Houston, We Might Have a Problem

Posted in Uncategorized by Flavor on May 12, 2015

Ah, the Astros. No longer the (L)astros. In fact, they’re in first place and I’m not really sure how they’re doing this with that pitching staff.

I’m mostly interested in seeing how Hest-by-Hest performs tonight. Coming off the worst outing of his short career and now having to pitch on the road in a small park is probably not an “all systems go” moment for him. If he can contain Altuve, he’ll probably be all right. “If”…..

Houston leads the AL in home runs with 45…..

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wilcojoe said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:50 am

The Astros pitching staff is no joke. Dallas Kuechel is a legit ace and Collin Mchugh (tonight’s starter) is as good a #2 as any in baseball. Olberholrzer comes off the DL in time to face us tomorrow night and he is a tough lefty who could give us trouble. They went out and improved the bullpen in the offseason, so this pitching staff is as good as any in the league. The offense is to me is the bigger question mark. Outside of Altuve and now thaf Lowrie is out until after the break, they don’t have a lot of guys that can consistently get on base. Their strikeout rate is insane. They play great defense (Marisnick and Springer are future gold glovers) and are really having a lot of fun out there. This really is a hard team not to like. Altuve might be the best hitter I have seen since Bonds. The guy is impossible to get out.
- Flavor said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:57 am
  
  are you going to any of the games? And can you still just wander up there right before first pitch and score a sweet seat?
  - wilcojoe said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:04 am
    
    Yeah, fans haven’t really bought into the Astros yet. Five plus seasons of atrocious play will do that to you. Attendance is up a bit but it’s still easy to score a great seat. Once the Rockets get eliminated, I am sure the bandwagon fans will trickle in.
- blade3colorado said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:01 am
  
  Agree with you Joe. This is a very good Astros team. I also like Valbuena. That being said, Heston actually has a fairly better then even chance of doing well here per the stats I have looked at, e.g., he’s produced a 57% ground ball rate this season (important because the Astros hit a lot of homeruns); and the Astros have the second-highest strikeout rate of any team against right-handed pitching this season.
  - wilcojoe said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:11 am
    
    Yes, Valbuena would have looked great in a Giants uni. He has good power to both fields and plays outstanding defense. I agree that Heston will be okay tonight. The Astros have played better on the road thus far and their bats have been quiet the last few days. The roof will be closed both nights because of rain, so that could help the offenses a bit.
wilcojoe said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:59 am

The big question to me is what kind of moves ownership will make to improve the team at the trade deadline. They still need a hitter that can take a walk and a fifth starter if Appel doesn’t pan out. He has been very inconsistent as a minor leaguer thus far. Everyone in Houston is waiting for them to call up Carlos Correa, the #3 prospect in baseball who is absolutely raking it in AA. In fAct he was promoted to Fresno yesterday, so he could very well be here before June.

I will be there tonight (hopefully tomorrow too) rockin it in my Hunter Pence jersey. Welcome back to H-town G-men!
- chipower9 said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:29 am
  
  Have a great time, Wilco. Bring us a win, brother!
willedav said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:23 am

Hope Heston can hang; doesn’t appear to have “electric stuff” or one outstanding pitch. He’s also on track to throw Sunday game vs. Reds, so that’s 2 games in less than pitcher friendly yards like ATT. And coming off an outing where he got lit up by Pads a bit.

Loo, thx for Mets-Pirates box score from ’66 on last thread, way cool. Didn’t remember Pagan (who was a cool player) being dealt to Pirates, nor Bressoud on the Mets. Schofield one of those all glove SS that could never hit his weight, which wasn’t much. Ex and future Giants everywhere.
Matty Alou hitting .340 (almost won batting title if I remember right) and Manny Mota hitting .350 I do, because me and buddies were playing Strat-O-Matic, and those cards that came out next year were awesome.
Clemente with .900 OPS and .500 slugging, Clendenon (very cool player great glove) hits his 20th HR,
Billy O’Dell still around out of the pen. Walker had cool teams.
Mets of Ron Hunt (always dug that guy), Cleon Jones, Hickman, Swoboda, Kranepool.

I’ll have to look it up, but was ’66 the year of big logjam for first place that wasn’t decided til last day?
- djloo27 said, on May 12, 2015 at 2:01 pm
  
  I’m glad you enjoy that stuff, Willie. Even as a kid, I knew that was yet another rotten deal overshadowed by Cepeda, Perry, Foster, etc., etc…
  
  Hope you checked out the Holiday Bowl clip Twin posted later on. You’d like it.
Flavor said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:26 am

My point about the ‘stros pitching is that they have 2 good/not great starting pitchers. It falls off after the 2 you listed. And I don’t see how they keep this going unless, as you mentioned, ownership makes mud season moves. They have no experience as buyers
- willedav said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:49 am
  
  Sure, might not last (very tough division) but it’s still great to see them in first and A’s in last.
  A’s used to beat the F out of them when they first moved to AL…as did a lot of teams.
chipower9 said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:28 am

Let’s go Ben-Hur…time for him to get back on track. Interesting that the Stros have played same amount of games home and away, but are 12-4 on the road and 8-8 at home. They are balanced on HRs…hitting 22 at home and 23 on the road. Let’s go Gigantes!
unca_chuck said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:30 am

Passed by the A’s game as I was drifting off and saw Panda was up. He proceeds to hit a laser, left handed, over the RF wall.

I miss that.
eddacker said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:34 am

With this many flappers pulling for the hest we got good chances. Like the Dubs after getting bullied – score some points, er, runs!
Go Gigantes!
- chipower9 said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:56 am
  
  Dubs were not bullied last night…they had their way with Memphis. Great win. GO DUBS!
chipower9 said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:57 am

Wow…what a coincidence…Giants and Bucs are both .5 games out of the WC. 4 in 6…why not? (Oh hell yes, it is WAY EARLY, but I just could not resist!)
willedav said, on May 12, 2015 at 8:07 am

Seemed to me Valbuena has burned SF couple times over last couple years and I wondered how he would fit, a Venezuelan replacement for his countryman Sandoval.

In 3 yrs for cubs his career avg is under .250 tho he did have .724 OPS last year. With more playing time last year he hit 16 HRs (as many as Sando), but also struck out 113 times in 478 ABs. This year he’s got 7 HRs but is hitting .202, and 3 for 32 vs. LHP for an .091 clip. Hmmnn, same issue as Sandoval.

So the ? would be how he would fare at ATT as opposed to hitting LH at Wrigley or Stros yard. Also would he more prone to big slumps like our boy 4 for 40 Nate was when he played every day. He’s only making MacG money and if I read right FA after this year.

Stros lit up the Pads during their streak when they whomped A’s here, and I’ve been meaning to ask SanDawg what is explanation for all the HRs that have been hit this season at Petco?
wilcojoe said, on May 12, 2015 at 8:15 am

Didn’t they move the fences in (again) at Petco?
- chipower9 said, on May 12, 2015 at 8:57 am
  
  Yep…fences were moved-in again.
chipower9 said, on May 12, 2015 at 8:57 am

Valbuena will be 4th year AE after this year…FA eligible in 2017. He is making 4.2 (agreed upon value with Cubbies to avoid arb).

With a lifetime slash line of .228 .310 .376 .687, and only sniffing over .700 OPS on a few occasions, I would not want to give up much for him.
giants54 said, on May 12, 2015 at 9:01 am

So done with Pablo…
Interesting comment in explaining why he just missed Hunter among players…”he’s the best player I ever played with”…hmmmm.
- chipower9 said, on May 12, 2015 at 10:14 am
  
  I appreciate all he did “WHILE” wearing the Orange and Black. Now? Fuck him…
Macdog said, on May 12, 2015 at 9:21 am

Astros have cooled off some, going 2-5 since their 14-1 stretch that included a 10-game winning streak in which it seemed like they were scoring about 8 runs a game. They’re also 8-2 in one-run games, so that probably won’t last either. That said, I’m glad this is just a two-game series.
wilcojoe said, on May 12, 2015 at 10:03 am

Losing Lowrie was a huge blow. They have no one capable of putting up his offensive numbers at ss. It will be interesting to see if they call up Correa before mid June, when they would have to pay millions extra due to super 2 status (I.e. Kris Bryant). The Giants also may get a break as Springer is out with a concussion (eligible to return tomorrow) and their closer Gregerson is away due to a family emergency, though he could return today.
chipower9 said, on May 12, 2015 at 11:08 am

Happy Birthday to Yogi Berra (90 years old).

~ You can observe a lot by just watching.
~ You better cut the pizza in four pieces bcause I’m not hungry enough to eat six.
~ Nobody goes there anymore…it’s too crowded.
~ The future ain’t what it used to be.
~ If you come to a fork in the road, take it.
~ Half the lies they tell about me aren’t true.

And also a happy birthday to my lovely daughter, Jessi!
- djloo27 said, on May 12, 2015 at 3:11 pm
  
  Not to rain on Yogi’s parade, but I’ve heard that many of the quotes attributed to him weren’t originated by him. He just automatically gets credit.
- xoot said, on May 12, 2015 at 3:16 pm
  
  “I didn’t really say everything I said.”
  - djloo27 said, on May 12, 2015 at 5:34 pm
    
    Exactly Xoot!
blade3colorado said, on May 12, 2015 at 11:25 am

Interesting column by Grant Brisbee, who essentially says the Giants record should be 6 games under .500 versus even, nor are the Giants going to improve much. I usually like his columns, but I disagree with his conclusions here, since he gives little weight to reinforcements – Cain, Peavy, and Pence – coming back; and doesn’t even mention GIDP to account – at least partially – for our inability to score runs (250 runs left on base).

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2015/5/11/8586123/sf-giants-standings?_ga=1.26131956.853283124.1415642633
- zumiee said, on May 12, 2015 at 12:51 pm
  
  That’s a problem I have with Brisbee; he does a lot of hand-wringing. McCovey Chronicles goes into “panic mode” on an almost daily basis.
- zumiee said, on May 12, 2015 at 1:02 pm
  
  But he does generally have some interesting thoughts about the Giants, and basball overall. His posts are entertaining. I have mixed feelings about him.
zumiee said, on May 12, 2015 at 12:56 pm

Not baseball-related, but a cool article I came across as I’m reading my way through some back issues of National Geographic. It’s about artwork done by WWI soldiers, carved into trench walls. A lot of the soldiers who did the artwork never made it back home. I’ve read a fair amount of stuff about WWI, but I’d never seen anything about this before. The article has a link to a photo gallery of the artwork. This is from the August 2014 issue.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/08/ww1-underground/hadingham-text
- zumiee said, on May 12, 2015 at 12:58 pm
  
  This is a link for a slide-show of the artwork:
  http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/08/ww1-underground/carvings-photography
  - chipower9 said, on May 12, 2015 at 1:50 pm
    
    Thanks, zume…interesting read. I especially like the final line of the article, when asked why the names on the walls mattered: ‘By reading the names of the men down there, we make them live again, for a moment.’
chipower9 said, on May 12, 2015 at 2:12 pm

1. Nori Aoki (L) DH
2. Joe Panik (L) 2B
3. Angel Pagan (S) CF
4. Buster Posey (R) C
5. Brandon Belt (L) 1B
6. Justin Maxwell (R) RF
7. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
8. Matt Duffy (R) 3B
9. Gregor Blanco (L) LF
RHP — Chris Heston (2-3, 3.38)
Macdog said, on May 12, 2015 at 2:19 pm

Giants-Astros is mlb.tv free game of the day, also one of the ‘regional’ games (along with Mets-Cubs) on MLB Network.
Flavor said, on May 12, 2015 at 2:25 pm

probably the only person who will care about this is Blade, but I am playing Brandon Belt for the first time this year in DFS. May he hit his first home run of the year to acknowledge this great honor bestowed on him……
- Macdog said, on May 12, 2015 at 2:39 pm
  
  Giants must have the only 3 & 5 batters without a HR in all of MLB.
  - Flavor said, on May 12, 2015 at 2:43 pm
    
    well, according to James we are going to start seeing a power surge starting in this series…….
  - djloo27 said, on May 12, 2015 at 2:46 pm
    
    I post this once a year because it still freaks me out:
    
    1979 home run totals:
    
    Houston Astros: 49
    Dave Kingman: 48
  - James said, on May 12, 2015 at 4:20 pm
    
    Ha, I’d never make an unqualified claim like that! We’ll see better offensive numbers as they play in more parks conducive to run scoring. The splits over the first 32 games already suggest as much. Of course, that’s not necessarily good news for the pitching staff.
    
    http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/split.cgi?t=h&team=SFG&year=2015#hmvis
    http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/split.cgi?t=p&team=SFG&year=2015#hmvis
- wilcojoe said, on May 12, 2015 at 3:49 pm
  
  I played him on Saturday and he put up an 0fer. Is all I needed was for him to get on base once and I would have beat Blade.
unca_chuck said, on May 12, 2015 at 3:01 pm

Didn’t StL win it all with like 46 HRs one year?
- djloo27 said, on May 12, 2015 at 3:08 pm
  
  I don’t know, Chuck. They had some low numbers in the 80’s but not that low.
  Maybe in the old dead ball era?
unca_chuck said, on May 12, 2015 at 4:19 pm

I thought in ’85 their total was absurdly low.
unca_chuck said, on May 12, 2015 at 4:23 pm

Ahhh, it was 67 home runs in 82 . . .
unca_chuck said, on May 12, 2015 at 4:35 pm

Looks like Barry is going to sue . . .
- xoot said, on May 12, 2015 at 5:36 pm
  
  well that raises some interesting statute of limitations questions–on the other hand, he’s absolutely right. mlb and the owners colluded against him. Look at some of the DHs in 2008–Jack Cust, Travis Hafner, Jose Vidro, Gary Sheffield playing out the string. Bonds wouldn’t’ve been better? Give me a break.
Macdog said, on May 12, 2015 at 4:44 pm

James will like this: Ellsbury and Gardner just got caught back-to-back trying to steal second.
djloo27 said, on May 12, 2015 at 5:38 pm

Someone might just get McDFA’ed after that one…
Carstie Clausen said, on May 12, 2015 at 5:50 pm

41 pitches for McHugh through two. One thing about that bunch of singles hitters and a high OBP for the team is that the process tends to wear down opposing starters. Duffster is now at 13 RBIs on the season and looking more and more like one of those early 20th Century throwback players ~ skinny dude, no particularly standout toolset ~ but the dude is baseball all the way. Panik is a pretty similar type overall. Who said the Giants system cannot produce position players?
- James said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:05 pm
  
  I think it’s the OFers that are in dispute, Stix 🙂
snarkk said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:05 pm

Friggin Altuve looks smaller than Freddy Patek…
- djloo27 said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:12 pm
  
  Albie Pearson was my favorite little guy…
- sandog said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:14 pm
  
  I had great seats off to the first base line when the Stros were down here playing the Pads and it was amazing to see how small Altuve is. On top of that, he was smoking everything–including high fastballs.
  He is worth the price of admission himself.
- James said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:17 pm
  
  I made reference to Patek in conversation today.
  - Flavor said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:21 pm
    
    context?
  - James said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:27 pm
    
    Altuve
snarkk said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:13 pm

McHugh ‘a necklace thing looks like he’s wearing a tire around his neck…
James said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:14 pm

Macdog, look at Mantle’s 1956 season. I don’t know if he stole those 10 bases in the late innings of close games — I’m going to assume so — but that’s what an ideal use of the running game would look like.
snarkk said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:20 pm

Heston’a got some wicked ass movement on his pitches…
alleykat69 said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:25 pm

Yeah like Wilco mentioned this morning, no problem scoring a great seat at a cheap price at an Astro game, place looks like a tomb.
- Flavor said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:34 pm
  
  I don’t care if they actually get good and sustain it (which they haven’t come close to doing yet this year) I will never take this team seriously until they ditch that stupid ass hill out in CF.
  - djloo27 said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:42 pm
    
    They should make it a pit instead of a hill.
    Would be much more fun…
  - Flavor said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:52 pm
    
    toss an alligator in there.
alleykat69 said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:32 pm

Your killing me Belt, you cannot K in that situation!!!
snarkk said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:34 pm

Belt has to make contact there, at least– he gets he count to 3-1, then 2 swing thrus…
alleykat69 said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:36 pm

Thanks for the gift runs Astros,
djloo27 said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:36 pm

The dealer breaks again…
snarkk said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:37 pm

We’ll, Altuve being short absolutely helped the Giants right there- he couldn’t stretch long enough to catch that throw…
gianthead said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:37 pm

Those were two awful swings by Belt…thankfully My Man Maxwell comes through….
djloo27 said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:40 pm

Adios, Giggles…
Macdog said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:40 pm

Duf-fy, Duf-fy!
alleykat69 said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:44 pm

Keep the bench warm McGayhee, theirs a new sheriff in town named Reggie,, oops make that Matt Duffy, career high 5 RBI’s tonight for the kid, way to make your mark..
James said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:48 pm

Duffy the new Zobrist!? Doesn’t walk enough yet.
alleykat69 said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:52 pm

What can’t Matt Duffy not do?
Dudes fantastic.Thought I really wanted Ben Zobrist but found him in the same player and younger who can play multiple postions..
- djloo27 said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:58 pm
  
  Seems like he can’t not do anything…
alleykat69 said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:56 pm

Poor old Jim Joyce, he was the one that blew the call on that perfect game for that Detriot pitcher (Gallaraga sp?) , and really missed this one badly on Aoki as well.
- djloo27 said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:00 pm
  
  Umpire schools in Dublin must really suck…
  - Flavor said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:06 pm
    
    nice one.
- xoot said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:06 pm
  
  Joyce’s eyesight was so bad people at the dinner table frantically had to slide their glasses around to catch the wine he insisted on pouring.
Flavor said, on May 12, 2015 at 6:56 pm

Duffy is just a money guy. He delivers. I’m still not seeing the benefit of this smaller park for our shitty hitters but hey, there’s still a few innings to go….
Carstie Clausen said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:08 pm

69 pitches through five innings. Now that’s pretty crisp.
alleykat69 said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:30 pm

Heston’s dealing, has that Greg Maddux efficiently going tonight..
Boch should give him a shot for his 1st career complete game.
- Flavor said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:42 pm
  
  sure, why not. How about a John Burkett ref though?
  - Bozo said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:55 pm
    
    The Bowler.
Flavor said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:44 pm

and, Belt, thanks for coming. There will be a consolation gift for you at the door. I’m just not feelin’ this smaller park working in Belt’s favor. Hmmm, can’t figure out why. Hmmmmm.
blade3colorado said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:45 pm

I’m almost on the floor cracking up about Belt and his wife, Haley. 🙂
blade3colorado said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:46 pm

Let me get this right, ok? The hammer on Haley’s left is Bum’s wife? If so, very, very nice.
Macdog said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:52 pm

Holy Moses! Complete game!
Bozo said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:54 pm

Nice. WTG Heston
alleykat69 said, on May 12, 2015 at 7:55 pm

Most impressive Outing for both the kids, Heston& Duffy were lights out tonight.
pawliekokonuts said, on May 12, 2015 at 8:09 pm

Just catching up. Impressive win. (Sam P., whom I met because his son’s car in 2012 had a Giants license plate holder, gave me Duffy updates, while at girls’ lacrosse seniors’ night. Proudly walked my crutches-aided daughter onto the field with her mom.) Ben-Hur rides the chariot COMPLETELY around the coliseum! Duffy must play! Everyday.
pawliekokonuts said, on May 12, 2015 at 8:14 pm

Magnus, I like your thread intro and its hed.
willedav said, on May 12, 2015 at 8:14 pm

Looking at some numbers from the box:
After Altuve, no one in entire Stros LU is hitting more than .232.
Valbuena now looking up at Mendoza line at .197 with an OB of .205
3 other guys, Gattis Carter and LF Grossman, are hitting lower than that. Ouch.

Meanwhile, Giants slugging pcts (not an oxymoron either):
Panik .407
Pagan .413
Posey .402
Belt .411
Maxwell .409
Crawford .466
Duffy .414

Heard Kuip on radio say after K #8 by the kid he had the breaking ball working. Nice!
snarkk said, on May 12, 2015 at 8:17 pm

I want to hear Bochy’s reason now for playing McDP over Duffy, because whatever it is will be crap…
Carstie Clausen said, on May 12, 2015 at 8:17 pm

WHAT a performance on the mound by Heston and at the plate by the wallypipper. First complete game of the season for the Rotation has to raise some eyebrows. Castro evidently guessed right or maybe Chris made ONE bad pitch. Otherwise we talk a CG one-hit shutout with TEN special K’s and NO walks. Now that’s some case of pitching. Kid is looking more and more for real.

Five RBI’s sends a VERY loud message that another kid is for real too. Scrappy sort who gets the job done and gears up with the clutch. It’s gonna be real hard for Bochy to not start Duffy say 5 games outta every seven after tonight’s show.

Speaking of seven, the team breaks the schnoid tonight in finally scoring 7 runs in a game for the first time this season and adding another for dessert. Back over .500 now and Houston has gotta be wondering what hit em.
- pawliekokonuts said, on May 12, 2015 at 8:22 pm
  
  great recap
snarkk said, on May 12, 2015 at 8:24 pm

I commented fairly early that Heston had wicked movement stuff. He ought to teach Lincecum that sinker that moves down and away from lefties. Awesome. He retired the last 22 in a row…
djloo27 said, on May 12, 2015 at 8:28 pm

Worth a look:

http://m.mlb.com/video/v112594683/mialad-stanton-crushes-homer-out-of-dodger-stadium
- Macdog said, on May 12, 2015 at 8:36 pm
  
  Too bad it only counted for 1.
alleykat69 said, on May 12, 2015 at 8:50 pm

Wow, that atom bomb by Stanton was unbelievable.Baseball Crossing the Grapevine now,heading to Magic Mountain and beyond..
- Lurker John said, on May 12, 2015 at 9:29 pm
  
  Stanton might be the strongest ballplayer I’ve seen, bar none. He’s practically bulging out of that uniform. What a bomb.
wilcojoe said, on May 12, 2015 at 9:15 pm

Just got home after driving thru the worst storm of my life. I am just glad my six year old was sleeping and didn’t see me sweating like Chris Christie at a buffet. Anyway what a great performance by Heston and a huge night for Duffy. Saw Brandon Belt’s wife and about 10 other family members wearing Belt shirts and jerseys. A couple members of his family looked like some of the most backwoods, road hard and put away wet looking people I have ever seen. He looked completely overmatched on a couple of at bats on a night when the Astros played one of their sloppiest games of the year. The Astros announcers on the drive home mentioned how great the movement was on Heston’s fastball. Hopefully I can go to tomorrow nights game solo and pay closer attention. Wilco jr. was a handful tonight.
- sandog said, on May 12, 2015 at 9:29 pm
  
  Great report. “Wilco jr. was a handul tonight.” Do I miss those days? To borrow a line from Kuip….I sure do, BUT I can also remember how tough those nights could be. I remember a couple of years there, where it simply wasn’t worth the hassle going out to a decent restaurant with 2 hellraiser boys on our hands.
  Glad you made it home safe. Great job by The Omega Man tonight.
- snarkk said, on May 12, 2015 at 10:08 pm
  
  I remember those Houston storms. They can drop 6″ of water in a few hours, driving is treacherous. One time there was a torrential rain all night, it was subtropical deal just short of a hurricane — the whole downtown was flooded and streets were under about 4 feet of water. Our backyard out in the Dairy Ashford district was like a lake, with water covering the deck to just below the slider. Crazy…
Lurker John said, on May 12, 2015 at 9:26 pm

That was a shot.
zumiee said, on May 12, 2015 at 9:31 pm

The rooks got it done tonight.
snarkk said, on May 12, 2015 at 9:57 pm

That Stanton HR was pure.
The LFer did not move. His feet stayed in the same place, and he turned his torso and head to watch it reach orbital velocity.
I wonder if that would have landed in the glove at ATT if hit a bit more towards left center…
snarkk said, on May 12, 2015 at 10:21 pm

Giants scored 8 tonight, still left a huge total of 19 on base in 4 of 10 hitting with RISP…
mrsprtdude said, on May 12, 2015 at 11:56 pm

Homer was epic. I loved how even the Dodger fams were instantly going “oh”
willedav said, on May 13, 2015 at 7:51 am

Unfortunately for Stanton and his buddies, LA blasted them 11-1.

Dodgers O has made up for all the call up SPs, pen without Jansen, missing Ryu and Opie’s 4.50 ERA.
They are first in league in runs, walks, OB slugging and OPS, and have now hit 51 HRs, more than Stros.
Ethier (5 for 5 last night with an HR off Haren) has an OPS over 1.000, as does AGon, Pederson, Turner Van slyke and Guerrero.
Puig so far has only played in 11 games.

They are in SF week from now for 3 more. They’ve destroyed NL West chumps so far except for Giants.