[2009 Baseball Tour] Part 3: Minute Maid Park (Cincinnati Reds at Houston Astros)
I managed to find free Internet at this airport. (Their main Internet connection is pay-to-use, but I found a free one somehow.) I also managed to avoid the bad weather this weekend, just barely. While yesterday the Astros likely played with the roof closed, today was a beautiful day. (TOO beautiful, given my sunburn. XD;) So here I am, waiting for my flight (it got delayed because they're still looking for a plane), and writing the game recap of the Houstonburg imploding in the 7th.
Before the game:
-Actually, before this, let's get a little silliness out of the way. Back when I was a kid I actually liked the Astros, if only because Astro was my favorite Jetson. XD
-I actually got lost around downtown Houston, not knowing there was only one downtown exit on US-59. XD; But I was able to right myself before too long, and before I ran out of gas. (I prepaid for my gas, so I wanted to return it to Hertz with a mostly empty tank. I was VERY successful at this.)
-Splurged for good parking, but it was an easy out back to US-59 after the game.
-D: I totally forgot, I could have asked teiran if he wanted to go to this game. XD; I was reminded of Myst when I saw the retired numbers for the Astros (how do they already have 9, not counting Jackie Robinson?! That has to be a record for a team that has never won the World Series), and I was reminded of that post Myst had about Bagwell and Biggio. >.<; Sorry about that.
-It was a beautiful day; I thought I'd be in the shade all day since that's how it was before the game. But from when the game started all the way to the end, the sun baked down on me. XD;
-Minute Maid Park scared me. They turned the lights on for some reason, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I'm like "Why would they turn on the lights unless they were planning to close the roof?!" They turned them off sometime later in the game, thank goodness.
-Jim Breuer tossed the first pitch, which was somewhat cool, if only for the Half-Baked reference.
-Today's pitching matchup: Cincy's Edinson Volquez vs. Houston's Felipe Paulino.
Top 1st: The Reds got off to a fast start, with Willy Taveras making a hit and Chris Dickerson getting hit, but Joey Votto struck out, and Brandon Phillips grounded into a double play.
Bottom 1st: Michael Bourn got robbed, as he hit one to left center but it got snagged by a diving Taveras. The Reds actually committed 2 errors this inning; the first being Volquez dropping the ball on a force out on Miguel Tejada, and
Top 2nd: Paulino got all 3 outs by way of strikeout here; the only miss he made was giving up a double to Laynce Nix. (On that play, Bourn couldn't duplicate what Taveras did last half-inning.)
Top 3rd: Paulino got two more by strikeout this inning, but those would be his last strikeouts of the game. On the non-strikeout, Taveras got robbed by Bourn on what would have been a bloop single.)
Bottom 3rd: After a strikeout of Paulino by Volquez (at this point, the strikeout score was Volquez 3, Paulino 6), Bourn blooped one to right center, and Tejada singled behind him to score Bourn! (It was in the same spot, left center.) The Astros would load the bases with 1 out, but Hunter Pence struck out, and Geoff Blum popped out. Would they pay for this? 1-0 Astros
Bottom 4th: Only one thing noteworthy here: Paulino got a base hit, his first of his major league career. XD
End 4th: They did a Wii Home Run Derby, where some kid played MLB Power Pros for Best Buy gift certificates. XD
Bottom 5th: The Astros would again load the bases, 1 out, but Blum grounded one to 2nd, Pence tagged out in the basepaths before the throw to 1st. Houston manager Cecil Cooper didn't like the call one bit; he came out to yell at the ump, but he cooled down before he got tossed.
End 5th: They did Kiss Cam, and the last couple they showed was... George HW Bush and Barbara. According to a gal who sat near me, they go to every game. So I bet they get on the Jumbotron for that bit often. XD
Top 6th: Paulino got a 1-2-3 inning this inning, but at 97 pitches, it would be Paulino's last.
Bottom 6th: I went to get a burger. There was barely any line there. And yet I still missed the entire half-inning. XD;
Top 7th: Time for the Houstonburg bullpen. First was Tim Byrdak, who walked the leadoff batter (pinch hitter Jerry Hairston Jr.). ALREADY he gets replaced, and in comes Geoff Geary. He didn't fare much better, as Ramon Hernandez singled. 1st/2nd no out for Alex Gonzalez, and he bunted, and that's one ouNO HE THREW THE BALL AWAY!!! Hairston scored on the E1, and the other two baserunners got one more base. Volquez was well over 100 pitches, so it was a good time to use a pinch hitter... and it was Micah Owings, who also happens to be a starting pitcher. XD And he slammed one all the way to the left-center fence to score 2 more! The Reds would get one more baserunner to add to the negativity for Astros fans, but that's all they got. 3-1 Reds
Bottom 7th: The Astros got 1st/2nd 0 out right away, but Lance Berkman DPed thanks to some nice defense by Edwin Encarnacion, who fielded it, ran to 3rd for the force, and gunned it to 1st. Carlos Lee struck out behind him, and that was the inning. 3-1 Reds
Bottom 8th: Let's skip to 2nd/3rd 1 out, after a Jason Smith sac bunt, and Kazuo Matsui (who I thought was injured) coming in to pinch run for Blum. I yelled out "KAZUO!!! HASHIRE!!!" ("Kazuo! Run!") But he would be stuck at 2nd, thanks to a NICE jumping catch on a line drive by 1B Joey Votto and a strikeout by pinch hitter Pudge Rodriguez.
Top 9th: Darnell McDonald came in with 1 out and blasted one to deep center field. It would be a home run anywhere else, but because the park is so deep in center, it found a big hole (near the dumbest feature of any ballpark: a hill with a flagpole on it IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD!), and that gave Cincy a quick scoring chance. A guy sitting behind me gave the best description of the play: "Great Jiminy Cricket." XD Taveras flew out to center, but it was more than enough to get McDonald in from 3rd. That would be it for the Reds. 4-1 Reds
Bottom 9th: The Astros mounted a chance here, with Bourn walking and Tejada getting a base hit to make it 1st/3rd 0 out. During Lance Berkman's at-bat, he lost control of his bat while swinging and it headed right for the Houston on-deck circle! Luckily, Carlos Lee was quick enough to roll out of the way. XD But Berkman struck out. Carlos Lee followed that up by flying out; it was enough to get Bourn in, though, which meant the tying run was still on the field. It was up to Kazuo Matsui. But he flew out, and this one belongs to the Reds. FINAL SCORE: Reds 4, Astros 2
After the game, it was an easy road back to the airport, and I didn't run out of gas. ^_^ And hey, the Twins won too (3 in a row for them!), something the Dragons haven't done in damn near a week. XD;
And here are 96 pictures from Minute Maid Park. Among the highlights are Little League kids parading around the stadium before the game, people doing The Lawnmower, Out-of-Town Scoreboard Cat watching you masturbate, Carlos Lee getting the hell out of the way of a flying bat, and Kazuo's first action in quite some time (he got hurt early on in the season.)
UP NEXT: Hmmm... as far as official stops, I don't know (there's a VERY tempting deal for DC), but I will be making side trips to Dayton and Cincy before then.
Before the game:
-Actually, before this, let's get a little silliness out of the way. Back when I was a kid I actually liked the Astros, if only because Astro was my favorite Jetson. XD
-I actually got lost around downtown Houston, not knowing there was only one downtown exit on US-59. XD; But I was able to right myself before too long, and before I ran out of gas. (I prepaid for my gas, so I wanted to return it to Hertz with a mostly empty tank. I was VERY successful at this.)
-Splurged for good parking, but it was an easy out back to US-59 after the game.
-D: I totally forgot, I could have asked teiran if he wanted to go to this game. XD; I was reminded of Myst when I saw the retired numbers for the Astros (how do they already have 9, not counting Jackie Robinson?! That has to be a record for a team that has never won the World Series), and I was reminded of that post Myst had about Bagwell and Biggio. >.<; Sorry about that.
-It was a beautiful day; I thought I'd be in the shade all day since that's how it was before the game. But from when the game started all the way to the end, the sun baked down on me. XD;
-Minute Maid Park scared me. They turned the lights on for some reason, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I'm like "Why would they turn on the lights unless they were planning to close the roof?!" They turned them off sometime later in the game, thank goodness.
-Jim Breuer tossed the first pitch, which was somewhat cool, if only for the Half-Baked reference.
-Today's pitching matchup: Cincy's Edinson Volquez vs. Houston's Felipe Paulino.
Top 1st: The Reds got off to a fast start, with Willy Taveras making a hit and Chris Dickerson getting hit, but Joey Votto struck out, and Brandon Phillips grounded into a double play.
Bottom 1st: Michael Bourn got robbed, as he hit one to left center but it got snagged by a diving Taveras. The Reds actually committed 2 errors this inning; the first being Volquez dropping the ball on a force out on Miguel Tejada, and
Top 2nd: Paulino got all 3 outs by way of strikeout here; the only miss he made was giving up a double to Laynce Nix. (On that play, Bourn couldn't duplicate what Taveras did last half-inning.)
Top 3rd: Paulino got two more by strikeout this inning, but those would be his last strikeouts of the game. On the non-strikeout, Taveras got robbed by Bourn on what would have been a bloop single.)
Bottom 3rd: After a strikeout of Paulino by Volquez (at this point, the strikeout score was Volquez 3, Paulino 6), Bourn blooped one to right center, and Tejada singled behind him to score Bourn! (It was in the same spot, left center.) The Astros would load the bases with 1 out, but Hunter Pence struck out, and Geoff Blum popped out. Would they pay for this? 1-0 Astros
Bottom 4th: Only one thing noteworthy here: Paulino got a base hit, his first of his major league career. XD
End 4th: They did a Wii Home Run Derby, where some kid played MLB Power Pros for Best Buy gift certificates. XD
Bottom 5th: The Astros would again load the bases, 1 out, but Blum grounded one to 2nd, Pence tagged out in the basepaths before the throw to 1st. Houston manager Cecil Cooper didn't like the call one bit; he came out to yell at the ump, but he cooled down before he got tossed.
End 5th: They did Kiss Cam, and the last couple they showed was... George HW Bush and Barbara. According to a gal who sat near me, they go to every game. So I bet they get on the Jumbotron for that bit often. XD
Top 6th: Paulino got a 1-2-3 inning this inning, but at 97 pitches, it would be Paulino's last.
Bottom 6th: I went to get a burger. There was barely any line there. And yet I still missed the entire half-inning. XD;
Top 7th: Time for the Houstonburg bullpen. First was Tim Byrdak, who walked the leadoff batter (pinch hitter Jerry Hairston Jr.). ALREADY he gets replaced, and in comes Geoff Geary. He didn't fare much better, as Ramon Hernandez singled. 1st/2nd no out for Alex Gonzalez, and he bunted, and that's one ouNO HE THREW THE BALL AWAY!!! Hairston scored on the E1, and the other two baserunners got one more base. Volquez was well over 100 pitches, so it was a good time to use a pinch hitter... and it was Micah Owings, who also happens to be a starting pitcher. XD And he slammed one all the way to the left-center fence to score 2 more! The Reds would get one more baserunner to add to the negativity for Astros fans, but that's all they got. 3-1 Reds
Bottom 7th: The Astros got 1st/2nd 0 out right away, but Lance Berkman DPed thanks to some nice defense by Edwin Encarnacion, who fielded it, ran to 3rd for the force, and gunned it to 1st. Carlos Lee struck out behind him, and that was the inning. 3-1 Reds
Bottom 8th: Let's skip to 2nd/3rd 1 out, after a Jason Smith sac bunt, and Kazuo Matsui (who I thought was injured) coming in to pinch run for Blum. I yelled out "KAZUO!!! HASHIRE!!!" ("Kazuo! Run!") But he would be stuck at 2nd, thanks to a NICE jumping catch on a line drive by 1B Joey Votto and a strikeout by pinch hitter Pudge Rodriguez.
Top 9th: Darnell McDonald came in with 1 out and blasted one to deep center field. It would be a home run anywhere else, but because the park is so deep in center, it found a big hole (near the dumbest feature of any ballpark: a hill with a flagpole on it IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD!), and that gave Cincy a quick scoring chance. A guy sitting behind me gave the best description of the play: "Great Jiminy Cricket." XD Taveras flew out to center, but it was more than enough to get McDonald in from 3rd. That would be it for the Reds. 4-1 Reds
Bottom 9th: The Astros mounted a chance here, with Bourn walking and Tejada getting a base hit to make it 1st/3rd 0 out. During Lance Berkman's at-bat, he lost control of his bat while swinging and it headed right for the Houston on-deck circle! Luckily, Carlos Lee was quick enough to roll out of the way. XD But Berkman struck out. Carlos Lee followed that up by flying out; it was enough to get Bourn in, though, which meant the tying run was still on the field. It was up to Kazuo Matsui. But he flew out, and this one belongs to the Reds. FINAL SCORE: Reds 4, Astros 2
After the game, it was an easy road back to the airport, and I didn't run out of gas. ^_^ And hey, the Twins won too (3 in a row for them!), something the Dragons haven't done in damn near a week. XD;
And here are 96 pictures from Minute Maid Park. Among the highlights are Little League kids parading around the stadium before the game, people doing The Lawnmower, Out-of-Town Scoreboard Cat watching you masturbate, Carlos Lee getting the hell out of the way of a flying bat, and Kazuo's first action in quite some time (he got hurt early on in the season.)
UP NEXT: Hmmm... as far as official stops, I don't know (there's a VERY tempting deal for DC), but I will be making side trips to Dayton and Cincy before then.