In their most improbable win of the season, the Stros scored a run in five different innings to beat the Brew Crew in the final game of the Stros marathon two week, 12 game road trip, 5-4.
Playing without Lance Berkman (at his grandfather’s funeral) and Richard Hidalgo (stiff neck) and facing traditional Astro-killer Ben Sheets, the Stros used solo yaks from JK and Viz and clutch pitching performances from Pete Munro, Miceli, Lidge, and Dotel to secure the win. To make things particularly interesting, Lidge and Dotel each loaded the bases in the seventh and eighth before retiring the side in each inning (Lidge struck out four in the seventh!).
The weekly analysis of the Stros’ hitting and pitching performance reflects that the Stros’ hitting has gone south — the Stros fell from first to fourth in National League RCAA (runs created against average,explained here) during this past week — while the pitching has actually improve considerably — the Stros went from ninth to a tie for fourth in National League RSAA (runs saved against average, explained here).
Here are the Stros’ RCAA numbers, courtesy of Lee Sinins:
Lance Berkman 39
Jeff Bagwell 10
Craig Biggio 7
Jeff Kent 7
Mike Lamb 7
Eric Bruntlett 1
Jason Lane -2
Orlando Palmeiro -2
Raul Chavez -4
Morgan Ensberg -4
Adam Everett -6
Richard Hidalgo -6
Jose Vizcaino -7
Brad Ausmus -10
Even though he cooled off over the past week, Berkman still remains the second best hitter in the National League behind Bonds. After that, the Stros hitters are continuing to struggle, as Bags is trending downward (his RCAA is about ninth among NL first basemen) and Kent is cooling off, too. Of the remaining players, Lane is showing signs of being a productive hitter (he had two more doubles today that are not included in these stats), but Ensberg and Hidalgo are still probably going to have to heat up if the Stros are going to have a chance for the post-season. Note that Everett has regressed to a negative 6 RCAA reflecting that he has no business batting second in the batting order, despite Jimy Williams‘ absurd compulsion with having Everett sacrifice at every opportunity.
Meanwhile, the Stros pitching appears to be coming around despite the first two games of the just concluded Milwaukee series. Here are the Stros’ RSAA numbers:
Roger Clemens 19
Brad Lidge 6
Octavio Dotel 5
Roy Oswalt 4
Andy Pettitte 4
Mike Gallo 3
Dan Miceli 3
Wade Miller 2
Pete Munro 1
Kirk Bullinger 0
Chad Harville -1
Brandon Backe -3
Ricky Stone -3
Jared Fernandez -6
Tim Redding -7
Brandon Duckworth -9
With Miller‘s strong performance in Seattle, all of the Stros’ starters are now above-average RSAA except for Redding, who is increasingly looking hopeless in terms of achieving any degree of reasonable consistency this season. The Stros smartly exiled Duckworth to New Orleans and added Bullinger, who at least might be worthwhile for an inning or two once in awhile. Other than Gallo (who appears to be coming back to earth) Redding, and Clemens (how could he improve?), all of the Stros pitchers appear to be reasonable prospects for improving their RSAA over the remainder of the season.
In looking at the NL Central, the statistics continue to indicate that the Reds‘ slide of the past week will continue because of their lack of pitching. The Cubs are currently the best balanced team, with the Stros and the Cards trailing in that order. All three of those teams are reasonably well-balanced on an aggregate basis.
The Stros finished the road trip with a decent 6-6 slate and return home with a 33-28 record, good for third in the NL Central behind the Cards and Reds.The Stros open up an 11 game homestand in the Juice Box on Monday night as the Rocket takes on the Cubs’ Mark Prior in what should be a classic pitching duel. The Cubs are followed into the Juice Box by the Angels and the Bucs.