The Astros hammered the Milwaukee Brewers this afternoon, 13-7, behind the pitching of Wade Miller and the hitting of Jeff Bagwell and Richard Hidalgo. Miller went 6 innings and gave up 2 runs on four hits, while Bags went nuclear, hitting two home runs (one of which was his sixth career grand slam), scored 3 runs, and collecting 12 total bases and 5 RBI. Hidalgo’s 4 RBI performance was almost an afterthought. The ‘Stros raked Brewer pitching for 14 hits, 6 of which were for extra bases.
About the only downside of today’s game was the continued struggles of relief pitchers Jared Fernandez and Brandon Duckworth, who combined to give up 5 runs in an inning and a third during mop up duty. Fernandez is a knuckleballer who had his moments last season for the Astros, but he has been consistently bad this season throughout the spring and the first few games. Duckworth came over to the ‘Stros in the offseason in the Billy Wagner trade, and he has been mediocre in his initial appearances. With the pitching depth that the Astros have at their AAA team in New Orleans, both of these players would be well-advised to step it up or they could find themselves on a plane to the Crescent City quickly.
The ‘Stros play the Brew Crew in afternoon games the next two days before moving on to St. Louis for a three game series beginning on Monday.