagwell in those categories in his career. Similarly, Kent a -3 RCAA since May 30 and beyond Bidg, Lamb, and Viz, no other Stro player has had a positive RCAA since May 30. Indeed, Beltran leads the Stros in RCAA since joining the club in June.
Remarkably, the Stros’ pitchers’ runs saved against average (“RSAA,” explained here) is actually improving:
Roger Clemens 23
Brad Lidge 12
Wade Miller 11
Roy Oswalt 11
Octavio Dotel 5
Dan Miceli 4
Andy Pettitte 2
David Weathers 2
Kirk Bullinger 1
Mike Gallo 1
Pete Munro 0
Brandon Backe -2
Jeremy Griffiths -3
Ricky Stone -3
Jared Fernandez -6
Chad Harville -7
Brandon Duckworth -10
Tim Redding -14
The Stros team RSAA is fourth in the National League behind only the Cards, Mets, and Cubs. Clemens remains one of the best pitchers in the league, and Lidge and Roy O’s RSAA are improving steadily. Miller remains a big loss for the club, and Harville, Duckworth and Redding are disasters, but perhaps Carlos Hernandez will be called up from AAA New Orleans and provide some spark to the bullpen during the second half of the season.
The Cards have emerged as the clear power in the NL Central over the past two weeks and should win the division easily if current trends hold. The Cubs remain a solid wild card contender and the Stros should eventually overtake the Reds and the Brewers for third in the division, although the Brew Crew is gaining on the Stros statistically and could maintain their position over a discouraged Stros ballclub. The Reds’ lack of pitching should continue to grease their skid during the second half of the season.
The bottom line: The Stros pitching is good enough to contend for a wild card spot. However, unless Bags, Kent, and Ensberg heat up considerably, the Stros’ lack of hitting will prevent them from contending for a playoff spot. Inasmuch as Bags and Kent are in age-related declines, and Ensberg still is not a proven big league hitter, my bet is that the Stros’ hitting will not improve enough in the second half of the season to contend for the wild card spot.

The Stros wasted another strong pitching performance from the Rocket as the Dodgers used a three run yak from Paul Lo Duca to fuel a 3-1 victory before another crowd of over 45,000 at Dodger Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Clemens was magnificent, as he gave up only 4 hits and 3 runs over seven innings while fanning 8 and walking 2. However, the Stros other than Berkman had one hit (a Jeff Kent single) as they made journeyman Dodger starter Wilson Alvarez look like Fernando Valenzuela in his prime. Typical of the Stros’ hitting this season, they loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, but were only able to score the one run (on Mike Lamb‘s sac fly). “That was the ol’ ball game.”
In an interesting matchup tomorrow afternoon, ex-Stro fan favorite Jose Lima pitches for the Dodgers against the Stros’ Roy O, who will be pitching on only three days’ rest with the All-Star Game break coming up. Inasmuch as the playoff propects for the Stros now appear to be remote at best, these types of matchups are the only games that we will be able to look forward to for the remainder of this season.

Brad Lidge induced Shawn Green to hit into a nifty game-ending 3-6-1 double play with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to spur the Stros to a 3-2 over the Dodgers on Friday night before almost 53,000 at Dodger Stadium in L.A.
Andy Pettitte rebounded from last Sunday’s awful outing against the Rangers and allowed just two runs on four hits, striking out four with no walks over seven innings. Lidge pitched the last two innings, and really had an adventure in the ninth as he almost walked in the tying run.
The long dormant Stros’ bats generated only seven hits, including Carlos Beltran‘s solo yak. Light hitting Viz drove in the winning run in the eighth after Palmeiro blooped a pinch double and Bidg sacrificed him to third. Both Beltran and Viz left the game with bruise injuries, but neither appeared to be serious.
By the way, inasmuch as Viz has had a good week of hitting, his slugging percentage is now approaching that of Bags, a clear sign that Bags’ decline this season is not a temporary slump. We are seeing the inevitable decline of a Hall of Fame quality player. I am now just hopeful that Bags and the Stros can work out an arrangement that will allow Bags to retire with dignity and not sully his Hall of Fame quality career.
The Rocket takes the hill for the Stros on Saturday afternoon against the Dodgers’ Wilson Alvarez (2-3, 3.77) as the Stros struggle to stay in the playoff hunt. The Stros enter Saturday’s game 9.5 games behind the Cards in the NL Central race, but only 2.5 games behind the second place Cubbies.

The Stros’ listless offense once again doomed the club to a loss as the Dodgers crusied to victory in the first game of their four game pre-All-Star game series on Thursday night, 7-2.
After their relative offensive explosion of scoring five runs on Wednesday, the Stros were back to their normal performance levels on Thursday with a total of five hits. The only extra base hit was Bidg‘s 13th yak in the third. The Stros’ overall display of offensive incompetence was punctuated by the eighth inning when the Dodgers’ Darren Dreifort walked the bases loaded with one out and Berkman coming to bat. Berkman promptly imitated Ausmus and grounded into a DP.
Brandon Duckworth started the game for the Stros after a month-long demotion to AAA New Orleans and served up his usual dose of mediocrity, allowing three runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings. Although he did not give up a yak, Duckworth has now given up 16 earned runs and 24 hits over 16 innings in five starts this season. Given Duckworth’s dismal performance this season, it is yet another example of the Stros’ futility that they keep trotting him out there to pitch this season.
Andy Pettitte, the Rocket and Pete Munro pitch the final three games of the Dodger series for the Stros, who are now nine and a half games behind the Cards and sinking fast in the NL Central.

Roy O had his game face on and Jose Vizcaino did his best imitation of Lance Berkman as the Stros salvaged the final game of their series against the Padres, 5-1.
Oswalt was steady and unyielding, giving up six hits, three walks and a run in seven and a third quickly paced innings. After he uncharacteristically walked two straight with one out in the eighth, Jimy Williams pulled Oswalt in favor of Brad Lidge who secured the win by fanning four of the six batters he faced.
Viz had a two run yak in the first and three more hits (including two doubles) later in the game, which is an anecdotal performance that has the bad side effect of prompting Williams to overplay the normally light-hitting Viz (.319 OBP and .345 SLG. in 15 MLB seasons) for the forseeable future. The Stros had twelve hits — a veritable offensive explosion for them — but left 14 runners on base and failed to score after loading the bases in the first, second, and sixth.
The sixth inning situation was particularly egregious as the Stros loaded the sacks with no outs, and then Bags and Lamb whiffed, and Everett popped out weakly to second.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to watch Bags struggle at the plate. He has had a Hall of Fame quality career, but is now a tremendous burden to the Stros — a singles hitting first baseman who whiffs often and is owed an incredible $39 million over the next three seasons (at least Bags has an All-Star quality agent). Bags’ contract is the last big one the Stros have stemming from the overheated players’ market from several years ago, and it is my sense that the Stros simply need to bite the bullet and arrange the best deal possible either to pay a large portion of Bags’ contract in connection with a trade or simply buy out Bags’ contract. The Stros will lose between $10-13 million over each of the next three seasons on any such deal, but the first loss is always the best loss in this type of situation.
Bags is still the fifth most productive hitter on the team (behind Berkman, Beltran, Bidg, and Lamb), but he is now a relatively unproductive first basemen (currently ninth in hitting among first basemen in the National League) and it is much more likely that his decline will continue (his hitting statistics have been declining for over five straight seasons now) than turn around. Moreover, his continued presence prevents the Stros from retooling their club, including the move of Berkman to first, trying to ink Beltran to a deal, and playing younger players such as Jason Lane in the OF spot that opens by moving Berkman to 1B. Finally, by moving or releasing Bags, perhaps that would have the fringe benefit of prompting the Stros to release Bags’ buddy Brad Ausmus (-18 RCAA, explained here), who is now competing neck and neck with Neifi Perez in the race to become the most unproductive hitter among regular National League ballplayers this season.
The Stros now bus up the West Coast to Dodger Stadium for a four game weekend series with the Dodgers leading up to the All-Star break. The Stros’ starting pitching for the series is a bit up in the air, as the Stros recalled Brandon “Launching Pad” Duckworth (he has given up an incredible 10 yaks in only 25 innings this season) from AAA New Orleans to start one of the games. Andy Pettitte will start the Friday night game.

The punchless Stros continued their quest to become an afterthought in the race for a playoff spot as they lost their second straight game to the Padres at Petco Park on Tuesday night, 5-3. The hapless Stros are now 42-41 on the season and nine games behind the Cards in the NL Central.
This game was fairly typical for this Stros team as they cranked out their usual 8 total bases, 4 of which came on Ausmus‘ solo yak in the fifth. With that crank, Ausmus finally achieved double figures in extra base hits this season — it took him “only” 67 games to do so. Alas, he still has hit into more double plays than extra base hits. Bags — the highest paid singles hitters in baseball — had a 2 run single, which completed the Stros’ offensive outburst. Starting pitcher Pete Munro was equally mediocre, giving up four runs and seven hits in four innings.
Roy O at least gives the Stros a chance on Wednesday night against the Pads’ Jake Peavy, who has one of the best ERA’s in the league. Just what the Stros’ hitters need at this point. After this game, the Stros travel to L.A. to face the Dodgers over the weekend in a four game set.

The listless Stros’ hitters and Miceli blew another fine performance from the Rocket as the Pads scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth to win Monday’s first game of the clubs’ three game series, 2-1.
Clemens was magnificent as usual, giving up only a run on three hits with four walks over seven innings. Miceli couldn’t match that brilliance in the eighth, as he gave up the game winning hit to Klesko (who is having an Ensberg-like bad year) and giving Astro-killer Trevor Hoffman the opportunity to close out the win in the ninth.
Meanwhile, the Stros’ hitters made Brian Lawrence look like the Rocket as they could manage only five hits, including Bidg‘s leadoff yak. Of course, Stros’ manager Jimy Williams inexplicably continues to bench Mike Lamb, Jason Lane, and Chris Burke while playing such futile hitters as Viz and Bags, whose slugging percentage has dropped to an embarrassing .442, fifth points below Biggio’s. Not an auspicious beginning for their first game in the Pads’ new Petco Field.
The Stros are now eight games behind the Cards in the NL Central as a division title has become a pipe dream. Absent an unforseen turnaround on the remainder of this West Coast swing, the Stros may not even be in contention for the wild card playoff spot by the All-Star break.
The Stros send Pete Munro to the hill on Tuesday night against the eminently hittable Ismael Valdez. At least the Stros can enjoy the wonderful weather while whiffing in the San Diego moonlight.

Since leaving the Stros, Richard Hidalgo is doing his best Carlos Beltran imitation in New York.

The best thing that can be said about Sunday afternoon’s Stros-Rangers game is that I decided to go to Saturday night’s game instead. The Rangers used Sunday’s game for extra batting practice and pounded the Stros, 18-3.
The Stros tried five different pitchers on Sunday, and the Rangers pounded four of them into oblivion. Tim Redding was particularly atrocious, giving up six runs in one inning as he continues to make a strong case for banishment to New Orleans. Wade Miller‘s injury is probably the only reason Redding is still with the club. Starter Andy Pettitte was not much better, giving up six runs and eight hits over five innings.
As they leave for their pre-All Star game West Coast swing, the Stros are 42-39, tied with the Brew Crew for fourth in the NL Central, and seven games behind the NL Central leading Cards. Ensberg showed signs of life by hitting three yaks in the weekend series with the Rangers, but the remainder of the club apart from Berkman and Beltran continue to show little pop in their bats.
Here are the Stros’ hitters’ runs created against average (“RCAA,” explained here) through Friday’s games, courtesy of Lee Sinins:
Lance Berkman 37
Craig Biggio 12
Jeff Bagwell 9
Mike Lamb 9
Carlos Beltran 5
Jeff Kent 3
Eric Bruntlett 1
Jason Lane -2
Orlando Palmeiro -2
Jose Vizcaino -4
Morgan Ensberg -5
Raul Chavez -6
Richard Hidalgo -8
Adam Everett -11
Brad Ausmus -18
Berkman continues to be one of the best hitters in baseball despite the fact that, at least before the acquisition of Beltran, no pitcher in the National League was throwing him a strike (Berkman was second to Bonds during the month of June in walks). Beltran’s RCAA would be an excellent 24 if his RCAA with Kansas City is added to his Stros figure.
Bidg‘s solid season at the plate continues, although he is having his adventures in left field these days. Ensberg’s number should improve when his big weekend numbers are added, and Lamb clearly should be playing more.
Bags‘ seemingly bottomless power decline continues and he is now among the lower tier of first basemen in the National League. Ausmus is now closing in on being the worst hitter among regular players in the National League and should be benched in favor of Chavez, who is merely less bad.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Stros rank seventh in the National League in team RCAA, but every team in the NL Central except for the Brewers have a better team RCAA.
Here are the Stros’ pitchers’ runs saved against average (“RSAA,” explained here):
Roger Clemens 19
Brad Lidge 9
Wade Miller 9
Roy Oswalt 7
Octavio Dotel 5
Mike Gallo 3
Dan Miceli 3
Andy Pettitte 3
Pete Munro 2
Kirk Bullinger 1
David Weathers 0
Brandon Backe -2
Jeremy Griffiths -3
Chad Harville -3
Ricky Stone -3
Jared Fernandez -6
Brandon Duckworth -9
Tim Redding -10
Clemens and Lidge are solid, and Oswalt is improving after working through his abdominal injury. However, a replacement for Miller’s above average performance is no where in sight, and one can only guess who will start in Miller’s place next time (Griffiths was already sent back to New Orleans after last night’s unimpressive performance). Despite these troubles, the Stros team RSAA continues to rank fifth in the National League, although the Cards, Cubs and Brewers are division rivals that all have better team RSAA totals than the Stros.
The Cubs and Cards are still the class of the NL Central and it appears that they will have a close race for the title. The Stros should gradually overtake the Brewers and the Reds for third place in the division if performance levels of those three teams remain relatively stable with present levels. However, that’s probably as good as it will get for this Stros club unless several players get hot in the second half of the season. That’s possible, but not likely.
Berkman, Clemens and Jeff Kent all made the National League All-Star team announced today. All three deserve the honor, although Kent’s performance level is well below Berkman and Clemens. Kent is an All-Star only because of the paucity of good second basemen in the National League.
The Rocket opens the San Diego series tomorrow night, followed by Pete Munro and Roy O. The Stros then go up to L.A. for next weekend’s series with the Dodgers before taking off for the All-Star break.

My son Cody, my buddy Sage and I are at the Juice Box reporting live on the Stros-Rangers Saturday evening game using the Stros new WiFi internet service. So far, so good.
The top of the first was uneventful as newly-acquired Jeremy Griffiths got three ground outs without throwing ten pitches. In the bottom of the first, Bidg led off with an infield hit and Viz had a single to right before the first instance of managerial malpractice occurred. Jimy Williams had Carlos Beltran — arguably the hottest hitter in baseball — attempt to lay down a sacrifice bunt on the first pitch. Beltran fortunately fouled it off, then laced a stinger foul down the first base lane before being called out on strikes. Berkman then drew a walk to load the bases before Bags dutifully hit into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.
That’s a capsule of the Stros’ season so far.
Griffiths returned to form in the top of the second by walking the lead off batter. Mench generously went after a bad pitch and popped to second, but the Rangers are clearly measuring Griffiths. Delucci flied to center on a bad pitch and then Ardoin struck out. So, Griffiths is doing his best Clemens and Roy O imitation, but my sense is that next time through the lineup for Griffiths is not going to be as pleasant.
Stros coming to bat.
Arnie the Peanut Dude, who has been a fixture throwing and selling tickets at Stros’ games for about 15 years, came by in between innings and chatted with Sage and me. Arnie is a great guy and a fine golfer, and he just returned from a golfing trip to Scottsdale where he played several of the great courses out there. After playing well out there, he returned to rain-drenched Houston and could only shoot 90 at Houston Country Club yesterday where the unmowed rough is still at U.S. Open heighth.
In the meantime, Ensberg walked and Everett had an infield single to lead off the Stros’ second, which brings up Raul Chavez, who is starting his second straight game at catcher for I believe the first time this season. However, the Stros’ catcher position is a black hole, as Chavez grounds into an easy DP, moving Ensberg to third. Griffiths is up, and promptly scared Ricardo Rodriguez, the Rangers journeyman pitcher, into a balk, scoring Ensberg with the Stros first run. After Rodriguez walked Griffiths in disgust, Bidg flied tepidly to left.
As Sage noted, with two outs, the Stros called for the “balk play” and scored a run. Stros lead 1-0, but not for long.
Griffiths mowed down Matthews and Rodriguez to start the third, making it ten straight Rangers down to start the game. But this mixture of 86 mph fastballs and nickel curves will not hold the Rangers down for long. Young promptly singled to center to start Griffiths second time through the Rangers lineup, and now Blalock is looking like a hungry tiger over his prey at the plate. Incredibly, Griffiths freezes him with 89 mph heat. How long can this last?
While Cody cruised the Web for awhile, Viz grounded out and Beltran struck out again before Berkman laced a gapper for a double. Berkman came over to third on a wild pitch as Bags walked, and Ensberg has worked a 3-1 count and should get a good pitch to hit. He did, and whiffed, now a 3-2 count. Ensberg then grounded out to short to end the inning. Stros still lead 1-0.
Sage and I went up to the club level in the top of the fourth to check out the Mahi Mahi at the club buffet, but the Rangers continue to scruff against Griffiths. Three up and three down. The Stros continue not to do much better against Rodriguez, as both Everett and Chavez ground out meekly and Griffiths fans in the bottom of the frame.
This game ought to be extended batting practice for both teams and its only 1-0 through four. As they say, “that’s baseball.”
While waiting for our Mahi Mahi, Sage and I saw John Sorrentino and chatted with him awhile. John is the Stros’ Vice-President of ticket services and is a longtime Stros’ executive. We complimented him on how good the bunting looks inside the Juice Box as the Stros are getting ready for the All-Star game on July 13th. John is a good guy, and the Stros’ strong gate this season (averaging about 35,000 a game) could not happen to a nicer guy.
Meanwhile, Griffiths is starting to struggle in the top of the fifth. Delucci walked, Ardoun got on, and light hitting Gary Mathews hit a three run dinger. Batting practice is beginning. Rangers lead 3-1.
Things are going from bad to worse. Young got on, and Blalock singled him around to third. Jimy’s hook is quick tonight as Griffiths is already history. Bullinger is warming up.
Ouch. Soriano greets Bullinger with a long three run dinger. It’s now 6-1 Rangers. However, the Mahi Mahi is quite good.
After what seems like an eternity, Bullinger finally coaxes the last two outs and the Stros wander into their side of the fifth down 6-1.
Bidg starts the rally with a strike out in the bottom of the fifth. Viz gets on, then Beltran gives one a ride to deep center, but Matthews makes a nice nab. Berkman takes his obligatory walk, and now Bags is up with a chance to get the Stros back in it. Bags hits an easy grounder to short, which Young boots, so now Ensberg has a chance to do some real damage with the bases loaded.
And he did! Ensberg blasts a grand salami to deep left center. Incredible. He wins the game for the Stros last night with a two run yak and now he gets the Stros back in this one with a grand slam. It’s now 6-5 Rangers.
And the Stros may not be finished. The Rangers bring in ex-Stro Doug Brocail, and Everett and Chavez greet him with singles. Lamb pinch hits for Bullinger, and Brocail uncorks a wild pitch to move the runners to second and third. Lamb promptly singles to right and scores both Everett and Chavez, and Chavez looked like a locomotive coming home and beat the throw. It’s now 7-6 Stros!
And the Stros may not be finished yet. Young boots Bidg’s grounder to short for another error, and Brocail promptly balks Lamb to third and Bidg to second. Viz then brings Lamb home on an infield hit, bringing up Beltran. It’s 8-6 Stros. Beltran then absolutely schorches a liner at Brocail, who protects himself by batting the ball down with his glove and then remarkably recovers to throw Beltran out.
The fifth inning is finally over. It took over an hour, there were 13 runs, 10 hits, two errors, and I don’t know how many walks. In the end, it’s 8-6 Stros. Whew! Gotta eat Mahi Mahi whenever the Stros get down big.
Chad Harville is now pitching for the Stros in the top of the sixth, and he is clearly juiced by the Stros big fifth. He’s throwing smoke consistently in the mid 90’s. And wouldn’t you know it — the second off speed pitch that Harville throws Young jacks a two run yak into the Crawford Boxes. It’s 8-8 and time for more Mahi Mahi.
Brocail is back out on the hill for the Rangers in the bottom of the sixth. Berkman whiffs, Bags walks, and the Hero of the Fifth Ensberg is now up again. Brocail is careful with the red hot Ensberg and walks him to get to Everett. One positive note: at least Jimy doesn’t have Everett sacrificing. Brocail walks Everett to load the bases for Chavez with still just one out. This is getting interesting. Pinch hitter Lane on deck to hit for Harville. Chavez is battling, fouling off five pitches. He works the count to 2-2.
Uh, oh. Chavez hits a grounder to deep short. Young to Soriano at second for the first out, relay to first — Chavez head first slide — he’s safe!! Bags scores. Ball gets away at first. Ensberg tries to score. It’s a close play. He’s safe! Stros lead 10-8! Unbelievable. The Juice Box is going nuts.
Lane then absolutely smokes one to just in front of the 436 sign in deep center. The sixth is over, it’s 10-8 Stros! Gotta love that Mahi Mahi.
David Weathers is now pitching for the Stros in the top of the seventh, and Soriano greets him with a single. The dangerous Teixeira lines out to Berkman, and Mench flies out to Berkman, bringing up Herbert Perry to pinch hit for Brocail. Perry is one of those guys who either cranks a yak or strikes out, so Weathers needs to be careful. Weathers strikes him out on three pitches. Go figure. Stros still lead 10-8.
Brian Shouse, a left-handed submarine guy, is now pitching for the Rangers and walks Bidg on four pitches. The Stros need to be greedy here because a two run lead does not feel safe in this free for all, particularly with Lidge having pitched the three prior games and probably not available to close this one. Viz sacrifices Bidg to second, Beltran to the plate. Beltran’s buzzard’s luck continues as he lines to third on a nice play by Blalock. Berkman grounds out, so Bidg is left on. Stros still lead 10-8.
Weathers is still pitching for the Stros in the top of eighth, against catcher Ardoin, who promptly pops out to Berkman in right as the Juice Box’s retractable roof is opening. Matthews comes back down to earth after his three run yak earlier in the game and whiffs for the second out. But then, Bidg misplays a fly ball by LF Conti for a three base error, so the Rangers have a man on third and the top of their order coming up. Young walks and now Astro-killer Blalock is coming up. Jimy’s not going to risk having Weathers pitch to Blalock, so he brings in Miceli. The capacity crowd at the Juice Box is in deep prayer.
Deep gulp. Blalock fouls out to Ensberg. Stros maintain their 10-8 lead.
A hyperactive Juice Box crowd is now doing the wave. Gotta work off that excess energy before the fireworks show.
Frank Francisco is now pitching for the Rangers and he faces the punchless Bags, who either gets a single, grounds out, walks, or strikes out these days. He strikes out this time. Francisco then fans Hero Ensberg on three smokin’ fastballs, the slowest of which was 96 mph. Everett fouls out to first. Stros take their 10-8 lead into the top of the ninth. Hold on to your seats.
Miceli still pitching for the Stros as Soriano leads off the ninth. 3-2 count. Foul ball. Soriano bloops out to Berkman. Teixeria is up, and he laces the first pitch to right for a single. Mench is up with one out and a man on first. Mench flies out to Berkman. Two outs, Miceli vs. Young. The Juice Box crowd is up. Young singles hard to left. Rod Barajas bats for Ardoin with runners on first and second. The Juice Box crowd is still up. Miceli gets up 1-2, the Juice Box crowd is howling. Foul ball.
Whiff! Stros win 10-8! It’s time for fireworks. That’s it from the Juice Box. Over and out.