Astros Franchise-MVP Baseball (World Series!)

[jonthefon]

Well, the Sox are up against the terrible Devil Rays and the Yanks have a tough series against the Jays. They lost today against Halladay while Beckett got win 20.

Lidge sensibly walked Pujols today to get save 16. I wonder what would be the reaction if it ended up being a walk-off grand slam.

[JT_55]

Who's f***ing idiot's idea is it to pull Doc out when he was pitching so well? Pull AJ, fine, Marcum, fine, McGowan, fine, but Doc? The guy just can't get any luck.

If Pujols got the grand-slam homer, yikes. But is there something wrong with the boxscore? http://www2.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/scores/20070921/Hou@StL Lidge only pitched a third of an inning in the first half of the ninth, how could he get the save? Anyway, JR Towles is shaking up this place! With him going the way he is, Astros might even make the playoff next year, provided the pitching is good. Of course, I might be a bit too psyched up about the guy, but with good reason. Man, if only Pineiro didn't give up the three in the first...

[jonthefon]

Well, Randolph did walk three guys in a row...

[JT_55]

Wait, I think the boxscore messed it up. If the game was like what it says, Lidge would've came in to start the bottom of the ninth with no one on. They switched Randolph and Lidge around. Oh well, doesn't matter, as long as the Astros win. Two clear of the Bucs now, with a little luck they might even finish third.

High time I updated. Don't excatly see the point, though.

Game 3

Starters
Pittsburgh: Josh Fogg
Houston: Jason Jennings

Game Recap
Still haven't got a homer yet this year, but Vernon takes care of that. A first inning 2-run bomb off Fogg. 2-0 Astros.

Jennings gets a meltdown in the third, with Lofton, Simon, and Giles all driving in runs. 3-2 Pirates.

Not to worry. Right after that, Wells is at it again. His second two-run shot of the day. 4-3 Astros.

Astros get some insurance in the seventh with Teixeira's RBI drive to the gap, and Blum got him in with a single. 6-3 Astros.

Rookie Watch
Jim Erstad: 1-1

Player of the game
Vernon Wells: 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI

Stats

Notable hitters
Wells: 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI
Teixeira: 1-3, R, RBI

Simon: 3-4, R, RBI

Pitchers
Jennings: 7 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 K
Williamson: 1 IP, 0 R
Gagne: 1 IP, 0 R

Fogg: 6 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER
Figueroa: 2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER

Game 3 Result
Pittsburgh 3, Houston 6

[jonthefon]

Man oh man, Vernon Wells. Pity he's been disappointing this year.

And I'm casually playing through an Astros MVP 05 dynasty, and I've started a horribly unbelievable 20-5. I've been 5-3 when fully playing (still working on All-Star), but when simming, the terrible pitching staff has been dominant (15-2 when simming, with a team ranked 26th?). Jennings is like, 4-1 with 1.8 ERA and Lidge has 11 saves from 12 chances. Totally stupid stuff.

[JT_55]

Wow, sounds very unrealistic. Still, to scale, does that mean Roy is 5-0 with a 0.00 ERA ? 5-3 while playing isn't bad, especially when just getting the hang of it. But I'm still looking to get MVP 05 as soon as I get a new comp. Unless of course, EA decides to make a newer MVP. Highly unlikely though, they only made college MVP baseball or something like that. Who'd buy a college baseball video game? I barely know anyone in there.

[jonthefon]

Nah, he's got about the same record as Jennings while simming. But when I pitch with him, it's usually shutout ball, or no more than two runs over seven or eight innings. Backe is 3-0 with under-1 ERA, so yeah, the simulation is screwed up.

Whereas in my Mariners fantasy dynasty picking tenth with a crazy team (Wright, Ortiz, Byrnes, Victorino, Wilkerson, Tulowitzki, Drew), decent bench (Luke Scott, Casey Kotchman) strong pitching rotation (Pettitte, Santana, Backe, Young, Marquis) and nasty bullpen (Ayala, Wheeler, Papelbon), I'm struggling at 6-4.

[JT_55]

Well, that is pretty stupid. Crazy team at 6-4 and a not-so good team at 20-5 You'd think EA would've cleaned up the simuation problems, instead they take a step back. MVP 03 doesn't have this problem, good teams do well, bad teams suck. Except that in season mode, for some reason the Blue Jays always make the world series. For franchise mode, the only sim glitch they have is a team losing constantly if they are on the short side of a uneven (2 for 1) trade. Of course, if they didn't do that, people could cheat-trade for a great lineup after the first season cause you can just do a 3 for 1 for a guy like Oswalt using three guys who suck and then pick up two players in FA to clear up the gaps.

[jonthefon]

Nah, maybe it's just luck. Either way, my staff on the Mariners has been crap.

[JT_55]

If it happens more than once it woldn't be jsut luck. But how can Pettitte (pure dominance ), Santana (two-time MVP), and a bullpen of Papelbon be crap? Wierd.

Drew

You mean JD or his little brother?

[jonthefon]

JD, the one who's failed at the BoSox this season despite his huge contract

And Lidge does it again. Except I have a feeling now it isn't just crapness, it's just bad luck. I watched that pitch again, it didn't look too bad compared to the homers he was serving up earlier in the season.

And I think I cursed him by saying "he hasn't given up leads off non-homers yet."

[JT_55]

Boy, Lidge...

I'm still going to sink or swim with Brad Lidge.

Well, you're sinking fast. Good thing the Pirates are there to break the fall.

It all can't be bad luck, unless he really is cursed (no way). Yesterday, maybe. The pitch was bad (breaking ball down, was it?), but good hitters (trial's still out on Ankiel, I suppose) will hit them sometimes and sometimes bad pitches get smashed right to the centre fielder. Now, Oswalt, that was bad luck. 7 innings with an unearned...and still can't get a win. Of course, he wasn't in line for the win anyway, but he deserved better.

Lidge got a start overlast year and the year after that. Load of use that was. But seeing that BS column at 0 might actually give him a morale boost. He might be better if the Astros pick up a better setup guy in the off-season. As for Lidge goes, going ito the ninth with a one-run lead, and the three-run lead might be a big difference, and also might give him some competition for the job.

I'm considering putting Gagne in the same category as Kyle Farnsworth. Great stuff, but can't get the ball to go into the strike one if their lives depended on it.



Just 3 picks for Rex? Cowboys defense must be bad...bring on Griese, coach!

[jonthefon]

Well, that doubled his intercept tally this season, I think.

I'd like to have kept Wheeler: he was good competition (I think he had eight saves while Lidge was out). Usually, Lidge can convert +2 run leads. Occasionally he'll convert the less than 2 run leads.

Oswalt has been plain unlucky. I think he's missed out on about four wins this year. Opening Day, just then, Qualls blew one at the Giants a few months back, and something else. He should have an 18-7 record. Not to count all the bad run support. So yeah, he really should be a Cy Young candidate.

The Jays beat the Yankees today. So much for my "Andy Pettitte pure dominance" thing.

[JT_55]

C'mon then. Hop on the Litsch bandwagon. Pettite wasn't too bad, of course, the Yankee pitchers can't count on their offense everyday.

Oswalt pitched well enough to be a Cy Young candidate, but the fact is he didn't even go in the top five in the two season while he got 20 wins. But maybe Stark naming him the most underrated player might boost his popularity a bit (maybe).

The more room for error Lidge gets, the better. But it's even more better if he doesn't need the extra room. As for Wheeler, we got Ty Wigginton for him, so not too bad a trade. Still, as you said, would've been nice to have him in the bullpen to keep Lidge on his toes.

[jonthefon]

Well, we still had Ensberg who was a capable hitter (he looked like he was getting out of his slump when we traded him.)

And Lidge barely got out of it today: loading the bases without a hit before striking out the final batter.

And I was a bit hasty on the Oswalt judgement; I mean, the Astros have been bad. But then again, Brandon Webb got 16 wins and the Cy last year and the D'backs only won 76 games or so. If those four games hadn't been blown up and the Astros had taken a few more oppurtunities, they'd probably finish something like last season. Although Peavy will probably get it this year.

[JT_55]

Yeah well Ensberg hit half as many home runs with the Padres in about a third of games. His average dropped a bit but whatever.

Whatever less we hear of Lidge this year, the better. Unless it's of him getting a 1-2-3 inning (as possible as the Yankees not making the playoffs).

Still, at least people know about Webb. He had a article on him about his dissappearing sinkerball on SI. Well, Oswalt had an article too a while back, but I think I was one of the rare ones to read it. Yeah, Peavy should get it, and no doubt for Beckett in the AL.

[jonthefon]

Unless the Yankees pass the BoSox and Beckett gets slung for 6 and Wang pitches a no-hitter.

But none of those will happen. The only post-season award still in doubt (from MVP and Cy) is NL MVP.

[JT_55]

Well, I think Prince has it locked. Especially since he just got two homers a few days ago, and he might even pass his dad.

Wang is a sinkerballer, bit harder for them to get a no-no than strikeout guys. And Beckett won't get charged for 6, he's Beckett.

[jonthefon]

Which is why I said "none shall happen"

[jonthefon]

Well, Lidge nearly blew it again today, with walks again. I won't comment any further.

I pitched Roy against Chris Carpenter and lost; Cards scored one off a sacrifice fly, Roy gave up a solo homer off the foul pole to Pujols, I had lead-off doubles (Oswalt in the eighth! And Lee in the ninth) but couldn't convert them and the final score was 2-1.

[JT_55]

Ouch. Tough loss. But Roy was pretty good, just need to master that small ball .

lol Lidge...I think luck might be coming back to him. A ton of no-so-quality outings but still got the save. If Gagne gave up those walks, look out!

What about the Mets...another loss today. Manhandled by Joel Pineiro . Now tied with the Phillies. Best case scenario for me: Mets keep losing, Phillies get the East, and the Rockies (who are leading 10-3 over Dodgers last time I checked) get the WC (doesn't everyone love the underdog?).

Oh, and Beckett came oh-so-close to coughing up 6. Of course, Wang wasn't anywhere near a perfect game today, as he wasn't pitching. He has one more start left, I presume?

[jonthefon]

I think Wang has one left.

I like the Padres, although the people on their SportsBlogNation seem like asses. The Mets really should be fine, their lineup looks too dangerous to be permanently dead. I can't really decide which one I should root for in the NL West. The Rockies have been fun to watch this season. I'm not too enthusiastic over the D'backs though.

Pumping third in the NL Central is kind of out of the question now, which sucks. I hope the Astros beat Cincinnati for fourth (yep, that sounds weird after so many years of being the top-dog with the Cards.)

[JT_55]

However dangerous they are, the Mets are going down, down, and down...at the worst time too. They don't need to be permanetly dead to lose the East, just a few more games would do.

Padres are in serious trouble after losing Milton Bradley, their star player, best bat, and clubhouse leader. I like the Padres because of a centre fielder who just happens to used to play for a certain AL West team...well, and since Ensberg went there too.

As for the D-Back's, it's sorta like you wake up one morning, and check the standing and find them in the lead, and say "huh? How did they get here?"

A few more wins over Cincy should clinch the fourth place for the Astros.

[jonthefon]

Well, it was a sweep but the Stros finish off at the braves, a tough prospect without a usual guaranteed win by Roy.

Word to self: never pitch Eric O'Flaherty again in MVP. Nearly cost me a 6-2 lead, Putz had to come in and clean up with no hits in 1.2 innings.

[JT_55]

Eric O'Flaherty...but in real life, he's not too bad. A wicked slider, but that's sometime the only thing he could command. The hitters just have to lay it off and it's ball four. Anyway, you got JJ there to cover up.

The Braves are out, so they're also playing for pride, which might help the Astros out a bit. Also, they don't have Smoltz pitching too, but I'd rather have Roy.

There's still a chance D-Back's will tumble and Padres take the West and Rockies for the WC.