Results tagged ‘ Braves ’
Lineups for Astros-Braves
Here are the lineups for Wednesday’s series finale between the Astros and Braves:
ASTROS
CF Jordan Schafer
2B Jose Altuve
LF J.D. Martinez
1B Carlos Lee
RF Travis Buck
3B Chris Johnson
C Jason Castro
SS Marwin Gonzalez
LHP Wandy Rodriguez
BRAVES
CF Michael Bourn
LF Martin Prado
1B Freddie Freeman
3B Chipper Jones
2B Dan Uggla
RF Jason Heyward
C David Ross
SS Jack Wilson
RHP Randall Delgado
Astros, Happ battle Braves
The Astros try to keep their momentum going Monday at Minute Maid Park when they face the Braves, marking the return of former Astros All-Star and Gold Glove outfielder Michael Bourn. The Astros are 2-1 and will give the ball to J.A. Happ, who’s making his first start of the season. Right-hander Brandon Beachy will start for the Braves.
Happ is 2-0 in six career starts against Atlanta. His 1.72 ERA in these appearances is one of the lowest by a starting pitcher versus the Braves in the last 60-plus years. Only Greg Mathews (1.21) and Paul Maholm (1.58) have lower ERA as starters against the Braves since 1950 (minimum six starts).
Before we get to the lineups, here are some pregame tidbits:
- The Astros and Braves are two of the youngest teams in the Majors. The Astros are 27 years, 334 days old, and the Braves are 28 years, 103 days old. The only team younger than the Astros is the Royals, who are 27 years, 159 days old.
- Carlos Lee is a career .363 hitter when he puts the first pitch of an at-bat into play, and only a handful of active players have had more first-pitch hits than Lee since his debut season of 1999: Derek Jeter, Chipper Jones, Todd Helton, Lance Berkman.
- The Braves have gone 10-2 (.883) against the Astros in the last two seasons. That’s the best winning percentage by any team against the Astros in that span (minimum four games).
- Atlanta pitchers have posted a 2.70 ERA against Houston since the start of the 2010 season.
- Astros starting pitchers have a 0.89 ERA through three games with three quality starts. Last year, Astros starters posted a 7.80 ERA through the team’s first three games with one quality start.
- Brandon Beachy, who starts Monday for the Braves, held opponents to a .220 batting average on the road last season. That was the fourth-best road average against in the NL last year.
Here are Monday’s lineups:
ASTROS
CF Jordan Schafer
2B Jose Altuve
LF Travis Buck
1B Carlos Lee
RF Brian Bogusevic
3B Chris Johnson
C Jason Castro
SS Marwin Gonzalez
LHP J.A. Happ
BRAVES
CF Michael Bourn
LF Martin Prado
C Brian McCann
2B Dan Uggla
1B Freddie Freeman
RF Matt Diaz
3B Juan Francisco
SS Tyler Pastornicky
RHP Brandon Beachy
Game 3: Rough day for Astros pitchers
The Astros suffered their first Spring Training loss of the season when the Braves came to Kissimmee and beat them, 10-5, on Monday afternoon. And here I thought they were going to go undefeated. Here’s the boxscore.
Before we get to the breakdown, make sure you read the story of how Brett Wallace and Chris Johnson are pushing each other while they battle for the same spots on the field.
Here’s the breakdown:
WHAT WENT RIGHT: The only Astros pitcher who took the mound and didn’t allow a run was Henry Villar, who gave up one hit in his scoreless innings. Starter Jordan Lyles had a crisp second inning after a tough first inning, and Zach Duke stretched out to three innings and pitched out of trouble a few times.
Relief pitcher Xavier Cedeno struck out three batters in one inning of work around giving up a home run to Dan Uggla.
J.B. Shuck (2-for-2), Jed Lowrie (2-for-2) and Matt Downs (2-for-3), who got a start at third base, led the Astros’ 11-hit attack, which was their most in three spring games. Jordan Schaefer, Jason Bourgeois, J.D. Martinez, Chris Snyder and Joe Thurston also had hits. Jonathan Villar walked twice.
Bogusevic stole two bases. The Astros also turned three double plays. Also, the Astros didn’t strike out in 34 at-bats.
There certainly were plenty of teachable moments for Astros manager Brad Mills, who watched his pitchers allow 13 hits and six walks. The Braves had runners on base in all nine innings, allowing his pitching staff and his defense to see plenty of different situations.
WHAT WENT WRONG: Astros pitchers had trouble finding the strike zone, walking six batters. Lyles endured a 27-pitch first inning and wound up only going two innings, allowing four hits, two runs and one walk. Duke gave up three hits, two walks and one run in three innings.
Rhiner Cruz, the Astros’ Rule 5 pick, made his first appearance and didn’t retire any of the five batters he faced, giving up two hits, four runs (three earned) and two walks. Juan Abreu and Enerio Del Rosario each gave up one hit and one run in one inning of work.
Jack Cust went 0-for-3 and Fernando Martinez went 0-for-2, a day after hitting a three-run home run
WHAT THEY SAID: “There was a lot of defensive things we can take from this game because there were guys on and offensively there are some things we can take from the game. Again, I thought we ran the bases pretty good and were aggressive. Getting to the latter innings, the all-important strike kind of eluded us a little bit.” – Astros manager Brad Mills.
WHAT’S NEXT: First baseman Carlos Lee, who sat out the first three games of the spring season to rest his strained right hamstring, will make his Grapefruit League debut for the Astros against the Mets at 12:05 p.m. Tuesday in Kissimmee. Lefty Wandy Rodriguez will make his first start of the spring for the Astros and is scheduled to pitch three innings.
INJURY UPDATE: Catcher Humberto Quintero (back/hip) is still a few days from getting in the lineup. … Third baseman Jimmy Paredes (wrist) and infielder Angel Sanchez (back) continue to progress and are taking batting practice.
Here is the day in photos:
Carlos Lee scoops up a ball at first.
Matt Downs fields a ball at third base.
Livan Hernandez works in the bullpen.
Former Astros CF Michael Bourn walks to the batting cage with Chris Johnson and Brett Wallace.
Carlos Lee jokes around at the cage.
J.D. Martinez awaits batting practice.
Michael Bourn catches up with third base coach Dave Clark.
Michael Bourn and Carlos Lee get reacquainted.
Jack Cust stretches before BP.
Bourn prefers Houston
For the second day in a row, the Astros clubhouse was filled with anxiety as everyone wondered if more players were on their way out the door. The Astros traded Hunter Pence to the Phillies on Friday, and were reportedly in talks with the Braves for a possible deal for Michael Bourn.
The Astros’ efforts to trade outfielder Bourn were picking up steam on Friday evening, according to multiple reports. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reported Saturday it’s growing more likely Bourn will be dealt before Sunday’s 3 p.m. CT non-waiver Trade Deadline.
Bourn said Saturday he’d prefer to stay in Houston, his hometown.
“Yeah, of course,” he said. “I don’t control that. There’s nothing I can do about that. There’s nothing I can say because everybody knew [Hunter] wanted to stay here and he had no control. Sometimes the business side takes over the love side. You’ve got to understand that.”
Bourn was trying to stay focused as much as possible.
“I know it was a little tough for Hunter,” Bourn said. “It’s a tough thing to deal with all the time. If one of your big pieces leave, then they’re trying to start the whole thing over. That happens from time to time and you have to deal with that. Whatever they decide to do, I’ll have to be prepared every day.”
Bourn, 28, is having his best season, entering Saturday hitting .304 with a Major League-leading 39 stolen bases. Since June 1, he’s tied for first in the National League in hits and ranks fourth in batting average (.338).
Pence’s back keeps him out of lineup
Astros right fielder Hunter Pence, who’s riding a 22-game hitting streak, was out of the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Braves and wasn’t expected to play. Pence has been dealing with lower back spasms.
Jason Bourgeois was originally going to get the start in right field, but he was scratched about an hour before the game with an ankle sprain. Jason Michaels started in his place.
Astros manager Brad Mills said Pence and head athletic trainer Nate Lucero came into his office following Saturday’s game and expressed concern over Pence’s back condition.
“Hunter doesn’t want to ask for a day off,” Mills said. “God bless him. That’s the way you want everybody to be. But throughout the conversation, he said it hurt him when he ran and felt like it was going to lock up on him.
“If it locks up on him when he tries to do something, it could really hurt something. With a day game following a night game, the chances of that happening go up. At the end of everything, we felt today would be a good day to take off.”
The Astros are in a stretch of 16 consecutive games without a day off, and Pence has started every game in right field.
“It only makes sense for him to take today off,” Mills said.
Pence, who’s hitting .391 during the streak, told reporters Sunday morning his back feels fine.
“They told me last night they wanted, with a day game after a night game, they wanted to give me a day rest and come back ready to go,” he said. “I felt good after the game, and that’s that.”
Mills said his goal is to try to not use Pence as a pinch-hitter, and not just because he has a 22-game hitting streak on the line.
“He needs today off,” Mills said. “If some unforeseen thing happens with someone getting hurt and he has to play and we got 15 innings and we have no one else, that’s something we have to weigh at that time.”
Astros-Braves lineups for Friday
Here are the lineups for tonight’s Astros-Braves game:
ASTROS
CF Michael Bourn
SS Angel Sanchez
RF Hunter Pence
LF Carlos Lee
2B Jeff Keppinger
1B Brett Wallace
3B Chris Johnson
C J.R. Towles
RHP Aneury Rodriguez
BRAVES
CF Jordan Schafer
2B Dan Uggla
3B Chipper Jones
1B Freddie Freeman
SS Alex Gonzalez
LF Eric Hinske
C David Ross
RF Matt Young
P Tim Hudson
Tuesday morning tidbits
The great, albeit hot, weather we’ve experienced entire spring gave way this morning to the first rain of camp. That put a damper on the Astros’ early-morning workouts, but the skies should clear in time for today’s 12:05 p.m. CT game against the Braves.
Here is the lineups:
ASTROS
CF Jason Bourgeois
SS Clint Barmes
RF Hunter Pence
LF Carlos Lee
2B Bill Hall
DH Brian Bogusevic
1B Koby Clemens
C Humberto Quintero
3B Tommy Manzella
—
RHP Brett Myers
BRAVES
LF Jordan Schafer
CF Nate McLouth
DH Chipper Jones
2B Dan Uggla
RF Jason Heyward
3B Joe Mather
1B Freddie Freeman
C J.C. Boscan
SS Diory Hernandez
—
RHP Tommy Hanson
Also scheduled to pitch: Brandon Lyon, Jeff Fulchino, Wesley Wright, Mark Melancon, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Gustavo Chacin, Patrick Urckfitz.
- Left-hander Fernando Abad, who was scheduled to pitch on Tuesday, was sent home ill and will likely throw tomorrow.
- Manager Brad Mills said he might try some other guys at the No. 2 hole, though Clint Barmes might have the tools to be there on Opening Day. One name he mentioned was Brett Wallace, who had three hits on Monday.
Game 1: Finding some good in a blowout
The Astros dropped their Grapefruit League opener, 13-3, to the Atlanta Braves on Monday afternoon in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Here’s a rundown of the day’s events.
What went right: The Astros got off to a good start at the plate, pounding out 14 hits – all singles. Brett Wallace, trying to win the first base job, went 3-for-3, including a pair of hits into left field. Carlos Lee, Tommy Manzella and T.J. Steele also had two hits apiece.
“We’ve all been champing at the bit to get out there and play games, and to finally get out there and play another team it’s definitely exciting,” Wallace said. “I think we were all so ready to go. We faced some good pitchers today and it’s you start to get timing down and see balls coming out of guys’ hands.”
On the mound, Enerio Del Rosario pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits with one strikeout. Lance Pendleton, a Rule 5 pick, tossed a scoreless inning, along with Fernando Rodriguez. Henry Villar drew praise from manager Brad Mills after giving up a leadoff triple in the seventh.
What went wrong: Wandy Rodriguez struggled mightily in his first start of the spring, giving up five hits, three walks and six earned runs in 1 2/3 innings. Rodriguez, who had a 12.10 ERA last spring, needed only six pitches to get out of the first inning, but threw 37 pitches in the second and couldn’t finish the inning.
“You know what, today I tried to work on my location and I got a lot of guys behind in the count,” he said. “That was my mistake today.”
As a team, the Astros gave up 15 hits and walked eight batters. Aneury Rodriguez, who’s also a Rule 5 pick, gave up three hits and two runs in one inning, and Sergio Escalona allowed three hits, two walks and four earned runs in one inning.
“It happened with a couple of guys today, but with Wandy I think he missed on a couple of pitches early in counts with guys in that second inning,” Mills said. “He tried to make adjustments mechanically and left some balls right over the middle of the plate, and they hit them hard.”
What they said: “The good at-bats were really good. We had a couple of guys throw the ball extremely well. Villar threw the ball really well after the leadoff triple. Fernando Rodriguez threw the ball extremely well at the end. We had much better at-bats and 14 hits, and that’s nice to see.” — Astros manager Brad Mills.
What’s next: Brett Myers will start for the Astros on Tuesday in their first game of the spring at Osceola Count Stadium. That will also mark the first time we’ll see second baseman Bill Hall and shortstop Clint Barmes in an Astros uniform in a game.
Injury update: Outfielder J.D. Martinez, the Astros’ Minor League Player of the Year in 2010, will be sidelined until at least Thursday with a sore left quadriceps muscle. … Fellow Minor League outfielder T.J. Steele hyper-extended his elbow diving for a ball in the outfield, but he came back to get two hits. … Michael Bourn was hit on the shin by a pitch and was a bit swollen, but he said he was fine.
Now, onto the pictures. I’m not able to get any game pictures because of my reporting responsibilities, but I’ll continue to bring you pictures from the workouts and pregame stretches/batting practice. And yes, the lighting is poor at the ballpark at times.
Above: Hunter Pence warms up on the field prior to Monday’s Grapefruit League opener.
Above: First-base coach Bobby Meacham signs an autograph for an Astros fans, while bullpen catcher Javier Bracamonte looks on.
Above: Jason Michaels works on his bat in the dugout. He went 0-for-3 on Monday as DH.
Above: The Astros hit the field for stretch prior to Monday’s game.
Brian McTaggart
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