Houston Astros Baseball 5-16-08

NOTES:

Lisa gray on Valverde:

Valverde......14 straight appearances with no ER given up and he has lowered his ERA from 12.27 to 4.15.
Over 14.1 IP, he has 10 saves, 1 BS and 2 W. He has given up 6 H, 3 BB, 16 K

-We are now 2nd in the NL central.... 1/2 game ahead of the Cards and 1 1/2 behind the Cubs
-The Astros hadn't rallied from six down to win in eight years.
-Geoff Geary pulled his groin :(
-The Astros now lead the majors with 45 stolen bases!
-Stolen 19 bases in the last 10 games, including six multi-steal games....
-I think that I love our bench: darin erstad and mark loretta....... and brad ausmus have been really pulling through lately



now about berkman........
for fear of a jinx- i will not mention T_______ C_______
but he is definitely on a miraculous pace.
League-wise:
first in HRS with 15
second in BA with .391
second in RBI with 43

from sporting news:

Houston is 24-18 and alone in second place behind the NL Central Chicago Cubs by a game and a half. Berkman is hitting .391 with the league leading 15 homeruns, 43 RBI's, .808 slugging %, .472 OBP %, 1.280 OPS, 59 hits, 45 runs, 16 doubles, 25 walks, and seven steals. The "Big Puma" is playing remarkable as the Astros keep winning. Houston has won six of 7 games currently on a 10 game road trip.

A 1.280 OPS?!?!?!?!?!
HEAD EXPLOSION.






okay now about michael bourn.
i am all for darin erstad getting playing time but his place is on the bench as a valuable PH or utility player....
not as an everyday player. i think bourn should stay in the lineup- but possibly switch with pence in the order.

instead of everyone talking about sending bourn down to AAA or to the bench-
why arent we paying attention to the fact that jose cruz junior's BA is .162...... borderline NL pitcher BA.
he has come through in some particularly well fashions but he walks more than he hits....
and off the bench- typically a PH getting a walk over a hit is typically not a preference.
10 walks 5 hits with 41 ABS



i think oswalt is back.

and if one more person comes up to me saying "Lee stinks"...
i might very well stab someone in the eye with my daggers of hatred.