By Taras Bulba

Brewers (13-8) at Astros (9-12)
Minute Maid Park (www.bellcountyexpo.com/)
AKA “The Juice Box,” “MMPUS,” “Contrived Retro Whatever”

Friday, April 28, 7:05 p.m. CDT-FSN
Saturday, April 29, 6:05 p.m. CDT-KNWS
Sunday, April 30, 1:05 p.m. CDT-FSN

As strosrays pointed out in the Pirate preview, no one is really sure if KNWS really exists or if it is merely some bootleg operation run out of Nuevo Laredo, spewing forth a steady dose of rancheras, cumbias, Doug Sahm, natural male enhancement offers, and occasional Astros broadcasts.  Per their custom, Time Warner apparently can’t find their phone number, so the Austin types won’t be getting the game.  That’s a good reason then for all of you tree huggers to load up the hybrid, stop by Whole Earth for some organic hummus, sing some protest songs and old Negro spirituals and head over to Necktown for the ballgame.  Hell, you might even make a pit stop in Brenham where you’ll meet a girl named Shelly Dubinski.  Ask her if she can get three dates for your friends.

(more…)

April 26, 2007

Astros 3
Pirates 5

W: Jonah Bayliss | L: Wandy Rodriguez (dude does NOT deserve to be 0-3)
Pigpen watch: 2,951 (11:30 AM CDT? Pshaww!)

Just don’t say wingn…(DUCK!!) (GameZone archived)
Numb realizations

Other coverage
Alyson’s starting to happen.
Ya-HOOOOOOO!

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YAAAWN!
It’s no surprise that an early first pitch after a 16 inning loss the night before would result in a lackluster performance by a reeling offense and that was surely the case as a stand-up performance by Wandy went for naught and the Good Guys dropped their sixth straight to the Pie-roots and padded their overall losing streak to six. (more…)

April 25, 2007
Astros 3, Pirates 4
W: John Wasdin | L: Brian Moehler
Pigpen watch: 2,951 (3-5)
Interminably long GameZone thread goes here
Second guessing, anger venting and rationalization goes here

Other coverage:
AP story
Astros.com wrap featuring The Footer

In a Nutshell:
It was kind of like this. Very long, with curious decision making, poor execution at pivotal times, and you get whacked in the head and pass out at the end.

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The Astros dropped a tough one tonight, losing after pushing this one out to 16 innings in a thinly veiled attempt to get Brian Moehler some work. Houston out-hit the Pirates 16 to 10, but left 18 on base to Pittsburgh’s 8, a futility mark that ultimately sealed the deal. The bullpen gets a hearty golf clap for throwing 9.2 shut out frames, a feat hopefully not lost in the general morass of suck that the bats brought to the game tonight. (more…)

Pirates 3, Astros zip
W: Maholm (1-2) L: Woody (0-3)
Homeruns: Paulino
March to 3000: 2,948 (2×4)
Alyson chimes in tonight.
AP recap from Yahoo!

Craig Biggio led off the game with a base hit through the hole between short and third against Pirate starter Pat Maholm, who had a record of 0-2 and an ERA of 6.19 entering the game. That was the highlight of the night, and the only play I watched until I drove home from work and it was already the sixth inning a mere 45 minutes later. Scrambling to catch up on the missed action, I turned to the infamous Game Zone for an update. (more…)

Astros at Phillies, 4/23/07
Score: Phanatics 11, Astros 4
W: Eaton (2-1) L: Sampson (2-1)
Homeruns: A. Rodriguez 2 (14). According to ESPN, nothing else matters.
March to 3000: 2,946 (1×4, HR)
Read Alyson’s Substitute’s Report Here: Santoliquito
Or the AP recap here: Yahoo!

Credit to Santoliquito for the perfect summary:

Chris Sampson knew there would be nights like this, when his mechanics are slightly off, his out-pitch sinker isn’t sinking very well and everything is up in the strike zone, tantalizing out there to be swatted.

(more…)

By ’strosrays

The Bucs Still Suck, and other rhymes

Astros (9-9) at Pirates (7-10)
PNC Park, 115 Federal St., Pittsburgh, PA  15212 
a/k/a “The Prettiest Little Ballpark in the Majors”

Tuesday, April 24, 6:05 p.m. CDT – FSN
Wednesday, April 25, 6:05 p.m. CDT – KNWS
Thursday, April 26, 11:35 a.m. CDT – FSN

The Wednesday game will be carried by KNWS, which is to say it won’t be watchable for many of us outside a 5-mile radius of the KNWS tower, wherever it may be at the time.  Of course, since the Thursday game on FSN is slated to begin at 11:30 in the morning (getaway day), many of us who are gainfully employed and wish to remain so won’t be able to watch it either. . . besides which, an 11:30 a.m. start?  To quote I believe Jim Pagliaroni, from Ball Four, “11:30 a.m.?  I’m not even done puking at that hour.”  Finally, the rumor that the KNWS tower is actually a bent coat hanger attached to the broken-off arial on a Reflex blue© 1965 Chevy Impala big block, owned by some guy named ‘Chuy’ who lives in Porter - while compelling - is probably not actually true. (more…)

by Limey

Citizen’s Bank Park

Monday, April 23, 6:05 p.m. CDT – TV unknown at this point, but FSN is showing the Rockets, so expect this one to be on KNWS.

Projected Matchups from Astros.com

Chris Sampson (2-0, 1.20) v. Adam Eaton (1-1, 6.62)

Sampson has been solid as a rock so far this year, as those fine stats affirm.  He gave up two solo dingers in Cincinnati last time out to end a streak of 9 shut-out innings to open the season.  Of course, solo dingers is about the only thing the Reds do right, and so they were of little consequence as Sampson won the game quite comfortably once the offense woke up and unloaded on the God-awful Reds bully.  Lane’s 3-run, pinch-shibby was the ESPN highlight there.

Eaton, however, has had a very different start to his 2007 campaign.  He has sammidged one good outing – a 7-inning, 2-run effort at Shea – between two starts that could be described as “poor” (although, I’m sure PhilliFan would describe his 4.2-inning, 8-run jobbie at home to the Hated ATL as “Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo”).  Regardless, in 4 starts vs. Houston he’s 2-1 with a 4ish ERA, so we will have to see which Eaton shows up tonight:  good, bad or mediocre.

Notable giveaways this series …

As this is a make-up game, I doubt there are any.  Other than seats, for anyone who had tickets for the original deluge.

Injury Report

Houston – Jennings (elbow-knack) is on the 15-day list and expected back sometime this year.  That is only half-true for Backe (elbow-knack) and Gimenez (labia-knack).

Philadelphia – Starting pitcher Mathieson is recovering from surgery on his elbow-knack.  Catchers Coste and Budde have hamstring-knack and oblique-knack respectively.

Other Interesting Things To Look For
•   The Yahoo! Sports previewist and apparent delivery pizza Nazi, Antony Giornalista, cautions the Astros about facing a healthy and “suddenly dangerous” Ryan Howard.  Not that I’m suggesting we should ignore the threat of this baby rhino, but I’m not sure that 2 for 13 in his last 4 games is either “sudden” or “dangerous” when you’re already flirting with Mendozity.  He did hit a dinger in his last at-bat, though, so as long as you have the brain of a goldfish you should keep an eye out for Howard, who is batting 1.000 on the season – all homers.
•   Only four Astros have a double-digit number of at-bats against Eaton:  Biggio (6-13), Jennings (2-11), Hidalgo (2-11) and Bagwell (5-13).  I didn’t say current Astros.  Berkman is 3-9 (only 1 extra base) but he does have 3 walks.  FWIW, Lee is 0-2 and Ensberg 1-2.  If anyone can make any sense out of that, be sure to let me know.
•   Sanjaya will sing the national anthem and Alberto Gonzales will throw out the first pitch…if he recalls this particular diary entry.

Discuss today’s game in the GameZone.

After a quick two game cornholing of the Reds bullpen, lets hope the momentum carries over to the Brew Crew.

Miller Park

Friday, April 20, 7:05 p.m. CDT – FSN
Saturday, April 21, 6:05 p.m. CDT – FSN
Sunday, April 22, 1:05 p.m. CDT – KNWS

Projected Matchups from Astros.com

Friday

Matt Albers (1-1, 6.23) in AAA Round Rock( No ML starts this year) v. Ben Sheets (1-2, 5.85)

The much anticipated return of Fat Albers, pitching against Astros nemesis and famed musician Ben “Folds” Sheets. This game is pretty much a dice roll. Albers has been all over the place in AAA, throwing great one start then melting down Carlos Zambrano style against (ironically) the Iowa Cubs. Albers has yet to face any Brewers, so lets all hope for an Astros-against-a-new-pitcher-like performance by the Brew Crew.
Sheets has thrown one beauty and a couple of clunkers. His first start was a complete game 2 hitter. Since then, Ben has given up 12 earned runs in his last 11 innings. Adam Everett (15-41 with 2 dingers), Fat Elvis (18-54 with 4 dingers) and Jason Lane (8-23) all rake against Benny, while Luuuuuuuke (2-13) and MoBerg (2-22) basically stink up the joint against him. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Mike Lamb (9-29) playing at 3rd tonight.
I fully expect him to get back to his Astrokillah ways for this game, so Albers better be ready to throw everything at the Brewers, including Luke Scott’s Ninja Outfit, as well as Ensberg’s Not-Sunglasses (no photo available).

Saturday
Wandy Rodriguez (0-1, 2.77) v. Chris Capuano (2-0, 2.81)

Alkie’s ranting aside, Wandy is off to a great start this year. Avoiding the implosion inning he was famous for last season has really helped him to become a stable and useful tool in the rotation. As long as he can keep the ball down and doesn’t struggle with his control and issue a bunch of untimely free passes, Wandy should continue to have success on the mound this season. Geoff Jenkins (5-13) and Corey Hart (8-13) both mash Wandy, but the rest of the Brew Crew’s numbers are decent at best.
Capuano had a breakout year in 2005, and his 2006 campaign mirrored the success numbers-wise, despite the dropoff in wins from 18 to 11. Chris brings a solid approach to the mound and has been an innings eater the last 2 years, averaging 220 innings and about 35 starts since his full-time job in the starting rotation began in 2005. From 2005 to 2006 he halved his walk-per-start numbers, and is off to a good start in 2007 walking 4 to his 15 ponches. Lance Berkman (9 for 20), Mark Loretta (4-9), Brad Ausmus (2-4 with 8 walks and a homer), Wandy (2-4), and Chris Burke (1-1 with a double) all have had success against Chris, while Biggio and Ensberg are both 2 of 14, and AE is a dismal 2-15. Maybe Loretta will be playing 2nd or short tonight.

Sunday
Roy Oswalt (3-0, 2.89) v. Dave Bush (1-1, 5.82)

Having Roy finishing a 3 game series is just about the best news ever, assuming that Fat Albers and Wandy can assure the Good Guys a win out of the 2 games they’re pitching. The only eye-popping numbers that jump out from the Brewer Roster against The Wizard are Bill Hall’s (17-42). Geoff Jenkins (14-50) sports a decent average, but its not quite as impressive when you notice that of his 36 non-hit at bats, he has ponched 20 freakin’ times!
Dave Bush is a middle to bottom of the rotation kind of guy. He hasn’t been around for very long, but had a decent year last year as an innings eater. Nothing ridiculously impressive or bad about this guy, just decent numbers across the board, but a nice walk/strikeout ratio at 38/166 in 2006. Lance Berkman (6-12) and OP (2-2 with a double) are the only guys with any serious success against Dave, but AE (2-11) and MoBerg (1-6) have not exactly shined in limited exposure.
Expect a fast-moving and tight game here. Roy should win this one, assuming the Good Guys can rally for some runs behind him. If Geoff Jenkins starts, Vegas odds have him going off at 15/1 that he’ll strike out in one of his first two at bats.

Mark’s Official Prediction
Friday – In a closely contested race, Chorizo will pull out the win, much to the delight of the 6 Latino citizens of Mikwakuee.
Saturday – Brat in a runaway.
Sunday – Hot Dog will win in a close race, but will promptly be disqualified when the costume is removed and Sammy Sosa is discovered inside, wrapped in cork.

Notable giveaways this series …

Friday – How cool is this?! Cecil Cooper Bobbleheads!
Saturday – The first 10,000 kids in the door get a set of Brewers Trading Cards.
Sunday – Well, this sounds… Interesting?
“The first 10,000 fans will receive the Brewers 1982 American League Champions Medallion Collection Album. The album will hold 23 spectacular medallions featuring coaches and players from the memorable 1982 team. From April 23rd to May 18th, a new medallion is released each day and available only with the coupon printed inside the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Fans simply take that day’s medallion coupon to a participating retailer to purchase their medallion.
first 10,000 fans”
Injury Report

Houston –

Only new addition to the Triage Unit is Jason Jennings, who is recovering from tendonitis in his throwing arm.
Brandon Backe still recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Giminez still recovering from labrum surgery.

Milwaukee –

The Brewers are completely injury free, except for Laynce Nix,* who is recovering from the stupid “y” in his first name as well as a strained oblique.

Our Interesting Things To Look For: Carlos Lee Edition!

[list]
[li] El Kabong’s return to Mikwaukee. Sure he spent a year at the Rangers, but honestly, does anyone acknowledge them as anything but another also-ran in the Who Gives A Shit League? [/li]

[li] Carlos averages more than 10 stolen bases a year, with a career total of 97 to only 33 caught stealing. He also has never struck out more than 94 times in a season, and less than 90 a season since 2004. [/li]
[li] Carlos Lee has kids. Yeah, I know, not that interesting. How about this though: He has two daughers, named Cassandra and Karla. And a son… named… Karlos. That is kind of interesting, no? Hey! Wait! Come back! The preview is almost over, I promise! [/li]

[/list]

On a somewhat personal note… I’m glad the Good Guys got out of town without having to face Matt Belisle. I’ve been an Astros fan all of my life, but I’m disgustingly torn when trying to decide what I want to happen when Matty-B is on the hill. Of course, with the way the Redleg Bullpen looks, it seems like a safe bet to hope Matt shuts down the ‘Stros for 7 and then we score 15 on Dave “Stormy” Weathers and his Get Shelled Posse.

And on a less personal note…
You ever wonder if Corey Hart ever hates his parents more than a little bit for not naming him Sam or Bob or Jason?

Discuss today’s game in the  GameZone.

* I couldn’t find any weird picture that showed how much I dislike Laynce Nix, so instead I decided that you’d enjoy a picture of Alex Rodriguez and Laynceyboy looking weird together.

April 19, 2007

Astros 8, Dicketies 6

W: Lidge (1-0) | L: Weathers (0-2) | S: Wheeler (3)
Yacks: Scott (2) Lane (4)
Pigpen watch: 2,944 (PH BB, Run)

Cuss it out, then hug it out in the GameZone.
Wax whether Woody wins again in the TalkZone

Other coverage:
O-o-oh, Alyson!
AP via Yahoo!

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Well, I’m not too big on the book learnin’ like some of those other contributors but I do know that there was some old, fancy writin’ that started out, “It was the worst of times. It was the best of times.” Or something like that. For the second straight night, the Good Guys scored loads in the 8th and more in the 9th to overcome a not so good outing from Woody Williams and take their second consecutive short series sweep. (more…)

April 18, 2007
Astros 7, Dickities 2
W: Chris Sampson | L: Todd Coffey
Yackball: Lane (3)
Pigpen watch: 2,944 (0-5)
Take a stroll down memory lane in the GameZone thread
Pop corks, clink glasses in the TalkZone

Other coverage:
AP story
The Footer

Apropos of Nothing:
Lookie! Falling Down! Loud noises!

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The good times keep right on rolling as the ‘Stros opened a can late and moved within a half game of first in the Central, percentage points ahead of the Skyline Cornholes. The magic number is now 149 - it’s never too early to start counting, people. (more…)

By Craig Elliott

The Astros have won six of their last eight, and have evened the record at 6-6. Not bad considering the team’s best hitter hasn’t accomplished much besides setting up a snack bar at first. He also tried to set up a hot dog stand, but Luke Scott kept kicking over the bun warmer with the flippers from his frogman suit.

Now the Astros get to visit four cities in a nine-day road trip, including a one-day stop in sunny Philadelphia. Throw in Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and Pittsburgh, and, well, that’s better than Spring Break, baby. The only thing missing is Foghat’s tour bus.

The Reds are leading the division and are a game ahead of the Astros. As usual, Adam Dunn is leading the team in homers (4) and strikeouts (16). Josh Hamilton also has three homers. Aaron Harang and Matt Belisle each have two wins. Edwin Encarnacion got benched recently for not running out a pop fly.

(more…)

Marlins at Astros, 4/17/07
Score: Astros 6, Fish 1
W: Roy Oswalt (3-0) L: Jorge Julio (0-2)
Homeruns: Carlos Lee (5), Hanley Ramirez (2)
March to 3000: 2,944 (2×4, 2B, 1B, Plunk)
Read Alyson’s Recap
AP recap

Seems the only drama late in this game was if Bruce “Backstop” Froemming would remain upright for the entire nine. The veteran home plate ump had regular visits with Astros trainer Rex Jones due to numerous body shots, and even took a deflection off of a Pigpen plunk. The Black and Blue toughed it out as the Astros hooked the Marlins 6-1 and swept the short series at Minute Maid Park. (more…)

By Foghorn

Minute Maid Park

Monday, 7:05 PM on KNWS
Tuesday, 7:05 PM on FSSW

Notable giveaways

Nothing but the Double Play Tuesday, where you get 2 cheap seats for $2 by bringing in a neck ring from a 32oz bottle of PowerAde.  Gotta buy your tickets at the box office though.
Heckuva promotion though.  You plan your trip just right, you can get in and out for under $10.  I’ll be there with my oldest daughter.  Look for the little girl asking: “Can I have a hot dog, can I have a hot dog, canihaveahotdog, canihaveahotdog…” or the father going “no, you just ate, no you just ate, noyoujustate, noyoujustate…”.

(more…)

By Taras Bulba

Well, that son of a bitchin’ strosrays went out and wrote a goddamn treatise on life last week, forcing everyone to buy thesauruses and slide rules and other smart ass shit.  He’s definitely the kind of guy that doesn’t give reach arounds.  Anyway, here’s the deal:

Astros (3-5) at Phillies (2-7)
At Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia
aka “The Bank, The Ballpark, The Vault”

Friday, April 13, 6:05 p.m. CDT-FSN
Saturday, April 14, 2:55 p.m. CDT-Fox, FOX!
Sunday, April 15, 12:35 p.m. CDT-FSN

For the coverage impaired, MLB.TV will also broadcast the games for a reasonable monthly rate, excluding carrying charges, transit and handling fees, and a bill of lading.  I have been anxious to write, “bill of lading” for a long time, so there you have it.  Otherwise, FSN will cover the Friday and Sunday games with our favorite standbys, Brownie and Jim, while Fox, FOX! will be there for the Saturday afternoon throw down.  Brit Hume will do the play by play for FOX! with his sidekicks, Geraldo and Billy O.   Tom Wolfe will stop by the booth to offer tips on finding hot coeds and to show off his natty new spring suit. Laurie Dhue (www.girlsoffoxnews.com) will appear from time to time to offer keen insight and to allow for male viewers to stare at her lips and think generally bad thoughts.  As the broadcast is on FOX!, spokespersons for all of the major Democratic presidential candidates have indicated that they will not  participate, so we won’t be able to see if Obama throws like a girl or if Hillary wears a cup.

(more…)

Astros at Cubs, 4/10/07
Astros 4, Cubs 2
W: Chris Sampson (1-0) L: Jason Marquis (0-1)
Road to 3000: 2,938 (o-fer-5)
Read Alyson Footer’s report
AP report from yahoo

The Good Guys continued to enjoy the friendly confines as they won their second straight day game 4-2 over the Cubbies of Chicago. Today’s game was not as frigid as yesterdays, but there was still a stiff wind that kept the ball in the yard all day. Idiot drunk shirtless unemployed Cub fans remained until the bitter end. (more…)

Astros at Cubs, 4/9/07
Score: Good Guys 5, Cubs 3
W: Chad Qualls (1-1) L: Bob Howry (0-2) S: Dan Wheeler (1)
Homeruns: Adam Everett (1)
March to 3000: 2,938 (2×4, 2 2b, SAC)
Read Alyson’s Report Here: Footer
Or ESPN’s report here: ESPN

Officially, the winds were only 9 mph, so it must have been the 39 degree cold keeping the ball in the park. But mark my words – by June, Ted Lilly will be giving up 3-4 dingers a game.
(more…)

Marlins at Astros, 4/16/07
Score: Astros 4, Sushi 3
W: Chad Qualls (2-1) L: K. Gregg (0-1)
Homeruns: No, but Hanley Ramirez was SURE he’d get one
March to 3000: 2,942 (2×4, 2 2b, SAC)
Read Alyson’s Report Here: Footer
Or the AP recap here: Yahoo!

It did not take long to figure out that this would not be a pristine game. Two pitches in, Ramirez smacks one off the BMC software sign, but just below the yellow line. Burke, displaying the innate fielding instincts we’ve come so quickly to know and love, goes all the way to the wall, while El Caballo just sort of stands there snorting at it. The ball caroms back towards RCF, with Burke giving chase. At this point, Ramirez is getting greedy, to the point he runs the stop sign at third. And I don’t mean your run of the mill, Houston driver, “it’s not really red until 5 seconds in”, type of run the stop sign; his own 3b coach damn near tackled him to stop him. Burke managed to hit the cutoff man, and Ausmus applied the “ole” tag for the game’s first out.
(more…)

By ’strosrays 

Wrigley Field Is Decadent And Depraved 

Astros (1-5) at Cubs (3-3)
at Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL 
a/k/a The “Taj Mahal”

Monday, April 9, 1:20 p.m. CDT – FSN
Tuesday, April 10, 1:20 p.m. CDT – FSN
Wednesday, April 11, 1:20 p.m. CDT – FSN

For those of you with “coverage” issues, the Monday and Wednesday games are also scheduled to be carried by Superstation WGN. . . I am not sure who does the Cub games for WGN anymore – my ability to focus on their telecasts, even if what I was focusing was mostly bile, decreased significantly after “Chippy” Carey left.  The guys they have had the last year or two are basically generic, sorta like the non Milo-nese people who are in the Astros radio booth nowadays.  Whatever their names are.

At any rate, you should be able to get the WGN games, no matter where you live.  WGN is carried by every cable system from here to the Crab Nebula. (more…)

So, now that we’ve gotten a few practice games out of the way, its time to start the season, right? Wait, we started 3 days ago? Son of a bitch.  Well, the Good Guys have some work to do at this point. Getting pecker-slapped by perennial cellar dwellers in the Central is not exactly a good way to start the season. Scoring less than 3 runs a game against the Pirate pitching staff with our new and improved lineup also doesn’t bode particularly well. The only good thing about a slow start is the number of fair weather fans that fall off the bandwagon. The bad news is, the air waves will be even more filled with their cries for a new closer, Roger Clemens, and <insert real CF here> .
The Co-ards aren’t in much better shape. With a similarly dismal start against the goddamn fucking Mets, they also stand at 0-3, hanging out with the Astros at the bottom of the Central. As has been covered repeatedly in the TZ and everywhere the BfiB complain on a regular basis, Chris Carpenter is suffering from some elbow tenderness, and the Co-ard rotation is looking shakier than a late night CoRussa sobriety test.
Anyway, hopefully its time for the Astro bats to come out of their early season slumber and whip some Redbird ass.
Minute Maid Park

Friday, April 6, 7:05 p.m. CDT – FSN
Saturday, April 7, 6:05 p.m. CDT – FSN
Sunday, April 8, 1:05 p.m. CDT – FSN
Projected Matchups from Astros.com

Friday
Adam Wainwright (0-0, 0.00) vs Wandy Rodriguez (0-0, 0.00)
Last Season: Wainwright (2-1, 3.12, 5 saves) vs. Rodriguez (9-10, 5.64)

Saturday
Anthony Reyes (0-0, 0.00) vs. Roy Oswalt, (0-0, 1.17)
Last Season: Reyes (5-8, 5.06)

Sunday
Kip Wells, (0-1, 3.00) vs. Jason Jennings, (0-0, 1.50)
 
Notable giveaways this series include Jeff Bagwell figurines and posters on Friday, 2007 wall calendars on Saturday to the first 30,000 fans, and Junction Jack Plush Dolls on Sunday to the first 20,000 youngsters through the gates.
You didn’t hear it from me, but I think that Kip Wells would really appreciate being bombarded by 20k or so plush dolls around the start of the 3rd inning.
Injury Report

Cardinals – No listed injuries yet, but they are in the process of evaluating Carpenter’s elbow soreness. Preliminary reports say its nothing serious, but he is definitely missing his start this weekend..

Houston – Nothing new to report here. Backe and Giminez both on the DL, and Luke Scott spent a few days in a Bacta Tank healing up his dinged up elbow. He should be good to go Friday, according to the  Astro Training staff.
Our Interesting Things To Look For
·   Adam Wainwright, strictly as a reliever, has pretty much owned the Astros. Only Good Guys worth a damn against him are Bidge with a hit and two RBIs in two at bats and Mike Lamb, who is 2-3 against Adam. Moberg is 0-6 with 4 ponches.
·   Astros to watch against Anthony Reyes: Mike Lamb, 2-3 with a double. Bidge 2-4 with a double, a dinger, 2 walks, and 3 RBIs. Morgan Ensberg, 0-6 with 5 Ks.  I would venture to say we might see some Mike Lamb this weekend
·   .The Astros have faced Kip Wells a lot. A combined 256 at bats, with a batting average of .270 against him, but that number should be slightly higher since it includes some appearances by Woody Williams. RoyO is 0-3 against Kipper with 2 Ks, but I don’t know why you’d care about that at all, so just ignore it.
·   Wandy put up decent numbers against the Co-ards last year, holding them under .260 as a team. Jennings has held current Cards to a sparkling .227 average. Thank the BBGs that Mark Mulder isn’t around for the Cards still; he owned Jennings while at the plate, sporting a gaudy .400 average in 10 at bats.
·   Biggio Hit Watch: 2934 down, 66 to go!
Discuss today’s game in theGameZone, but for God’s sake, keep it upbeat. Alkie is on suicide watch already.

April 4, 2007
Pirates 5, Astros 4
W: Tom Gorzelanny | L: Woody Williams | S: Solomon Torres
Yackball: Biggio (1)
Pigpen watch: 2,934 (3-5)
GameZone thread
Piss and moan about it in the TalkZone

Other coverage:
AP story
Astros.com recap and game info

Apropos of Nothing:
Look! Rainbows! Feel better now?

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Ugh. Nothing says “cause for optimism” quite like having the Pirates break the brooms out on you in the opening homestand. First road sweep by Pittsburgh against Houston in 16 years. You know what? Forget it, I can’t even bitch about it right now, let’s just get straight to the tape. (more…)