After a short but successful 3-1 homestand, the Stros (8-7) hit the road for a weekend series in St. Louis (9-5) and then a series in Pittsburgh (5-11) during the first part of next week before returning home on Friday the 29th to begin a six game homestand against the Cubs(8-8) and the Pirates.
The most recent homestand featured this Stros club’s strength, which is solid starting pitching. The Rocket, Brandon Backe, Roy O, and Pettitte all had strong performances, and the only reason the Stros didn’t win all four games was that they couldn’t muster a run in 12 innings in Clemens’ game against the Braves. Oswalt’s performance (9 IP, 4 H, 1 R/ER, 0 BB, 8 K’s) was particularly masterful as he mowed down the Brew Crew in a little more than two hours with a devastating combination of a 95 mph heater and a 70 mph curve. By the way, the 27 year old Oswalt is well on his way to becoming the best pitcher in Stros history. After 2.97 ERA/21 RSAA (RSAA explained here) and 3.49 ERA/22 RSAA seasons in 2003-04, Oswalt is off to a 3.41 ERA/3 RSAA start in his first 4 starts. He has a 3.12 career ERA, compared to a league average of 4.25 during his career, and a 108 RSAA in 124 games. Roy O already holds the Stros record for career RSAA:
1 Roy Oswalt 108
2 Billy Wagner 99
3 Mike Hampton 76
4 Dave Smith 75
5 Octavio Dotel 67
6 Nolan Ryan 60
7 Wade Miller 56
8 Don Wilson 55
9 Joe Sambito 53
10 Larry Andersen 45
By the way, if you want to miss one of the Stros’ games this weekend during the St. Louis series, you may want to make it tonight’s game. The Stros trot out fifth starter Brandon “Home Run” Duckworth to the mound against the Cards’ power lineup, so this one could get ugly fast.