Sorry, I'm not got going into a lot detail about tonight's game. I've spent the day working -- no not that real paying kind -- on prep work, interviewing, and writing a story for the mothership on an ESPN anchor that will be on the mothership blog's on Thursday.Yes, I watched the game, but I'm tired, so no 2,000 word rants or anything tonight.
The amazing news is that the Astros won a game. They defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 for their second victory of the season. Mike Hampton struggled a bit, and needed some defensive assistance from Carlos Lee of all people, but he held it together and made it through six innings to get the win.
The vaunted offensive machine was overly effective -- they were outhit by the Pirates -- but this time they were actually able to take advantage of their scoring opportunities (like getting the bases loaded with no out in the first inning) to grab a 4-0 lead after three innings. After that they just held on. The Pirates had two on base with two out in the sixth inning when Ryan Doumit blasted a shot to right field that Carlos Lee was able to grab at the left field wall. And Adam LaRoche took Jose Valverde deep as the first batter of the ninth inning for the Pirates to make the score 4-1.
The Astros road trip ends on Thursday morning with a game time set for 11:35. Russ Ortiz will take the mound for the Astros.
MISCELLANEOUS GAME NOTES:
You might have noticed that all of the Astros and Pirates were wearing the number 42, as were all of the coaches and umpires. But no, this wasn't in honor of Jose Lima, the last Houston Astro to wear number 42. This was instead in honor of Jackie Robinson's first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.
In prior seasons, this date has been honored by one player on each team (sometimes several) wearing the number 42 for the game. But this year, Bud Selig deemed it necessary that every person in baseball wear the number 42. So if this was the first baseball game you've attended this year, and you didn't know the players, you definitely would not know them today.
The number 42 was retired by baseball in 1997, meaning that no player could wear that number again. Several players however, like Lima and Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees, were allowed to wear the number as they were already wearing the number.
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The Astros scored two runs in the first inning. This was the first time that they'd score a run in 18 innings. It was also the first time the Astros had scored a run in the first inning this season, becoming the last team in MLB to do so.
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Brian Moehler, who was injured on Tuesday afternoon, was placed on the 15 day disabled list with a grade one medial collateral ligament strain in his right knee. Alberto Arias was brought up from Round Rock to take his place on the roster.
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