Yesterday was a great start to the series for the Astros. Firstly it is so weird that Brian Moehler has been our most consistent pitcher so far this season. Cooper made the right call by leaving him in the rotation and shuffling Sampson to the bullpen. As I saw the game advance on the old-style Wrigley Field scoreboard I had to hide my delight as the Astros stretched out a 4-1 lead and then horror mingled with relief as the Rangers ninth inning rally came up short (yes I was at Wrigley Field last night).
It would be huge if two of the contributers last night, Ty Wiggington and Humberto Quintero could give the Astros some runs in the bottom of the order over the next few weeks.
Berkman went 2-3 with a walk a double and a 2 run home run which gave Jose Valverde breathing room which he sorely needed giving up a 2 run bomb to Vazquez before closing it out for his nineteenth save of the season. Berkman went 0-9 in the Tampa Bay series. The Astros have now won 3 of their last 4, considering they had won just three games prior to the Tampa Bay series in June. All three of those wins have been by 1 run margins, and each of the last seven games the Astros have played in has been decided by 2 runs or less.
Going to Wrigley Field was an amazing experience last night. The place was full and while my view was slightly obstructed (I had to buy what tickets were available on the day, I was there at 8 in the morning), the people around were noisy (which is good, atmosphere etc.). Even when the Cubbies were 7-1 down they went absolutely mental all through the Jim Edmonds at bat as if they knew he would hit that home run. The fans all looked rather bemused when George Sherrill got the final out, it was like 'huh, my Cubbies lost at home??' What the Cubs have done so far at Wrigley (32-9 at home this season) kind of beggars belief and I got the feeling that people turn up to the park and expect a win. The confidence I think, has
I know the Cubs are talking about the possibility of acquiring Rich Harden but first Pinella has to think about his bench. Blanco, Murton, Ward and Cedeno all came off the bench and frankly they sucked. The three Cubs that came to the plate with the bases loaded in the ninth all looked like they were trying to hit grand slams, and there were too many flat footed swings.
I can now sing take me out to the ballgame comptently, and thanks to the generosity of friends in Austin, I got to treat myself and (wait for it) actually buy stuff inside the ballpark. $10 got me a Cubs hat, $5 a massive bag of salted peanuts, and I also bought two hot dogs and a scorecard (it kind of makes the game more fun when your keeping score and I could stash my pencil conveniently behind my ear so I can clap at the same time. Wrigley field itself really does have an atmosphere unlike the other ballparks I've been to. It seemed like most of the fans appreciated exaclty what was going on, and at several times all 41,000 fans were on their feet making tons of noise. As I remarked to the guy next to me, it was nice not to have a huge electronic scoreboard because 'it seems as if you spend more time watching the scoreboard than the game.'
Visited Millenium Park and the bean or the cloud or whatever it is called. Weather rather miserable today. I leave for Pittsburgh tomorrow.
