For one sunny afternoon at least, the Houston Astros looked like a team that could actually make some noise in the weak National League Central. The team completed their first series sweep of the season by locking down the Cubs bats, thanks to a fantastic outing by Brett Myers that somehow still managed to make me nervous throughout. Myers went six innings, giving up just one earned run (a leadoff homer to Kosuke Fukudome) on three hits, with two walks and three strikeouts. Myers has dominated the Cubs throughout his career, and he ran his record against the North-Siders to 12-3 complete with a 2.12 ERA. The big righty still fell behind in counts and still relied on his breaking ball way too much, but I'm starting to think that's what we're going to get out of Brett Myers this year and the team is just going to have to learn to deal with it. All in all, he had a fine start, and he kept the team in the game long enough to secure the win.
While the Astros bats worried me mightily throughout the contest, Michael Bourn came through in the clutch again, driving in the winning runs off of lefty specialist Sean Marshall, who had owned Bourn in their last few meetings. In fact, in Bourn's career against Marshall, he got a hit in his first at-bat, then proceeded to strike out six straight times against him. He seemed to figure things out on Wednesday, as he laced a hit over Carlos Pena's head to bring home Jeff Keppinger and Chris Johnson.
Bourn's performance of late deserves a bit of a spotlight. He's billed as a run creator, not a run producer, but he's defied that notion in the past few games, collecting 3 RBIs in just the last two contests against the Cubs. He now leads the league in stolen bases, as he swiped two on Wednesday afternoon, bringing his season total to 22. I'm just saying, is there anything this guy can't do? In a previous post, I contended that Hunter Pence was the Astros' best player, but Bourn seems hellbent to prove me wrong. He's second to none in center field, he's the premier base stealer in the league, and he has now begun to hit with regularity, even against tough lefties. Yes, Pence may still be the BEST player in Houston, but Bourn is certainly the most valuable to the team, and it seems to me that he had a very large part in this sweep of the rival Cubbies.
SERIES PREVIEW: Houston Astros (22-34) vs. San Diego Padres (24-31), June 2-5, PETCO Park
Game 1:
9:05 pm- Bud Norris (2-4, 3.76 ERA) vs. Tim Stauffer (1-3, 3.60 ERA)
Game 2:
9:05 pm- J.A. Happ (3-6, 4.66) vs. Dustin Moseley (1-6, 3.18)
Game 3:
7:35 pm- Aneury Rodriguez (0-2, 5.40) vs. Aaron Harang (5-2, 3.88)
Game 4:
5:35 pm- Jordan Lyles (0-0, 1.29) vs. Mat Latos (3-6, 3.97)
The Astros play their second four-game series against the Padres in 2011, though this time they'll be doing it in the cavernous confines of PETCO Park. If there's one advantage the road team has in this one, it's that the Friars absolutely can't score runs (they're 28th in the league in runs scored, 28th in BA and 30th in OBP). The Astros can at least hit a little better than that, and it's safe to say that the Padres rotation isn't one to instill fear in opposing batters by name recognition alone. However, they're a solid bunch, even if Latos is following up a career year with a dud. This should be an interesting series, just like the one in Houston was.
Prediction: It's never any fun to predict a split, and that's why I hate four-game series. But that's what I'm taking if I'm putting money down. I'll say Bud finally breaks out of his slump and beats Stauffer. Happ will continue his great run of late and oust Moseley, the least lucky pitcher in the bigs. Harang dominated the Astros in Houston, and I don't see why he shouldn't do it again. I'd like to pick Lyles to get a major league win before he's sent back to AAA, but I don't see him getting it done against the dangerous Latos. However, if the bats can come to life in monstrous PETCO, a series win is very possible, and another sweep isn't out of the question.
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