Its been a week into my trip and this is my first post.
First off I arrived in Houston on the 12th and watched the game against the Brewers. Moehler was disappointing and the Astros had plenty of chances, but you just don't give Ben Sheets seven runs to work with and expect to win. I had been looking forward to Houston, but was shocked at the day I spent there. Being the first stop on the way, I was considering calling my trip off. As I got of the bus from Houston I was immediately surrounded by four black guys who got in my face and started asking me questions before slipping in "have you got five bucks to spare." So far If I had given money to every person this week who has asked me for it I would have payed out a few hundred dollars. The scary thing was that when I politely said no they still followed me, and as I got away from them I could see them pointing to others to follow me.
The people in Houston were so unfriendly it took me three hours of wandering about to find the hostel. When I arrived I got chatting to three nice blokes. One was from Portsmouth in England, one from New Orleans, and another called John (who was pretty camp) did not say where he was from. There were also convinced that the hostel was a front for a crack den, as they had been told by management they could supply them with 'anything they needed.' So I was kind of glad to get out of Houston, flying from Hobby to St. Louis.
I saw all three games of the series between the Phillies and the Cardinals. After getting hammered in the first game (the Phils scored 9 runs in one inning off Wellmeyer and Ron Villone), Kyle Lohse pitched well in the second game before the Cards hung on for the series finale. They allowed 8 walks and the Phils had enough chances after two throwing errors to first base allowed the Cards to walk off with the win in the 10th. I saw the Yadier Molina-Eric Bruntlett collision and was pretty worried for Molina (he did not move at all after being hit). Busch stadium is lovely, but I still can't believe how expensive After feeling so tired after just a few days I decide to skip Milwaukee after looking at my schedule and realising I couldn't actually make it to any games if I went.
So I arrived in Chicago which is a lovely city. It is clean, the metro trains make it easy to get downtown, and Lake Michigan is beautiful. I went to see the White Sox play today (thursday) against the Pirates. Pittsburgh scored 6 un-earned runs on a Cabrera error, who redeemed himself capping a 6 run frame by Chicago in the bottom of the inning with a 3 run home run. It was a day-game and the park was virtually empty 10 minutes before the start but it filled up. Compared to Busch stadium it looks tiny, but perhaps that's because it doesn't have as many levels on the main concourse. I had a wander around downtown yesterday, and got a boat from the aquarium to the navy pier. Weather in Chicago is also nice, not humid at all and in the low 70s, early 80s.
The Astros are just playing downright ugly baseball, losing 7 straight games. It is embarrasing. This stretch could finish off their season, as they have dropped to second to last in the NL. This run since they went on that roadtrip at the end of May is even more soul destroying because they had worked through two other roadtrips to put themselves in a strong position.
