Let's Try to Do Better in Chicago

Pittsburgh was supposed to be a chance for the Astros to sweep a series or at least win one. After all Houston won the opener and had Bud Norris and Roy Oswalt set to close things out. Nothing worked right. The Astro pitching collapsed in part because neither Bud nor Roy could go deep. In Bud's case it was on him. Roy got hit in the ankle by a smash from Pedro Alvarez and the resulting bruise sidelined him early. So the Bucs win two of three and collect 36 hits in the last two games while doing it.

Now we are in Chicago. I actually have a view of Lake Michigan from my 18th floor room. In all the years coming to Chicago I have NEVER had a view of the lake from any room. I don't know if this is an omen for the Astros, but it sure is for me. No view of any body of water will help heal the Astros ills. After the last two clobberings the pitching staff is beaten up and heavily used. While Casey Daigle certainly contributed to the final scores with poor relief work he had nothing to do with the final outcome. Daigle was, after all, the club's mop up pitcher. It was the Pirates who did the mopping--with Casey. So Casey has been designated for assignment and likely headed back to Round Rock. In the meantime Gary Majewski will join the club for Monday's game. Gary, as many of you may already know, is a Houston native who began his career in the White Sox system after graduating from St. Pius X HS. He was the 1998 Houston player of the year. He has big league time (63 games over five seasons) with Montreal, Washington and Cincinnati.

Majewski hasn't been superman at Round Rock, but he has major league experience and can help fill the gaps created by the overuse of the bullpen the last two games.

So what about the offense you say? That is what new hitting coach Jeff Bagwell is no doubt pondering. Only three hits off tricky lefty Paul Maholm on Sunday. His stuff looked so easy to hit most everyone was whacking away early in counts. They were hitting the ball all right, but easy grounders and soft flyballs. Maholm hardly worked up a sweat which was no mean feat in the 87 and humid conditions at PNC Park.

Such was a discouraging weekend in Pittsburgh. Now, hopefully bouyed by my lake view things will be much improved here in Chicago. Astros Live Pregame at 6:30 with gametime 7:05 on Fox Sports Houston. Hopefully Roy Oswalt will be my interview guest if his scheduled treatments don't interfere. Word is, though, he won't miss a start and his contusion (bruise) will not be a problem.