Week 6 in Review

Humber is out. Ankiel is out. F-Mart is back in AAA. Edgar Gonzalez is an Astro again... BUT, despite a 2-4 week, the boys showed a lot of fight and nearly swept a 3-game series with the Angels before a bullpen meltdown in the final game of the series. Hey, it's progress...

Weekly Results

5/07   W Angels 7-6
5/08   W Angels 3-1
5/09   L Angels 6-5
5/10   L Rangers 4-2
5/11   L Rangers 8-7
5/12   L Rangers 12-7

Overall Record: 10-28
Team Batting Average: .247
Runs For: 154
Runs Against: 235
Home Runs: 39
Strikeouts/Walks (Hitting): 381/100
Stolen Bases: 18
Caught Stealing: 8
Team ERA: 5.79
Team WHIP: 1.66
Starters ERA: 6.19
Bullpen ERA: 5.36
Strikeouts/Walks (Pitching): 239/153
Times Shutout: 4
Shutouts: 1

Team Leaders (Hitting):

Average: Jose Altuve .336 (51/152)
Runs: Carlos Pena/Chris Carter 20
Hits: Jose Altuve 51
Doubles: Jason Castro 11
Triples: Justin Maxwell 2
Home Runs: Chris Carter 9
Runs Batted In: Chris Carter 22
Walks: Carlos Pena 21
Stolen Bases: Jose Altuve/Brandon Barnes 4

Team Leaders (Pitching):

Games: Wesley Wright 18
Innings: Bud Norris 45
Wins: Bud Norris 4
Saves: Jose Veras 4
Holds: Hector Ambriz 6
Strikeouts: Bud Norris/Erik Bedard 31
Quality Starts: Bud Norris 4
ERA: Bud Norris 3.40
WHIP: Bud Norris 1.49

On the Farm:

Oklahoma City (AAA) - 22-14
Corpus Christi (AA) - 21-15
Lancaster (AdvA) - 22-15
Quad Cities (LoA) - 20-15

Minor League Leaders:

Runs: Nolan Fontana (AdvA) - 34
Hits: Nolan Fontana (AdvA) - 43
Walks: Nolan Fontana (AdvA) - 34
Home Runs: George Springer (AA) - 12
RBIs: Andrew Aplin (AdvA) - 33
Stolen Bases: Jonathan Villar (AAA)/Austin Wates (AA/AAA) - 13
Wins: Bobby Doran (AA)/David Martinez (AA) - 5
Saves: Jose Valdez (AAA) - 9
Strikeouts: Vincent Velasquez (LoA) - 44

10 Reasons to be Optimistic Even Though We Lost the Last Two Games:

1) Chris Carter has struck out just 4 times in his last 7 games after striking out 49 times in his first 28. During this recent stretch, Carter is 6 for 18 with 5 runs batted in.

2) Philip Humber pitched 1 1/3 innings out of the bullpen on Thursday night and didn't allow a hit while fanning 3 and walking one. Maybe a move to the pen is just what he needs to turn things around.

3) Trevor Crowe, not known for his power, hit his first home run as an Astro last night off of Alexi Ogando.

4) When Houston faced Ogando in April he fanned 10 hitters in 6 1/3 shutout innings. Last night he didn't make it through six innings and fanned only 3. That, my friends, is progress.

5) Dallas Keuchel turned in a quality start in his first appearance in the Astros rotation this year allowing just 2 runs on 5 hits in 6 innings. Yeah, we didn't get a win, but if you're a realist, you recognize this year isn't about wins, it's about evaluating talent. Keuchel has been a pleasant surprise this year in whatever role he's been asked to fill and could help bolster a shaky rotation if he continues to pitch well.

6) Losing close games is frustrating, but having close games is a step in the right direction. If you think about it, the Astros could have very easily gone 6-2 over the last 8 games. Yeah, we're only 2-6 during that stretch, but that's about learning how to win more than it is learning to play good baseball. We're getting there, and that's reason to be excited.

7) We're two weeks into May and Brandon Barnes is still hitting .327 with an on base percentage of .413. What's more, he's been able to sustain his hot bat despite not playing every day.

8) A day after making an uncharacteristic 3 errors at third, Matty Dominguez was back to his old self again last night. Always nice to see young players with a bad short term memory and able to shake things like that off.

9) Marwin Gonzalez has put together back-to-back multi-hit games after enduring a 1 for 24 slide raising his average back up to .264. Put that together with Ronny Cedeno's .314 clip and suddenly the shortstop position has become fairly productive offensively for us.

10) Lucas Harrell struggled with his control walking 6 in 5 innings on Thursday night, but allowed just 1 earned run. I'd still like to see him work through his control issues, but it was nice to see him battle through a tough lineup despite not having his best stuff.

Holy Crap, We Won A Series!

I don't know if it was getting a day off, or the players-only meeting after sunday's loss, or the roster shake-up that came on Monday night, but the Astros are suddenly playing better baseball. Yeah, it's only two games, and yeah the Angels have been playing badly, but the Astros just strung together back-to-back close game wins over their division rivals, 7-6 and 3-1. Jose Veras just put together back-to-back saves. Bud Norris just threw 8 innings and only needed 84 pitches to do it. Jimmy Paredes has been with the Astros for 2 games and already has 3 doubles. That, in case you're keeping track, is more than Chris Carter has this season. And speaking of Carter, Trogdor the Bombinator has now homered in 2 straight games. That's huge! Even a devastatingly bad call on a missed tag at home that killed a rally and took a run off the board couldn't deter the Astros tonight. And I'll be honest, when Trout and Pujols gave the Angels 1st and 3rd with no one out in the 9th, and Trumbo, Hamilton and Kendrick due up, I started feeling queasy. But hey, they pulled it out. And I love it. More to follow tomorrow, but I just wanted to get this out there because I am PUMPED right now. The Future is Bright. Go Astros.

Week 5 in Review

The Astros ended the week with 6 straight losses. Brad Peacock and Rhiner Cruz were sent down, Erik Bedard lost his spot in the rotation, and Philip Humber fell to 0-7 on the year. No one ever said this year was going to be easy...

Weekly Results

4/29   W Yankees 9-1
4/30   L Yankees 7-4
5/01   L Yankees 5-4
5/02   L Tigers 7-3 (14 innings)
5/03   L Tigers 4-3
5/04   L Tigers 17-2
5/05   L Tigers 9-0

Overall Record: 8-24
Team Batting Average: .245
Runs For: 123
Runs Against: 198
Home Runs: 30
Strikeouts/Walks (Hitting): 323/83
Stolen Bases: 12
Caught Stealing: 7
Team ERA: 5.70
Team WHIP: 1.65
Starters ERA: 6.53
Bullpen ERA: 4.90
Strikeouts/Walks (Pitching): 199/128
Times Shutout: 4
Shutouts: 1

Team Leaders (Hitting):

Average: Jose Altuve .323 (42/130)
Runs: Carlos Pena 17
Hits: Jose Altuve 42
Doubles: Jason Castro 10
Triples: Justin Maxwell 2
Home Runs: Chris Carter 6
Runs Batted In: Jose Altuve 15
Walks: Carlos Pena 17
Stolen Bases: Marwin Gonzalez/Brandon Barnes 3

Team Leaders (Pitching):

Games: Wesley Wright 16
Innings: Lucas Harrell 39 1/3
Wins: Bud Norris/Lucas Harrell 3
Saves: Jose Veras 2
Holds: Hector Ambriz 5
Strikeouts: Bud Norris 29
Quality Starts: Bud Norris/Lucas Harrell 3
ERA: Bud Norris 3.89
WHIP: Bud Norris 1.54

On the Farm:

Oklahoma City (AAA) - 18-11
Corpus Christi (AA) - 18-12
Lancaster (AdvA) - 17-12
Quad Cities (LoA) - 17-11

Minor League Leaders:

Runs: Nolan Fontana (AdvA) - 28
Hits: Jimmy Paredes (AAA) - 41
Walks: Nolan Fontana (AdvA) - 28
Home Runs: George Springer (AA) - 10
RBIs: Andrew Aplin (AdvA) - 26
Stolen Bases: Austin Wates - 12
Wins: Bobby Doran (AA)/Michael Dimock (LoA) - 4
Saves: Jose Valdez (AAA) - 7
Strikeouts: Vincent Velasquez (LoA) - 35

Humber Falls to 0-6 in Loss

Missed opportunities early and a failed rally late resulted in a 7-4 loss for the Astros last night. The loss dropped righty Philip Humber to 0-6 on the year, although it was a much better result for him than his previous 2 starts. Some more notes on last night's game:

1) Houston had 1st and 3rd with one out in the first, bases loaded with two outs in the second, and first and second with none out in the third, and couldn't push a run across. That's just not a recipe for winning baseball. Eventually Hiroki Kuroda got into a groove, and the Yankees offense pushed some runs across, and before you knew it, the game was over. The Astros did rally scoring twice in the 8th and twice more in the 9th, but it's all about capitalizing on opportunities early (see Game 1 in this series)  and getting teams on the ropes. We did not do that last night.

2) Philip Humber gave up 9 hits in 6 innings, but 8 of them were singles. He did have four wild pitches though, two of which led to runs. I don't know if he was trying to be like his teammate Rick Ankiel, or if Jason Castro was just having an off night, or if Humber's stuff was just moving all over the place (the 9 hits would suggest otherwise), but that's a lot. Overall, Humber didn't pitch terrible, and this was a big improvement over his previous outings, so I think his spot in the rotation continues to be safe for the time being, despite calls from the armchair GMs for his head.

3) Rex Robbie Grossman reached base 3 more times yesterday drawing a pair of walks and then singling in the 9th. Hopefully he's starting to get more comfortable at the plate even though his average (.138) isn't really reflecting that yet. 

4) Trogdor the Bombinator (Chris Carter for those of you who don't regularly follow the blog) blasted a 2-run homer in the 8th inning off of David Roberton to start to bring the Astros back into the game. The homer was Carter's team-best sixth of the year and he remains tied with Jose Altuve for the team lead in rbis with 14. Carter's homer was his only hit of the night, but it was clutch, and he showed that he has big time power to all fields, driving that ball out to right.

5) The Peacock did not fly last night. After a solid start to the evening coming on in relief for Wesley Wright, the wheels came off in this second inning of work. All three hitters he faced in the 8th reached base safely, and all of them came around to score. His ERA on the year is now 9.41, and with the Astros announcing today that they're ready to call up both Jordan Lyles and Dallas Keuchel, you have to think he's on his way to Oklahoma City. I think the kid has a lot of potential, but when things start to go bad for him, they just seem to snowball and he loses all confidence. Hopefully he can get back on track and become the guy we hoped he'd be when we traded for him.

6) I have no idea who the two guys are that are going down for Keuchel and Lyles. I think it's pretty easy to say that Peacock is one, but the second one? Veras is safe. Wright is safe. And I don't know how you could justify sending down Cisnero or Clemens, both who have been very good. Travis Blackley just keeps improving so I think he's in the clear. So all that leaves are Hector Ambriz and Rhiner Cruz. And Ambriz leads the team in holds with 3. So to me that means it's going to be Rhiner. But if that's the case, who gets sent down when Josh Fields finally comes back? Keuchel again? Lyles? Bedard? It'll be interesting see where we go with this.

Carlos Corporan Channels His Inner Mickey Mantle in Astros Rout

Wow, that was fun last night. Isn't winning fun? Amazing how quickly you can forget about the Boston series and that ugly stretch of games. The fact that it was in our first ever AL game in Yankee Stadium wasn't bad either. Some thoughts on last night's big win:

1) Brandon Barnes is doing everything he can to show he deserves more playing time. After last night's 3-hit game, Barnes is now hitting a Ted Williams-esque .405 with a Barry Bonds-esque .488 on base percentage. He's playing good defense, he's stealing bases, he's getting extra base hits... Look, I'm a big fan of Fernando Martinez and Rick Ankiel, but Barnes is outplaying both of those guys right now, and until he cools off, don't you have to play him? We'll see what Bo does tonight with the righty Kuroda on the hill, but I'd start him.

2) Who was that guy disguised as Carlos Corporan last night? Mickey Mantle? Corp was 4 for 5 missing the cycle by just a triple and racked up 4 rbis... It was ridiculous. He did so much baserunning that he cramped up his 4th time around the bases and was thrown out by like 30 feet at third base. I'm not going to lie, I thought he'd pulled a Gabe Kapler and ended his season. The way this season is going, it would not have surprised me in the least that a guy like Corporan would have the game of his life, and then irreparably hurt himself. Just glad he's ok. Now we just have to get him to duplicate that on a semi-regular basis.

3) Every starter on the Astros roster should watch film of Lucas Harrell's start last night. Harrell threw strikes, threw groundball outs, and shut down an admittedly depleted Yankees lineup for 6 1/3 innings giving more rest to what's been a very taxed bullpen. Yeah, he gave up 8 hits, but they were all singles and he induced double play groundballs when he needed to. Harrell now has three wins on the season, matching Bud Norris for the team lead. Houston's 3 other starters have combined for one win between the three of them, and that came from Brad Peacock who's been demoted to the bullpen.

4) Speaking of Peacock being out of the rotation, that means a spot has opened up. With Cisnero throwing Sunday and Blackley pitching in relief yesterday, I have to think Paul Clemens is going to be tabbed as that guy. Other than being susceptible to the longball (5 in 16 2/3 innings), Clemens has been solid posting a WHIP of just 1.02, limiting walks (only 3), and holding opposing hitters to just a .226 average.

5) Chris Carter returned to the lineup after a day off and had 2 hits raising his average back up to .226. He also only struck out one time which is an improvement. Hopefully the day off did him some good, because we could really use that power bat of his in the lineup.

6) Robbie Grossman doesn't seem to be getting a lot of breaks early in his career. I feel like he's hitting balls hard, but either right at people, or dying on the track. He did reach base a couple times yesterday which was nice to see, especially after he endured that 0 for 17 in the Boston series. He's going to need a few more hits to drop in there though if he's going to keep a roster spot once Maxwell returns from the DL.

7) Carlos Pena is back up over .200 after single and tripling in 5 trips yesterday. 2013 hasn't exactly been memorable for the lefty slugger, but his 2-out rbi single in the first did open the scoring and set up Corporan's 2-run double. Without that hit, who knows how the game plays out? He's still only got 2 homers and 7 rbis, but he's now had back-to-back multi-hit games which is a step in the right direction.

8) Word on the street is that Josh Fields is getting closer to making a rehab start. Rhiner Cruz did record a 1-2-3 inning last night, but I still think he's going to draw the short straw unless Peacock or Cisnero implode during the next week.

Week 4 in Review

The week started out well with a series win over the Mariners, but things quickly soured as the Astros franchise stayed winless at Fenway Park. Things aren't going to get any easier next week either with upcoming series against the Yankees and Tigers.

Weekly Results

4/22   L Mariners 7-1
4/23   W Mariners 3-2
4/24   W Mariners 10-3
4/25   L Redsox 7-2
4/26   L Redsox 7-3
4/27   L Redsox 8-4
4/28   L Redsox 6-1

Overall Record: 7-18
Team Batting Average: .247
Runs For: 98
Runs Against: 148
Home Runs: 25
Strikeouts/Walks (Hitting): 248/68
Stolen Bases: 11
Caught Stealing: 4
Team ERA: 5.51
Team WHIP: 1.62
Starters ERA: 6.34
Bullpen ERA: 4.61
Strikeouts/Walks (Pitching): 151/95
Times Shutout: 3
Shutouts: 1

Team Leaders (Hitting):

Average: Jose Altuve .317 (32/101)
Runs: Carlos Pena 13
Hits: Jose Altuve 32
Doubles: Matt Dominguez 6
Triples: Justin Maxwell 2
Home Runs: Chris Carter/Rick Ankiel 5
Runs Batted In: Chris Carter/Jose Altuve 12
Walks: Carlos Pena 14
Stolen Bases: Marwin Gonzalez 3

Team Leaders (Pitching):

Games: Rhiner Cruz/Wesley Wright/Hector Ambriz 12
Innings: Bud Norris 30
Wins: Bud Norris 3
Saves: Jose Veras 2
Holds: Hector Ambriz 3
Strikeouts: Bud Norris 22
Quality Starts: Philip Humber/Bud Norris/Lucas Harrell 2
ERA:  Lucas Harrell 4.08
WHIP: Lucas Harrell 1.57

On the Farm:

Oklahoma City (AAA) - 13-10
Corpus Christi (AA) - 13-10
Lancaster (AdvA) - 14-9
Quad Cities (LoA) - 13-8

Minor League Leaders:

Runs: Nolan Fontana (AdvA) - 21
Hits: Jimmy Paredes (AAA) - 31
Walks: Nolan Fontana (AdvA) - 26
Home Runs: George Springer (AA) - 7
RBIs: Marc Krauss (AAA) - 23
Stolen Bases: Austin Wates - 9
Wins: Bobby Doran (AA)/Vincent Velasquez (LoA) - 3
Saves: Jose Valdez (AAA) - 6
Strikeouts: Nick Tropeano (AA) - 29

Astros Drop Third Straight in Fenway

The Peacock did not fly yesterday and Houston dropped a third straight to the Sox at Fenway. A promising start quickly went up in smoke as a 2-0 lead became a 5-2 deficit that the Astros just never recovered from. Some more thoughts on the loss:

1) Brad Peacock once again struggled to hit his spots, watching his pitch count spiral out of control and failing to get through the 4th inning. When the dust cleared, Boston had drawn 5 walks off of Peacock, 4 of them in the second inning, and the kid's ERA had jumped to 8.44. Peacock has made it through 5 innings just once this year, and it's largely due to his inability to put hitters away early in the count. You can't keep running counts full on every hitter and expecting to pitch deep into games. It's starting to raise questions as to whether or not Peacock projects to be a rotation guy, or someone destined to pitch out of the bullpen. I still think it's too early to make that call, but if he goes another 4-5 starts and things don't start to get better, I think you have to consider making a change.

2) Jose Veras was sharp once again extending his scoreless streak to 5 innings following his blown save against the Angels. He's actually lowered his ERA down to a respectable 4.66 and he's taken a leadership role out in the bullpen which is good to see. Now we just have to figure out how to get him some leads to protect.

3) Houston hitters drew 7 walks, but struck out 12 times and were just 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position. That makes them 1 for 24 with runners in scoring position over the past two games. Hard to win a lot of games that way. While it's impressive that we've been scoring runs without the benefit of hits (bases loaded walk, rbi groundout, sac fly), the Astros have to do better with runners in scoring position. But that shouldn't come as a surprise seeing as it's been our achilles heel for a couple years now. Not sure what the answer is other than that someone needs to step up.

4) Chris Carter struck out 4 times yesterday, including once with the tying run on first in the 7th inning. Carter now has 43 strikeouts in 24 games, but this marked the first time that he'd fanned four times in a game this year. In case you're keeping track, Carter is now on pace to strike out 290 times. And yes, that'd be a record. I realize he's tied for the team lead in rbis and he's second on the team with 12 runs scored, but can you really keep hitting him in the 3-4-5-6 spots in the order when he's hitting .216 and striking out in practically 50% of his ABs? Would it be so bad to trot out OBP machine Brandon Barnes, Fernando Martinez and Robbie Grossman as our starting outfield for a while?

5) Wesley Wright was bailed out by a line drive double play, but he now hasn't been scored on in 5 straight outings spanning 6 2/3 innings. His ERA has dropped down to 3.00 and he hasn't allowed a home run in 12 innings this season.

6) Two more hits for Marwin Gonzalez last night (two of our FIVE hits) as our 8 hitter raised his average on the year to .321. Marwin, who continues to play stellar defense, clubbed his fourth double, stole third for the second time in the series, and scored a run, continues to do almost every right (minus that bunt he didn't get down last weekend). Not sure what he has to do to hit somewhere higher in the order, but at least he's hitting.

7) As bad as things seemed at times yesterday, Houston had Chris Carter at the plate with the tying run on first in the 7th, and Rick Ankiel at the plate with the bases loaded representing the tying run again in the 8th. So even though we're losing, we're right in these games, which is all you really want. Baseball's one of those games where you just need to be competitive and eventually the law of averages will even out and we'll start winning some. Hey, it's better than losing every game 10-0.

2 Runs Are Better than None

So on paper, scoring just 2 runs might not seem like an accomplishment, but the Astros gave Clay Buchholz his highest ERA in any of his 5 starts by crossing the plate twice against him in 7 2/3 innings. That shoots his ERA all the way up to a Bob Gibson-esque 1.19. Hey, small victories, right? Some more notes on yesterday's game:

1) Philip Humber is having a rough go of things lately. After being arguably Houston's best starter the first three trips through the rotation, Humber has been crushed by bad first innings in his last two outings sending his ERA from 2.89 up to 7.99. In his last two first innings, he's retired just 4 hitters and allowed 12 earned runs. You ready for the math on this one? That's an ERA of 81.00. No good. You've gotta feel for the guy though. He's 0-5 which makes sense given his high ERA, but if you take away the 6 runs Houston scored in their 19-6 blowout loss to the Indians, the Astros have managed to score just 3 runs in Humber's starts. Unless you're Clay Buchholz, that makes it awfully tough to win.

2) Fernando Martinez was a bright spot yesterday going 3 for 4 in his 4th start since returning from the DL. Nice to see him squaring up on the ball against some pretty good pitchers (Buchholz and Daniel Bard). People tend to forget Martinez is only 24 so he's still got a lot ahead of him if he can stay healthy.

3) Jose Cisnero was very sharp in his second outing, once again throwing shutout baseball. J-Cizzle tossed 2 scoreless innings against the Sox bringing his scoreless innings streak up to 5 2/3 innings since his arrival. It's going to be awfully hard to send him back down to AAA if he keeps throwing like this. The next big question is, can he pitch effectively when the game is on the line? So far we've only seen him in blowout baseball.

4) Travis Blackley had his best outing as an Astro yesterday going 1 1/3 innings in relief of Humber and fanning two while walking just one. The lefty from Australia has gotten better each time out following his return from the DL which is very promising. It will be interesting to see how his role in the pen progresses, especially with Clemens and Cisnero on the roster. There's no real reason to carry 3 long relievers (unless your starters can't get out of the first inning 3 nights a week), so it stands to reason that someone will start to take on a different role. However, until the day comes when our bullpen isn't completely burned out, all we can really do is speculate.

5) Rick Ankiel drew his first walk of the season yesterday giving him 1 walk and 28 strikeouts. Ridiculous. Ankiel has drawn 155 walks in 1837 at bats in his career, with a high of 42 in 2008. On a brighter note, Ankiel has already matched his home run total from 2012 (which took 158 ABs) and needs just 4 more rbis to hit last year's total in that category as well.

6) After drawing just one walk in his first 16 games, Jason Castro has walked in each of the last three contests. Castro has also seen his average jump out lately going from .200 a week and a half ago, up to .250 and he's hit safely in 5 of the last 6 games.

7) Chris Carter struck out two more times yesterday giving him 37 strikeouts through the first 22 games of the season. Carter has only played one game this year in which he did not fan at least once. That came against the A's on April 16th in which he was 1 for 3 with a walk. Carter has struck out 3 times on 3 occasions, and twice in ten different games. He's currently on pace to end the year with 272 strikeouts which is almost as absurd as Rick Ankiel's strikeout to walk ratio. On the plus side, both Ankiel and Carter are on pace to hit 37 homers with 35 of Carter's projected to come against the Mariners.

If Only We Played the Mariners All the Time

Houston routed the Mariners yesterday 10-3 to improve to 4-2 against Seattle on the season. Unfortunately, against everyone else we're just 3-12. But hey, I'll take it. For just the second time this season, the Astros won a series and they did so in convincing fashion smashing three home runs and never trailing in an easy win over their division rivals. Some thoughts on yesterday's game:

1) Lucas Harrell pitched his best game of the year going 7 innings and allowing just 1 run that came across on a double play ball. After going over a week without a starter getting an out in the 6th inning, Harrell came up huge bailing out a worn out bullpen and finally giving them a break. Harrell, who has battled control issues all season allowed just two walks, and needed only 105 pitches to make it through 7, compared to his last outing when he threw 98 and didn't get through 6. Harrell has now won 2 straight starts.

2) Welcome to the show, Robbie Grossman. The hometown hero with a cult following debuted as the Astros leadoff hitter and starting centerfielder and did not disappoint going 2 for 5 and ripping a pair of doubles. I read yesterday that he became the first Astro to hit two doubles since... James Mouton... Yeah... Well, hopefully his career tracks a little bit differently. The 23 year old switch hitter brings a lot to the table, and has a huge opportunity to make a name for himself with Maxwell out for an extended period of time. And if he keeps hitting, we may have found our leadoff hitter. And just think, all we had to do was give up Wandy Rodriguez to get him.

3) Trogdor the Bombinator hit an absolute monster home run off of Joe Saunders to open the scoring in the second inning yesterday. Carter now has 5 homers and 11 rbis, tying Rick Ankiel for the team lead in both categories. 4 of his home runs have come against the Mariners, and he's hitting .423 (11/26) against them. Against everyone else he's just 6 for 51 (.118).

4) Brandon Laird broke out yesterday going 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, a homer and 4 runs batted in. Sucks to be Brett Wallace right now, because if Laird keeps hitting, and Matty D keeps playing gold glove caliber defense, it'll take a Carlos Pena trade to get him back to the show. And don't forget, Jonathan Singleton is almost halfway through his suspension which means his arrival isn't that far away either. Unless Wallace starts absolutely raking in AAA, his window may be closing pretty quick.

5) Ronny Cedeno, not one of the more popular Astros for whatever reason, had his best game in an Astros uniform yesterday going 3 for 4, driving in 3, and missing the cycle by a triple. Cedeno is now hitting .333 on the year and he's in the midst of a 6 game hitting streak. The streak is that much more impressive since Cedeno doesn't play every day, and the streak actually dates back to April 8th.

6) Brandon Barnes got two more hits yesterday to raise his average up to .367. Primarily used against lefties, Barnes' splits are actually pretty solid right now: .375 vs lefties and .357 vs righties. It's actually creating quite a logjam in the outfield because who draws the short straw when J.D. Martinez and Maxwell come back? Don't get me wrong, it's a good problem to have, but I don't envy the man who has to make those decisions.

7) With Josh Fields getting closer to his return from the DL, Rhiner Cruz did little to help his case to not be the guy to get sent down last night. Entering the game with a 10-1 lead, Cruz walked 2 hitters in his inning of work. Yeah, he didn't give up any runs, but you've got to be able to throw strikes if you're going to be a back of the bullpen guy. And there's absolutely no reason to walk guys when you're up by 9. As I said yesterday, Cruz has all the physical gifts in the world, but he's got to do better with them.

Cisnero Debut a Success, but That's About It

The losses are starting to pile up again, but the truth is, there's not a lot of shame in getting shut down by King Felix. It would've been nicer to see Peacock go a little deeper into the game, but short outings are apparently all the rage right now. At least we got a great outing from Jose Cisnero in his debut. Some more thoughts on last night's game:

1) Brad Peacock had his worst outing of the season allowing 3 homers in 4 1/3 innings skyrocketing his ERA up to 7.50. After striking out 7 his last time out, Peacock managed just 1 strikeout last night, and once again just threw too many pitches. Unfortunately, no one else is pitching any better right now, so it's hard to justify making any sort of move.

2) Jose Cisnero was terrific last night in relief logging 3 2/3 scoreless innings in his Major League debut. He becomes the latest in a long line of long relievers that have appeared on the Astros roster this year: Edgar Gonzalez, Travis Blackley, Dallas Keuchel, Paul Clemens, Brett Oberholtzer, and now Cisnero. If nothing else, Cisnero has earned the right to stick around a bit. The kid has pretty good stuff, so many he can help out sooner than expected. I just wish we could have a game where our best player wasn't one of our long relievers.

3) All or Nothing Ankiel crushed another homer last night raising his average up to .237. Ankiel is now  9 for 38 with 24 strikeouts. He has two singles, two doubles and five home runs for a team high 11 runs batted in. When he puts the ball in play, he's batting .643. Simply ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is that he still hasn't drawn a walk in 2013.

4) Jose Veras tossed a scoreless inning in relief last night, but once again allowed a hit so he's now gone 8 straight outings without retiring the side in order. On the plus side, he has gone 3 straight appearances without allowing a run after blowing that save against Albert Pujols and the Angels.

5) Jason Castro had his 3rd multi-hit performance in the last 4 games with a pair of doubles and a walk raising his average up to .242. Unfortunately, the walk was just his 2nd of the year which is way down from his walk rate a year ago. He's not the only one this applies to on this roster, but Astro hitters need to work more counts, and draw more walks. Cutting down on the strikeouts would be nice too. Yes, I'm talking about you, Chris Carter. Carter picked up a hat trick last night giving him 31 strikeouts in 70 at bats this season. No good.

6) Jose Altuve went 1 for 4 to extend his hitting streak to 8 games and he's now hitting .377 on the year. The only other Astro hitting over .300 right now is reserve outfielder Brandon Barnes (.333 - 8/24).

I Hate Losing...

As much as it sucks being down 2 touchdowns in the second inning, losses like that are almost easier to swallow than what we endured yesterday. I mean, you lose a game 19-6, and there's no doubt that you got beat. You lose a game 5-4 where you had multiple opportunities to tie or win the game and failed to execute, and you're left wondering what might've been. Some more thoughts on yesterday's loss:

1) Erik Bedard fanned a season high 8 in just four innings of work yesterday showing that he's obviously still got it. Bo Porter's still using the kid gloves on him to make sure he's able to make it through the season, which given our current competitive state I'm fine with, so we haven't really seen him get stretched out. But other than the Oakland game in which he couldn't find the plate, he's been really good this year. If he can stay healthy, and build up the arm strength a bit, you have to figure he could at least fetch us SOMEthing at the trade deadline which really has to be the end goal with a veteran guy like him on a team like this.

2) So, per Bo after the game, Marwin's failed bunt attempt with two strikes was something Marwin took upon himself to do, and not a call from the dugout. Now I'm not mad at a young player for pressing to try and make something happen. I am, however, frustrated at our inability to get a bunt down in THREE TRIES. If you're a major league baseball player, there's no excuse for not being able to bunt a ball fair. It's not even like he was trying to bunt for a hit, he was giving himself up to sacrifice. All you do is stand there and bunt the ball. So that was disappointing; even more so when you consider that Marwin's like the only guy we ever have bunt.

3) Chris Carter is in a FUNK. He went from crushing baseballs to the moon to looking the way he did in the Texas series: Just absolutely lost at the plate. I know he has a longer leash than some other hitters in the lineup, but at some point, don't you at least have to drop him down a few spots? It's a bad sign when the bases are loaded in the 9th inning with 1 out, and your "cleanup hitter" steps up to the plate, and your reaction is NOOOOOOOOO! NOT HIM!

4) Fernando Martinez made his 2013 debut yesterday and greeted Ubaldo Jimenez with a 2-run homer in his first at bat. This is EXACTLY what we need out of F-Mart as he tries to prove himself. He's out of options, so if we try and send him down, someone else will likely take a flyer on him, so it's in everyone's best interest that he perform. Hopefully yesterday was just a sign of things to come.

5) Brett Oberholtzer made his Major League debut and surrendered a pair of solo home runs in two innings of work. Obie hadn't exactly been lighting it up in AAA, so all things considered it wasn't a TERRIBLE debut. If he can get some of his command issues worked out, there's a good chance he makes it back to the show at some point. In the meantime, he's headed back to OKC as Jose Cisnero is the next man up through the revolving door of long relievers. And on that note, someone in the starting rotation has to bear down and get us some innings. It's been over a week since someone got through 6.

6) Jose Altuve drew his first intentional walk of the season yesterday. You figure it was going to happen eventually. Why would you pitch to him when no one else in the lineup is hitting? On a semi-related note, this is how I'd like to shake up the batting order:

vs Righties                   vs Lefties

SS Marwin Gonzalez            RF Brandon Barnes

C Jason Castro                SS Marwin Gonzalez

2B Jose Altuve                2B Jose Altuve

LF Fernando Martinez          LF Chris Carter

1B Carlos Pena                CF Justin Maxwell

CF Justin Maxwell             DH Carlos Pena

DH Chris Carter               1B Brandon Laird

RF Rick Ankiel                C Jason Castro

3B Matt Dominguez             3B Matt Dominguez

Thoughts?

Week 3 in Review

Rough week for the Astros as three times they saw their starters knocked out in the first inning and they finished the week 1-5, dropping them to 5-13 on the season. On the bright side, they didn't get shutout:

Weekly Results

4/15   L Athletics 11-2
4/16   L Athletics 4-3
4/17   L Athletics 7-5
4/19   W Indians 3-2
4/20   L Indians 19-6
4/21   L Indians 5-4

Overall Record: 5-13
Team Batting Average: .250
Runs For: 74
Runs Against: 108
Home Runs: 20
Strikeouts/Walks (Hitting): 173/47
Stolen Bases: 7
Caught Stealing: 3
Team ERA: 5.40
Team WHIP: 1.58
Starters ERA: 5.73
Bullpen ERA: 5.04
Strikeouts/Walks (Pitching): 100/73
Times Shutout: 3
Shutouts: 1

Team Leaders (Hitting):

Average: Jose Altuve .370 (27/73)
Runs: Carlos Pena 12
Hits: Jose Altuve 27
Doubles: Carlos Pena 5
Triples: Justin Maxwell 2
Home Runs: Chris Carter/Rick Ankiel 4
Runs Batted In: Chris Carter/Rick Ankiel 10
Walks: Carlos Pena 9
Stolen Bases: Justin Maxwell/Jose Altuve 2

Team Leaders (Pitching):

Games: Rhiner Cruz/Wesley Wright/Hector Ambriz 10
Innings: Lucas Harrell 21 2/3
Wins: Bud Norris 2
Saves: Erik Bedard/Jose Veras 1
Holds: Hector Ambriz 2
Strikeouts: Lucas Harrell/Brad Peacock 15
Quality Starts: Philip Humber 2
ERA:  Bud Norris 4.74
WHIP: Bud Norris 1.47

On the Farm:

Oklahoma City (AAA) - 10-7
Corpus Christi (AA) - 9-7
Lancaster (AdvA) - 11-6
Quad Cities (LoA) - 10-5

Minor League Leaders:

Runs: Nolan Fontana (AdvA) - 17
Hits: Jake Elmore (AAA) - 23
Walks: Nolan Fontana (AdvA) - 17
Home Runs: Preston Tucker (AdvA) - 5
RBIs: Marc Krauss (AAA) / Zachary Johnson (AdvA) - 18
Stolen Bases: Austin Wates - 9
Wins: 9 tied with 2
Saves: Jose Valdez (AAA) - 5
Strikeouts: Luis Cruz (AdvA) - 22

Philip Humber Just Can't Catch a Break

Another tough loss, but getting shut down by C.J. Wilson isn't exactly anything to be ashamed of. Nor is losing a series on the road against the Angels. Let's face it, even though they're struggling, they still have arguably three of the best players in the game right now, and they're going to get theirs. And hey, even with the loss, we're looking at a 3-3 week in which we were in every game. Throw out a blown save and we win both series and go 4-2. Anyhow, here's some more thoughts on the loss:

1) Not a lot of offense yesterday, BUT it should be noted that the Astros worked 5 more walks including 2 apiece for Chris Carter and Carlos Pena. I love seeing this from Carter because a little bit of plate discipline is just going to make him that much more dangerous as a hitter.

2) You've gotta feel bad for Philip Humber. The guy has pitched his heart out in 3 straight starts. He's got an ERA of 2.89, and zero wins to show for it thanks in large part to the fact that the Astros have managed to score exactly one run TOTAL in his three starts. That's just not going to get it done.

3) Rhiner Cruz made his team high eighth appearance of the season yesterday afternoon and surrendered a two-run home run to Josh Hamilton. The flame-throwing righty has worked 8 innings out of the pen this year and has a 4.50 ERA while allowing 10 hits, but only fanning two. I'm not sure why Rhiner is getting the lion's share of the late innings right now, other than that he is probably the only guy that really has the stuff to be a dominant late innings pitcher. Figure Bo's going to give him every opportunity to be that guy this year. Kind of the same way we're going to keep sending Brett Wallace out there even though he's struggling. You've got to find out what you've got. Personally I'd like to see Wesley Wright get a longer look as a true setup man, especially given that we have two other lefties in the pen right now. That's just me though.

4) On the injury front, Fernando Martinez started his rehab stint in AAA this weekend and could be back in Houston by midweek. It'll be interesting to see who gets sent down if/when Fernando comes back. My money is on Brett Wallace just because he's in the biggest slump right now, although J.D. Martinez is certainly a possibility as well simply because those two play the same position. In other injury news, Houston lost yet another fringe arm to Tommy John surgery as John Ely, acquired from the Dodgers, just got shut down for the season. Ely had pitched in just one game in AAA this year working 4 scoreless innings and earning a save. What this means moving forward is that another spot on the 40-man roster is opening up. So someone like Brandon Laird, who's hanging out in AAA, may now have a clear path to Houston should a roster spot become available. It alternatively gives Houston a chance to sign a player off of waivers without making a corresponding roster move. Just something to keep an eye on.

5) Houston's starters have a 3.39 ERA through 12 starts this season led by Bud Norris (1.96) and Humber (2.89). Only one starter - Lucas Harrell - has allowed more than 3 earned runs in one of his starts. The bullpen, by contrast, has a 5.72 ERA and has allowed 63 baserunners in 39 1/3 innings. If Houston is ever going to be competitive, those numbers MUST get better.

Week 2 in Review

The Astros went 3-3 on the first six games of their 9 game West Coast road trip, and they certainly played a much more competitive brand of baseball. Here's a rundown on some of the numbers for both the big league club, and the up-and-comers:

Weekly Results

4/8     L Mariners 3-0
4/9     W Mariners 16-9
4/10   W Mariners 8-3
4/12   W Angels 5-0
4/13   L Angels 5-4
4/14   L Angels 4-1

Overall Record: 4-8
Team Batting Average: .254
Runs For: 51
Runs Against: 60
Home Runs: 12
Strikeouts/Walks (Hitting): 121/31
Stolen Bases: 1
Caught Stealing: 2
Team ERA: 4.26
Team WHIP: 1.37
Starters ERA: 3.39
Bullpen ERA: 5.72
Strikeouts/Walks (Pitching): 62/39
Times Shutout: 3
Shutouts: 1

Team Leaders (Hitting):

Average: Jose Altuve .333 (17/51)
Runs: Justin Maxwell/Chris Carter 8
Hits: Jose Altuve 17
Doubles: Carlos Pena 4
Triples: Justin Maxwell 2
Home Runs: Chris Carter 4
Runs Batted In: Rick Ankiel 8
Walks: 5 tied with 4
Stolen Bases: J.D. Martinez 1

Team Leaders (Pitching):

Games: Rhiner Cruz 8
Innings: Philip Humber 18 2/3
Wins: Bud Norris 2
Saves: Erik Bedard 1
Holds: 3 tied with 1
Strikeouts: Bud Norris 14
Quality Starts: Philip Humber 2
ERA:  Bud Norris 1.96
WHIP: Bud Norris 1.09

On the Farm:

Oklahoma City (AAA) - 5-5
Corpus Christi (AA) - 7-3
Lancaster (AdvA) - 7-3
Quad Cities (LoA) - 7-2

Minor League Leaders:

Runs: Drew Muren (AdvA) - 10
Hits: Jake Elmore (AAA) - 19
Walks: Robbie Grossman (AAA) - 11
Home Runs: Matt Duffy (AdvA) - 4
RBIs: Matt Duffy (AdvA) - 14
Stolen Bases: Austin Wates - 5
Wins: 3 tied with 2
Saves: Jason Stoffel (AA) - 3
Strikeouts: Nick Tropeano (AA) / Luis Cruz (AdvA) - 15

Albert Pujols is a Bad Man

Losses like that one are always hard to swallow. You can't help but look at missed opportunities, and wonder about what might've been. That said, it's one game, and if you're going to get beaten by someone in the bottom of the 9th, it might as well be one of the greatest players to ever play the game. Hats off to Albert, once again he beat us. Some more thoughts on last night's game:

1) I've mentioned before how I'm not sure Jose Veras is the answer at closer. But when you look at our bullpen right now, I don't know who is. Wesley Wright hasn't been as effective in 2013, Rhiner Cruz is still learning the finer points of pitching, Hector Ambriz has allowed more than 2 hits an inning, Xavier Cedeno has control issues, Paul Clemens has pitched in exactly one major league game, and Dallas Keuchel is, at best, a serviceable long reliever. Now last night wasn't exactly an easy save situation, but Veras has yet to put together a 1-2-3 inning and any of his 5 outings now. You can't put that many runners on base and expect to be effective in the late innings. Plus, you can't walk the #9 hitter. Make him put the ball in play! We'll see how Veras bounces back. Hopefully his next opportunity involves a three run lead so he has more of a margin for error and can gain some confidence.

2) I probably should have led with this, but Brett Wallace had 4 at-bats last night and struck out exactly ZERO times! He even battled for a walk which helped facilitate Houston's 2-run 7th. I don't want to say he's on the verge of breaking out of his season long slump, but last night was a good step in the right direction. We'll see if he can build on that moving forward.

3) J.D. Martinez's error proved to be pretty costly. And let's face it, errors in close games usually are. You've got to make that play though if you're a Major League outfielder. Now I realize J.D.'s game is probably better suited for left field, but still... If he's going to be out there, he needs to make those types of plays.

4) Chris Carter is a beast. Trogdor bashed his 4th home run of the season and extended his hitting streak to 6 games. He's still managed to strike out in 11 straight games passing Wallace for the team lead with 18, but so long as he's producing, I can live with the occasional (or more than occasional) strikeout. After starting the season 1 for 19, Carter has raised his average up to .289 during the streak.

5) Lucas Harrell pitched much better this time out. After getting roughed up pretty good by Oakland, he continued the trend of solid starting pitching for the Astros allowing just 1 run in 5 2/3 innings. Houston starters have allowed more than 3 earned runs just once this season and have a 3.49 ERA through 11 starts.

6) Marwin Gonzalez executed a perfect bases loaded squeeze play in the 7th inning to bring home Houston's 4th and final run. It's nice to see us able to bring that runner home from third base this season. Houston stranded just 3 runners last night and was 2 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

Houston sends Philip Humber to the mound today in an effort to win their second straight series. The Astros have not scored a single run in either of Humber's two previous starts this year.

Norris Shows Ace Stuff, Astros Win Third Straight

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?

Offense Erupts Again as Astros Win 2nd Straight

For the first time this year, the Astros have strung two wins together thanks to an offense that has finally shown some signs of life. After 7 games in which they scored a total of 17 runs, the Astros have scored 24 in their last 2 games against the Mariners, and took home their first series win of the season behind last night's 8-3 effort. Some thoughts on last night's game:

1) Chris Carter, aka Trogdor the Bombinator, is finally locked in. Carter crushed his third home run of the series last night, and is 9 for his last 18 effectively rebounding from his 1 for 19 start. I'd still like to see the big man draw some more walks (he has 1 through the first 9 games), but I'm not going to complain when he's just hitting absolute moonshots.

2) J.D. Martinez is going to create some interesting discussions when Fernando Martinez gets healthy again. J.D. has been swinging a hot bat lately driving in 5 runs over the last two games, homering, stealing a base, playing decent defense... Honestly he's playing well enough that he should keep his roster spot. So what do you do when F-Mart, who was on track to make the team out of spring training before his injury comes back? Send him to AAA? Send J.D. to AAA? Send someone else to AAA? Now I don't think Fernando is going to be back TOMORROW or anything that drastic, but he's going to be back at some point. I think the player that makes the most sense to send down right now is Wallace. Carter can play first and DH basically alternating with Carlos Pena and then F-Mart can fill in one of the corner outfield spots against righties. But it's possible that different players could heat up or cool down in the coming weeks and that could always change the whole complexion of the discussion. Needless to say, it's a good problem to have.

3) Marwin Gonzalez's home run last night gave him homers in back-to-back games and matched his home run total for ALL of 2012. The second year infielder and former Rule 5 Draft Pick is 8 for 18 on the season with a double, a pair of homers, a perfect-game wrecking single off of Yu Darvish and a team-high 4 walks. It's clear he's got the hot bat right now, and hopefully Bo Porter rides him until he cools off. I love the left side of our infield with Marwin in the game too. Between him and Sweet Matty D over on the hot corner, not much gets through and that's a huge boost to our starting pitching.

4) I really like what Brad Peacock brings to the table, but he's got to become more efficient with his pitches. Peacock faced just one hitter in the 6th inning and finished his night having thrown 95 pitches. Granted, this was only the fourth start of his Major League career, and you have to figure he'll get better as he gains experience, but he's not really going to blossom until he can go deeper into games.

5) Dallas Keuchel has been something of a pleasant surprise working out of the Astros bullpen so far this season. In 5 innings of work, he's allowed just one run, and he tossed two scoreless innings last night preserving a 5-3 lead to earn the Astros first hold of the season. Keuchel got off to a fast start last year too though allowing just 3 runs in his first 20 innings of work before going 0-7 in his next 9 starts with an ERA of 7.33. Hopefully he doesn't fall into a similar rut this year, because having an effective long reliever could really save the bullpen some work.

6) Rick Ankiel now has two hits on the season, and both of them are home runs. Because of that, despite his .111 average and the fact that he's struck out in 14 of his 18 plate appearances, he's actually second on the team with 5 runs batted in right now.

7) Every Astro in the starting lineup last night got at least one hit, the first time this season that that feat was accomplished. I guess that shouldn't come as a surprise though considering they were hitting around .200 before Tuesday night's game. After their last two wins though? .263.

Fun Facts About Strikeouts

Heading into this season, only three hitters have struck out over 200 times in a single season: Mark Reynolds, who has done it three times, Drew Stubbs, and Adam Dunn.

If Houston hitters keep striking out at their current pace, they'll make Mark Reynolds seem like Tony Gwynn:

Now logic would dictate that there's no way these guys can keep that pace up... but you never know... At any rate, with regular playing time, all of them have a shot at Reynolds' record. Hitting coach John Mallee has his work cut out for him.

Holy Hits, Batman!

After scoring just 9 runs in their previous 6 games, the Astros offense erupted matching that total in the first two innings of their game with Seattle last night. When the dust had finally settled, Houston had scored 16 runs, banged out 22 hits, homered 5 times and walked away with a 16-9 win that wasn't as close as the score would suggest. Some notes on last night's contest:

1) Chris Carter finally started to look like the player Houston thought they were trading for last night. Carter crushed a pair of home runs and finished with 4 hits. He's now gotten a hit in 3 straight games and his average is now above .200 after starting the season 1 for 19. If he hits like this I won't even really mind that fact that he's still striking out at a ridiculous rate (15 times in 8 starts).

2) I'm a believer in Brett Wallace, but with that being said, I think he's gotta get sent down to figure things out. He's all up in his head right now and even last night, when every other Astros starter had at least one hit, Wallace struck out in all 4 of his plate appearances. He's not even hitting hard foul balls, he's just got a horrible approach at the plate right now. I'd almost say send him all the way back to A-Ball just to get his confidence back. I mean the guy's 1 for 21 with 17 strikeouts. He hasn't struck out fewer than two times in any one game that he's played in this year. He's basically turned into the offensive equivalent of Chuck Knoblauch. Brandon Laird is still crushing the ball in AAA, BUT he's not on the 40-man roster so it's not as simple as just brining him up. Jake Elmore is certainly an option though. The utility infielder is 9 for his last 13 in AAA and hitting .478 through 6 games. Pena could always shift over to first and split time there with Chris Carter. And then Elmore or Marwin could spell Dominguez at third. I dunno, I just don't see Wallace snapping out of this funk he's in any time soon so something's got to be done.

3) Speaking of Marwin Gonzalez, I'd like to see Bo Porter hand him the starting shortstop gig. Marwin's solid defensively whereas Cedeno has had some issues, and Marwin's swinging the hot bat right now. He's also tied for the team-lead in walks which is something we could use more of. When you consider that Ronny Cedeno doesn't factor into the team's long term plans, whereas Marwin might, I think he should be getting a longer look instead of alternating starts with the veteran Cedeno. At the very least, let him keep playing until he cools off.

4) Erik Bedard turned in another solid, if abbreviated, outing tossing 4 scoreless innings and allowing just 1 hit. Bedard retired the first 10 Seattle hitters he faced and looked sharp once again. Granted, it's a lot easier to pitch when you're up six runs before you ever toe the rubber, but it's good to see him doing well and staying healthy.

5) Paul Clemens made his major league debut last night and was credited with the win since starter Erik Bedard didn't come out for the 5th inning. Clemens wasn't GREAT, allowing 5 runs in 4 innings - including three home runs (Jason Bay, Raul Ibanez, Michael Morse), but you can chalk some of that up to jitters given that it was his debut. We'll see how he does his next time out.

6) Who had J.D. Martinez in the pool for which Astro is going to steal a base first in 2013? Anybody? Bueller?

7) Some fun numbers stuff comparing last night's game with the previous seven:

           Games 1-7    Game 8

Runs           17         16

Hits           46         22

XBH            10         8

Home Runs       2         5

Stolen Bases    0         1

Walks          10         6

Average       .201       .468