Three wins in a row? On Monday people were joking that this time wouldn't win three games all season. Suddenly, pitchers are making pitches, hitters are making contact, the defense is making plays... These guys actually look like a competitive ball club! Some more thoughts on last night's win:
1) Bud Norris pitched like an ace last night. I don't care if the Angels entered the game 2-7 and in last place in the AL West (can you believe that we're actually NOT in last place???), this is still a lineup that boasts Mike Trout, Albert Pujols AND Josh Hamilton. And yet Norris went out and threw 7 strong innings allowing just 3 hits and didn't allow a runner to get past FIRST BASE!! That's what your ace is supposed to do. Go out and absolutely slam the door on your opponents. They shouldn't want any part of you every fifth day. And let's not undersell the importance of him pitching SEVEN innings. Only two other Astros starters had even pitched SIX in the first nine games. That's huge for our struggling bullpen and takes a lot of pressure off of them.
2) Want to talk hitting streaks? Justin Maxwell has now hit in 8 straight after adding a double and a home run last night. He's now hitting .359 this season. Chris Carter, meanwhile, has hit in 5 straight, and Jason Castro has hit in six straight. Hey, if they're all going to slump at the same time, it's only fair that everyone get hot at the same time.
3) Speaking of Maxwell, I never would have thought of hitting him second. He's got good speed, but I just figured he struck out too much, and in last year's lineup he was the only legitimate power threat so it made sense to hit him in the middle of the order. Seems to be working out pretty good right now though. He's hitting for average, has scored a team high 8 runs, is tied for the team lead in walks, and most importantly, he's cut down on the strikeouts. Kudos to Bo Porter for thinking to try him there.
4) Do you know who the team leader in rbis is right now? Rick Ankiel with 8. Ankiel has 8 rbis despite being 4 for 22 with 16 strikeouts. That means on balls he puts in play, he's hitting .667 with 1.3 rbis per contact. That's ridiculous.
5) The Astros, not known for their patient approaches at the plate, actually drew six walks last night. And I'm going to be honest with you, that's HUGE for this team. Whether or not you buy into Moneyball, the reality is that 1) you want guys to get on base any way they can, 2) if we're drawing walks, it means to at least some extent we're not chasing balls out of the strike zone, and 3) we're forcing opposing pitchers to throw more pitches and getting them out of the game quicker. Case in point, last night, known Astro kryptonite Tommy Hanson threw 108 pitches in 5 innings of work.
6) The Astros will be facing Garrett Richards in lieu of Jered Weaver today. Richards made 30 appearances for the Angels in 2012 (9 starts) and was 4-3 with a 4.69 ERA while opposing teams hit .280 against him. I would expect to see the struggling Brett Wallace back in the lineup today after a couple of days off, especially with the tough lefty C.J. Wilson set to go on Sunday. That said, Bo may not want to mess with what's working. And let's face it, could you blame him?
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