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Carlos Lee Snaps 0-4, Drives In Winning Run For Astros 9th Walkoff Win

By Lisa Gray | May 8th, 2008

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Remember a few days back, when Hunter Pence went 0-5 with a sombrero, but hit a walk off homer in his last AB?

Well, Carlos Lee looked B A D all day long, weak grounders, 2 Ks. And in the 7th inning, he looked like he might as well have been a little leaguer wildly swinging at 4 sliders after Manny Acta IBBd Lance. The 9th was a repeat of the 7th. Hanrahan walked Matsui, who stole second with Miggy at bat, Miggy Kd, Lance IBB. But then, inexplicably, Manny Acta pulled Hanrahan. Los’ jaw dropped, he raised his eyes to the heavens to say THANK you Lord when out trotted Colome, who he had faced yesterday. He watched strike 1, took a borderline slider, took a pitch in the dirt that rolled a short distance from Nieves as Matsui flew into 3rd. Carlos was just smellin that RBI and he knocked the next pitch over the head of the CF and Astros win their 5th in a row.

Lance is unstoppable. Well, almost. He’d gotten 8 hits in a row, the last one a right-handed blast off a hanging slider into Pujols land 0ff the window over the tracks. But he popped out in the 5th to end his streak. Manny Acta is just gonna Bonds him, I guess, if he comes up with the game on the line, not that I blame him.

Roy had a pretty darn good game, gave up 3 runs on a single, a homer on a hanging slider and another on a FB, both to Ryan Zimmerman. He struck out 9, walked 2, gave up 5 hits, and got lucky that Bourn was able to throw out Pena at the plate because he had foolishly stopped for a scond between 3rd and home and that gave Ausmus all the time in the world to catch the ball and easily tag Pena.

Roy also drove in 2 runs with a 2 out single and darn near drove in another with a squeeze, but unfortunately the bunt rolled foul at the last minute. Pitchers hitting and driving in runs is kewl.

I should note that the Astros left 12 MOB tonight and they also left 12 MOB last night. And this is gonna hurt them in the long run. They only capitalized on 1 of the 7 walks issued, too.

So last game is Backe vs John Lannan, LHP

Backe has started 2 games vs the Nats, going 1-1 in 12 IP with a 3.75 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and a .207 BAA

John Lannan, LHP, faced the Astros once last year, gave up 3 hits, 1 ER in 5 IP.

This year, he’s 2-3 in 6 GS over 33.2 IP - 34H, 3 HR, 16 BB, 24 K: 3.74 ERA, 1.54 WHIP and a .278 BAA

oh yeah

Props to Wiggy for stealing second in the 4th after he somehow missed the double steal with Pence. Yeah, I know it was against LoDuca, but still, Wiggy trucking down the line was an awesome sight.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 8th, 2008 at 12:02 am and is filed under Astros baseball, Berkman, Roy Oswalt, Carlos Lee, Ty Wigginton. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Responses to “Carlos Lee Snaps 0-4, Drives In Winning Run For Astros 9th Walkoff Win”

Mark says:

May 7th, 2008 at 11:11 pm

12 is a lot of LOB’s, but they found a way to win it in the 9th, which I’ll take anytime. Of course, it IS the Nats, and you’ll have to drive in some of those runners that you’ve been leaving on base when you play a good team.
Evan says:

May 8th, 2008 at 10:41 am

A win is a win is a win, at least for this squad. Nearly a third of the way to their “MVN projected 60 wins”. hehehe. Long season though, so who knows. Leaving men on base is a major no-no, but look at what the team did right: stealing bases in high leverage (prudent) situations, the middle of the order hitting simultaneously, Pence looking more comfortable at the plate, Wiggy getting on base with frequency, a bullpen that’s been productive despite giving up an inordinate amount of HR’s.

The Cubs are playing sloppy baseball, and their starting pitching is a big concern (I know we can relate). The Cards are getting away with murder, ok ok maybe just manslaughter, with that pitching staff pounding the strike zone as much as they do. Also, that team has more Luke Scott-type (.820 OPS, some power, close to 30) OF’s than you can shake a stick at. Yea, they’re not bad players, but the whole team is playing above their head (except for Albert). The Brewers have no rotation consistency, and their bullpen should make us feel lucky to be Stros fans. In summation: it’s wiiiiiddddeee open. Maybe we’ll flounder the rest of the way, but 34 games in , with the schedule we’ve played I think we are doing fine
Steve Schramm says:

May 8th, 2008 at 11:52 am

No team is perfect, but it sure is FUN to be a ’stros fan right now. In fact, the past two weeks have been BIG fun. I know it won’t last and there will be bad spells, which is why you have to enjoy it when everything is going your team’s way!
Travis says:

May 8th, 2008 at 12:14 pm

I think the thing I was most happy about (besides the game winner of course!) was The Wizard throwing his curveball for strikes. He was filthy against everyone but Zimmerman. Helps if you knock in a pair of RBIs too.
wags says:

May 8th, 2008 at 1:38 pm

Stephen Randolph has been traded to the Phils for that trusty PTBNL. Lidge got straightened out there. Daresay Stephen may soon find his elusive command?
Steve Schramm says:

May 8th, 2008 at 1:49 pm

It wasn’t just command — Randolph got hit hard when he had control. His high Ks were partially because he was so wild. If he knocks down the BBs, his Ks will also come down. He’s a great AAAA player — he’ll never be much in the Majors. Since he’s left handed, he may continue to earn a modest paycheck. If he were right handed, he’d be OOB already.
Lisa Gray says:

May 8th, 2008 at 3:11 pm

now evan,

i said 72 not 60. and trust me, i will be MORE than happy to be wrong. and i am really appreciating the VERY good baserunning. lance looks like a new man - or at least the guy i remember from 5 or 6 years ago. and carlos hasn’t made any stupid blunders, even if he isn’t stealing, which is OK with me. and i Do think pence is starting to come around and i hope bourn follows him.

travis -

zim hit a hanging slider and a FB. and the curve was more strikes than balls this time, thank goodness. roy looked bettern i’ve seen him since PHhilly

wags,

i will fall over if the phillies pitching coach can actually straighten out randolph. lidge WAS straightened out before he went there - he had trouble with his knee (i don’t care what they said) the last month and he got that fixed and he looks like the old lidge. not surprised and i root for the guy as long as he’s not facing us

- and steve is right. randolph is very successful in AAA because they will swing at stuff that ML hitters don’t. so up here he either walks guys or gets slammed. also his pitches don’t have enough movement in the strike zone so they travel far, far away