ASTROS 101

The biggest story going into todays' matinee showdown against between Milwaukee Brewers and the Houston Astros was Brewers' starter Zach Greinke; after the game Greinke was still the story, but not for the reason the reason that one would assume. Much like Astros' starter Wandy Rodriguez, Greinke is the subject of many trade rumors; Greinke's contract runs out after this season and it is doubtful whether Greinke will re-sign with the Brewers. As a result, several scouts from across the MLB came to today's game to see him pitch against the Astros. They certainly witnessed something worth seeing.

Lately, the Houston Astros have hit rock bottom. Going into todays' game, the Astros had dropped nine straight games; their last win had come in a one to nothing victory back on June 27th, nearly two weeks alone. Today, the Astros offense just snapped. Astros CF Jordan Schafer led off the game with a triple after he jumped all over Zach's Greinke's first pitch. Immediately after that Astros' 2B Jose Altuve pushed Greinke over the edge. On the third pitch he saw, Altuve hit a dribbler to deep first base and Greinke had to cover first base. Altuve beat Greinke to the bag on a bang-bang play and Schafer scored on the back end. In frustration, Greinke spiked the ball into the field dirt;  1B umpire Sam Holbrook was not at all pleased and immediately ejected Greinke. Brewers manger Rob Roenicke came out to argue the call and was in turn ejected from the game. Veteran reliever, and former Astros starter, Livan Hernandez then replaced Greinke after he had thrown only four pitches. For those who are curious, Greinke's ejection tied him with Babe Ruth for the second fastest ejection of a pitcher from a game; Red Sox starter holds the dubious honor of holding the record for being ejected earlier after he was ejected from a game against the Texas Rangers in 2009 after two pitches. The Astros then took advantage of the Brewers' bullpen for the rest of the game. In the third inning, the Astros scored three runs on a homerun from 3B Scott Moore, an RBI Double from SS Jed Lowrie, and a Sac Fly from C Jason Castro. By the fifth inning, the Astros stretched the lead to six thanks to an error by Brewers' C Martin Maldonado and another Sac Fly from Astros' C Jason Castro. In the top of the sixth, the Brewers scored two unearned runs thanks to errors by Astros 3B Scot Moore and a wild pitch by Astros' reliever Fernando Rodriguez. In the eighth, Brewers' PH Cody Ransom got in the action with a RBI double to shrink the Astros' lead to three. In the ninth inning, Astros' closer Brett Myers ended the Brewer's mini-rally by nailing down his 18th save of the season.

Astros MVP of the Game: Scott Moore 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI

Next game: 7/8 1:05 PM CST v. Milwaukee Brewers, Marco Estrada (0-3, 4.31) v. Jordan Lyles (2-5, 5.40)

Tags: Baseball, Houston, Houston Astros, MLB

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