Lane blast not enough to power Astros past Phillies

If Jason Lane is lacking any confidence after a dreadful 2006 season and the consequent demotion from the Astros starting lineup, he didn’t play like it on Saturday afternoon. With two runners on in the fourth, Lane unleashed a high arching shot to the left field stands to break up a tied ballgame. As he put his team up 4-1 Lane dropped his bat on home-plate with all the assuredness in the world. However, that lead did not hold much longer than it took for Lane’s homerun to escape the field of play, as the Phillies countered the Astros with a three run inning with one of their own. The highlight was Philly leadoff man Jimmy Rollins hitting a majestic second deck home-run off of Astros starter Woody Williams. Rollins who is listed at 5’8”, 170 lbs, would finish the game tied for the major league lead in homeruns with Yankee Alex Rodriguez. The Phillies added runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to give themselves some breathing room. These runs would come in handy in the ninth, as 40 year old Flash Gordon struggled to find the strike zone, but eventually induced a game ending double play from Craig Biggio, making the final score 8-5 in favor of the boys from Philadelphia.

First Road Trip Inventory/Impressions

The Astros ventured outside of the Juice Box for the first time this season this past week, and finished with a precipitation shorted 3-1 record. Let’s all put our cumulative 4-6 record into perspective. Last Easter Sunday, the Astros were a team that had clearly seen better days. After dropping a 10-1 decision to the Cardinals, Brad Lidge was removed from his role as closer, and Dan Wheeler was named as his replacement. We were 1-5, and things looked grim. However, the change at closer, coupled with some interesting developments in other areas was a breath of fresh air. The day after this switch, with the Astros and Cubs deadlocked at three in the eighth inning, Adam Everett battled reliever Bob Howry for nine pitches, and after being down in the count 0-2, Everett knocked a two run home run to left field. This was important in the sense that after having nothing go our way at home, our first big hit of the season was achieved while staring a 1-6 start in the face. That this blow was struck by Adam Everett made it just as unlikely as it was timely. Next up on the list of second week improvements, the previously dormant bat of Morgan Ensberg came alive, to the tune of seven hits, five runs, four RBI’s and a homerun. This included a 3 for 4 performance on Saturday, which followed his three run bomb on Friday. In similar regard, Carlos Lee shook off a slow start (5 for 20 at the plate) at home, and put together a 7 for 18 road trip, which was highlighted by his three home run day on Friday. After admitting to pressing in front of the home crowds, this trip was perfect timing for our 100 million dollar man. The aforementioned Dan Wheeler has converted both of his save opportunities, once against the Cubs and Phillies each. More importantly, he has done so with relative ease, having not allowed a base runner in either appearance as closer. Craig has not done anything spectacular, but has moved within 60 hits of 3000.

Those were the highlights now let’s look at the more troubling aspects of the trip. Chris Burke still isn’t hitting. Save his RBI double on Monday, Burke has hit a paltry .077 the past four games. While I admit this is based off a small sample size, the fact that he didn’t hit well in Spring Training has to make Astros fans worried a least a little bit. For a player to struggle the way Chris has really hurts our offense. He is a guy that can bat in a lot of different positions in the lineup and is a solid all around offensive contributor. His struggles are magnified when somebody like Lance Berkman doesn’t perform up to his All-Star standards. Against Phillies relief pitcher Francisco Rosario on Saturday Lance looked overmatched, swinging and missing at three fast balls down the heart of the plate. This was striking in that I’d never seen Lance look lost at the plate. Here’s to hoping he can start to spray the ball to all fields, drive in runs and solidify the middle of this lineup the way everyone knows he can, and will. Finally, the injury to Jason Jennings must be mentioned. Jennings was placed on the DL on Sunday, after being diagnosed with tendonitis in his right elbow this past week. Although his two starts for his new team haven’t been terrible, the only highlight he’s produced thus far is giving up Albert Pujols’ first home run of the season. For a guy who was expected to replace the oft injured Andy Pettitte as the team’s number two starter, an injury in the second week of the season to his pitching arm falls well short of a promising start.

A Look Ahead

The Astros will play a short two game series at home against Florida on Monday and Tuesday and then travel to Cincinnati for a short two game road trip on Wednesday and Thursday. Wandy Rodriguez 0-1, 3.86 and Roy Oswalt 2-0, 3.32 will be opposed by Anibal Sanchez 1-0, 5.40 and Sergio Mitre 0-2, 4.09. The Reds will trot out top starters Aaron Harang 2-0, 5.40 and Bronson Arroyo 0-2, 3.48 to face Chris Sampson 1-0, 0.00 and Woody Williams 0-2, 5.63.

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