Boxscore

Wednesday was the second game the Red Hot Family attended at Minute Maid park. And with an area doctor visited and ear-infection antibiotics happily procured, the rough part of the trip was already behind us. Alas, the rough part of the series was not over for the Astros. The home run pump didn’t increment a single number the whole time we were in attendance.

Hunter Pence. You look at this picture and you just can’t help but notice his…socks.

Weird how his…socks…aren’t as noticeable in this photo. They probably help with his strike zone, though.

Albert Pujols was a monster this game, hitting two solo home runs and single-handedly providing the margin of the Cardinals’ win. Yeah, the Astros fans really don’t like Pujols.

Here at Red Hot Mama, we make our fair share of fun of Tony LaRussa’s sunglasses. But this vantage has shown us the error of our ways: we ought to be making fun of his tight pants.

The Astros grounds crew was sponsored by a local car wash. I bet they got a sweet cut of that action.

Awwww…someone got all engaged at the game. But neither that nor Tejada’s double would be inspiration enough for the Astronomicals to put a line in the W column on this evening.

Tuesday was the second game of the 2008 season held in Minute Maid park and the first time the Red Hot Mama clan had ever visited the juice box. Just check out the stylish shorts they’re wearing in Texas this time of year. It reminds me of mail men walking about in their abbreviated uniform pants and high black socks.

We didn’t arrive early enough to get the Hunter Pence statue (can you believe they’re already doing give aways in the opening series??) due to an ear infection our son was just beginning to develop, but we were there in time to catch some of the pre-game stretching.

Look! Carlos Lee at the plate. Lee is one of the no-glove, all offense players that are the new face of the Astros now that they’re getting entirely away from their good pitching/no scoring roots. Speaking of roots, the CTS mentions that Carlos Lee fields like an ent.

Did you know that the Astros have an official cosmetic dentist? Do you think that there are gopher-toothed prospects out there praying to be traded to Houston for that very reason?

Here, the CTS shows off his mad zoom skills with a tight focus on Chacon and Towles meeting at the mound. We were sitting in the Terrace section, the third level. Binoculars would have been more than appropriate for where we were watching from.

The Astros have a nice way of acknowledging their retired numbers, so that the names are posted along with them. There are several nice features of this park, such as the most challenging 5-card-Monte scoreboard game, but it loses serious points for having no cup holders. On the flip side, they did have straws, which are usually missing from ballparks, so I liked that.

Here we see the famous Minute Maid pumpkin train. Love that Minute Maid pumpkin juice. Nothing starts my day off quite the same way.

Lee was safe! Can you believe it? The shot, I mean. Again, the CTS with the power of the zoom.

Alas, the run would not be enough as the Astros lost to the Cardinals 5-3. We had to appreciate them keeping it close right up until the end though, and we wandered back to our hotel, happily unaware of the nighttime ear pain that would keep me and my son up most of the night.

Boxscore

We caught most of this game in the hotel after some vacationing fun around downtown Houston. The first 7 innings flew by thanks to the lack of scoring, and I found myself thinking, “Self, this game is boring.” By then it was the hotel’s complimentary happy hour, so we headed down to the bar to enjoy ourselves.

Somehow during the elevator trip, the Astros (3-5), who had been boringly leading since the 7th, decided that was no way to stage a home opener. So shiny new closer Jose Valverde (2-0) coughed up the lead so Miguel Tejada could win the game in walk-off fashion. Nothing like saving the incompetence and excitement for the end, I guess.

Kyle McClellan (0-1) gets the loss, although I still like the kid. He could have a very bright future.

The two teams play the second game of their series, where we’ll be in full attendance, tomorrow at 7:05pm EDT. The marquee matchup is Brad Thompson versus Shawn Chacon.

Boxscore

Wow, 12 innings! It took 12 whole innings for the Cubs (4-3) to finally defeat the Pirates (3-4). And that was thanks to Pittsburgh having one remaining reliever in the pen, Rule V draftee Evan Meek (0-1).

I don’t know which makes me more concerned about the Cubs, the way they won, the fact that Jon Lieber (1-0) isn’t in the rotation while Dumpster and Marquis de Suck are, or the fact the Ted Lilly blew chunks today. Regardless, it goes down as a W for Chicago, but I think this team has serious question marks.

The two face each other again when Ryan Dempster faces Zach Duke at 6:05pm EDT.

Boxscore

The Reds (4-3) came close to overcoming Bronson Arroyo’s (0-1) craptastic start against the Phillies (3-4), but ultimately failed. Arroyo’s start felt sickeningly like his bad ones in the first half of last year, didn’t it?

To be fair to dear Bronson, it’s not like he had the best team available. Following the good idea that bench players should have a start every week, Dusty Baker decided all the bench players should start against Cole Hamels (1-1). There’s just nothing more intimidating than Juan Castro in the 2-hole.

Brad Lidge (S 1) got the save for the Phillies, largely thanks to a bad call that struck Javier Valentin out. Perhaps the home plate umpire didn’t want to have to deal with a 12 inning game like his brethren in Pittsburgh.

The Reds make their first road trip of the year when they head to Miller Park, where Johnny Cueto (1-0) will take on Jeff Suppan(1-0) at 8:05pm EDT.