Travis Wood (0-0, 4.50) vs JA Happ (3-3, 4.96)
The Astros and Cubs battled to a good old pitchers duel (well, it wasn't so much a pitchers duel as it was a battle between two bad offenses), and the Astros came out on top in a 2-1 nailbiter. The Astros improve to 20-23, within 3 games of .500 again, while the Cubs fall to 15-28. The Astros go for the SWEEP tomorrow!
*JA Happ had his second straight great outing, with a Soriano homerun being his only real blemish of the night. Happ's line was a very solid 6.0 IP / 5 H / 1 ER / 2 BB/ 6 K. Wright and Lopez combined for 2 innings and each picked up ah old, while Myers grabbed his 11th save of the season with 2 strikeouts in a scoreless 9th.
Observations:
*Jordan Schafer returned from his lower leg injury tonight, but was inserted into the 8 spot in the batting order. I personally love the move, as Schafer has simply been striking out too much lately to be a great leadoff option. Schafer went 0 for 3 in his return to the lineup (but he didn't strike out!).
*Jose Altuve batted leadoff and looks great there. He reminds me a lot of another smaller second basemen who batted leadoff for the Astros for many years....especially with his homerun tonight, which the other unnamed second basement hit a few of leading off games as well. Altuve finished 2 for 4 with a run and an RBI (both on the homerun obviously).
*In a big vote of confidence, Justin Maxwell got the nod in the 3 spot. I'm not sure what Brad Mills obsession is with batting a slumping hitter in the 3 hole exclusively.....first JD and now Maxwell. Why not put a guy like Lowrie in there who has been having a really great year?
*Maxwell went 0 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout, and he did score the winning run. Lowrie went 1 for 3 with a walk from the #2 spot.
*Chris Snyder got another start behind the plate, which was great to see...but he cooled off with an 0 for 3 evening.
*The Astros drew 3 walks and only struck out 5 times tonight. They only collected 4 hits, and were a dreadful 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
Turning Point:
JD Martinez' single in the 6th scored Maxwell and gave the Astros a 2-1 lead which they would never surrender.
Man of the Match:
Tough one! Happ was very good, but Altuve was the difference maker tonight. 2 for 4 from the leadoff spot with a big homerun leading off the game, his 3rd of the year.
Goat of the Game:
Pretty happy with this performance all around tonight. On paper CJ had the worst night, 0 for 2 with a strikeout - plus he got ejected, but it was a good team win in a tight game tonight.
2 comments:
I imagine Schafer was placed in the 8 hole because the starter was a lefty. He'll likely be back leading off tomorrow.
Rumor is that Mills wants to move Schafer down for an extended period and let Altuve leadoff, but we will find out for sure tonight.
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