Maybe the Astros should make it a habit of having a hotheaded pitcher get into a skirmish with General Manager Ed Wade.
Every day.
Call it the Keith Hernandez Principle.
Back in 1988, the New York Mets first baseman had gotten word from his attorney that his bitter divorced had become final. The next night, Hernandez (never a real power hitter) hit two home runs and drove in seven runs. He mused: "Maybe I should get divorced every day. I'd be broke, but I'd also be in the Hall of Fame."
In their first game after disgruntled pitcher Shawn Cacon was put on waivers (more on this in the next blog posting), the Astros mixed great offense with great pitching to blast the Texas Rangers 7-2.
On the pitching side, lefty Wandy Rodriguez pitched brilliantly against the surprising Rangers, scattering five hits over eight innings, allowing one earned run, striking out nine and lowering his season ERA to 2.58. Rodriguez not only got a base hit, but even scored a run as well.
What's more, the Astros roughed up Rangers righty Kevin Millwood for 12 hits and seven earned runs over five innings. Millwood, noteworthy, had oodles and oodles of success against Houston when he played for the Atlanta Braves.
Hunter Pence, whose bats had recently been spotted cooling off on The Planet Formerly Known As Pluto as Pluto is heading off into its multi-decade-long winter season, is hitting .269 and had a hit in the game. One of the hits was a two-out, three-run triple.
Astros lefthanded-hitting second baseman David Newhan contributed with a 3-5 performance, driving in two runs. Newhan was recently called up from Triple-A Round Rock when regular Astros second baseman Kaz Matsui went onto the disabled list.
Now that Chacon is gone, the Astros have recalled right-handed pitcher Runelvys Hernandez from Round Rock. No doubt, he's spending his time with Wade saying, "Ok, last time. It's spelled R-U-N-E-L-V-Y-S."
