It's nice to see Ol' Roy back, and it's even nicer to ponder that Houston dodged a bullet by keeping him instead of trading him.

How did Oswalt do today against the top team in baseball? Against the Chicago Cubs, Oswalt pitched nearly a complete game--going 8.1 innings and giving up four hits, no runs and striking out three. He's a 3.91 on what has definitely been an off-season. Amazingly, he's now 13-9 on the season. If not for his struggles, he might've won 20 games.

Jose Valverde got two outs to get his 38th save on the season. He got a scare as Derek Lee's potential game-tying opposite field fly ball died on the warning track.

Houston's now 72-66 and have won six in a row.

Tomorrow Houston faces Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano, who's had oodles and oodles of success against the 'Stros.

Continue reading "Houston 3, Chicago 0"

Mark Saccomanno, a 28 year-old ballplayer whose surname is sure to make your spellchecker scream, made his major league debut with the Astros by not only homering in his first major league at-bat, but on the very first pitch he ever saw in the majors.

Wow, as Ben Stein would say.

Saccomanno, a right-handed hitter, hit his home run to right center.

Courtesy of a 9-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight, Houston is now at 78-67 and is 4.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the NL wildcard race. Is it too late? Will Houston be this year's Colorado Rockies?

Continue reading "Latest on the Astros"

...First, the reality check. You're not quarterbacking the University of Texas anymore and you're not playing in the Big 12 anymore. You're in the pros, where things are SUPPOSED to get tougher. You're big, have a strong arm and have show lots of potential. Suck it up, and you'll be fine.

As for being booed, so what? Donovan McNabb has been booed. Joe Montana has been booed. Troy Aikman has been booed. It's reality. You get paid lots of money; develop mental callouses and deal with it.

I'd be slow to talk about retirement if I were you. Call it the Ricky Williams Principle. When you retire with lots of years left on your contract and a huge signing bonus, your team's going to want that money back.

Continue reading "Hey, Vince Young..."

No baseball the past few days due, understandably, to Hurricane Ike. Houston remains 80-67 on the season, 2.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the wildcard race. It's looking like they'll play the Cubs and Sunday; reports say that the makeup games could be played in Milwaukee.

Minute Maid Park, designed to withstand hurricanes, is said to have sustained no structural damage. Still, as Alyson Footer reports, many in Houston are without power, making it tricky to decide whether or not games can or should be played in Houston.

Continue reading "And now this brief Astros interlude"