Shawn Chacon

the MLB players union is filing a grievance on behalf of former Houston Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon. You remember: Chacon twice shoved down Houston Astros general manager Ed Wade after Wade's repeated attempts to talk to Chacon to address the issue of demoting him from the starting rotation to the bullpen. Chacon wanted to start and wanted nothing to do with the bullpen, never mind that some starters go to the bullpen, get their groove back and return successfully to being a starter. I suppose it could've been worse: the 'Stros could've done what the Detroit Tigers did to star lefthander Dontrelle Willis and demoted Chacon all the way down to Class A ball.

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We'll see.

In other news...

...Shawn Chacon is said to be less than thrilled about being demoted to the bullpen. In fact, when asked his response, Chacon gave one that was unprintable. You have to feel for Chacon. After all, this is the same Astros pitcher who began the season with nine straight no-decisions (a Major League record and a sign of atrocious run support--especially when you consider he didn't allow more than three earned runs in any of his first five starts). However, manager Cecil Cooper noted that Chacon has been inconsistent this season: a 2-0 4.75 ERA May has been followed by an 0-3 9.35 ERA June effort.

Continue reading "Astros edge Rays 3-2 and win rubber game of series"

Sure, Shawn Chacon gave up those three runs in the first. But after that, smooth sailing: Chacon pitched seven innings and got what turned out to be his first win of the season, giving up five hits, three runs, one walk and five strikeouts. Doug Brocail pitched a perfect eighth inning for his eighth hold of the season and Jose Valverde--who earlier this season was seen getting lit up like a White House Christmas Tree

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Astros starter Shawn Chacon, despite giving up six walks, pitched well enough to win as he scattered five hits over seven innings and gave up only one earned run. However, Houston’s bats couldn’t get anything going. Wesley Wright picked up the win in relief while Jose Valverde picked up the save. 

Continue reading "Back to work for the Houston Astros"

itting in the clutch. 

Because Houston’s go-ahead runs came late in the game, starter Shawn Chacon’s decent start of six innings, seven hits and three earned runs (his ERA is now 2.77) resulted in a no-decision. Wesley Wright picked up the win in relief. Who got the save? Surprise, surprise—Jose Valverde, who pitched an inning, gave up a hit and a walk but no earned runs. 

Continue reading "Houston salvages a win against the Rockies, 6-4"

Good news, Houston Astros fans. Last night, Shawn Chacon pitched a brilliant game, giving up no runs in eight innings.  

So, what’s the bad news? The bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. Closer Jose Valverde gave up four runs in the ninth inning while getting only one out as the Phillies beat the Astros 4-3. It was Valverde’s second blown save of the season. In the inning, two of the hits he gave up were home runs. The other hit was a walk-off double. It’s interesting to note that Valverde actually had two strikeouts in the inning, but the second was on a passed ball that allowed what turned out to be the winning run to be safe at first. 

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