Power Pros Forum

GAME 1 April 25th, 2013 Series Astros(9-14) Vs Cardinals(12-11)[/b]
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Astros 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
Cardinals 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 0

[b]Line up
Figgins- 1-4, 1 SO(12 game hitting streak)
Altuve- 0-4
Villar- 1-4
Dominguez- 0-4
Carter- 0-4
Corporan- 2-4, 1 SO
R.Ankiel- 1-2, 1 BB
Wallace- 0-2
Maxwell- 0-1
J.Cosart- 1-2(First Career Hit)
J.Elmore- 0-1

Pitching
J.Cosart- 6 IP, 7 H, 1 SO, 2 ER LOSS(0-2)
Blackley- 2 IP, 1 H, 3 SO, 0 ER

GAME 2 April 26th, 2013
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Astros 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Cardinals 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 X 1 5 0

Line up
Figgins- 1-4, 1 SO(13 Game Hitting Streak)
Altuve- 2-4
Villar- 0-3, 1 BB
Dominguez- 1-4
Maxwell- 0-4, 3 SO
Corporan- 0-3, 1 SO
J.Elmore- 0-1
R.Ankiel- 0-3, 1 SO
Wallace- 1-3
Bedard- 0-3

Pitching
Bedard- 8 IP, 5 H, 6 SO, 1 ER LOSS(2-2)(3rd Complete game of the season)

GAME 3 April 27th, 2013
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E
Astros 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
Cardinals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 13 1

Line up
Figgins- 2-5
Altuve- 0-5
Villar- 0-5
Dominguez- 1-5
Corporan- 2-4
R.Ankiel- 0-3, 1 SO
Maxwell- 0-1
Wallace- 0-4
Lyles- 0-3
J.Elmore- 1-1

Pitching
Lyles- 8 1/3 IP, 8 H, 5 SO, 0 ER
Wright- 1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 2 SO, 0 ER
Clemens- 1 2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 SO, 1 ER LOSS(0-2)

RECAP: For the second time this season The Astros went a whole series without scoring 1 run, which obviously means that they got swept by the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. When manager Bo Porter was asked about the lack of offense, he said "Yea i'm not gonna sit here and sugarcoat it...we're pretty bad, I don't even think we could hit a ball off of a tee right now, and every time we do luck up and get a hit the next batter hits into a double play like it's his job, I'm honestly just at a loss for words, I knew this was going to be a rebuilding process, but this is getting ridiculous." The one bright spot about this series(Besides the amazing pitching) is that Chone Figgins was able to keep his hitting streak alive which is now at 14 games.

The Houston Astros have proposed a trade with the Kansas City Royals to try and help their struggling line up.

Astros would get:
1B-Billy Butler(D/C/F/F/2/F) Contract: $390,000
SP-Danny Duffy(Top SPD: 93 D/B, CHG: 2, CB: 2, SLD: 1, VS Runner: 2, WALK, Release: 4, Gd Bunt) Contract: $390,000
$500,000 Cash.
Royals Would get:
RF-Marc Krauss(E/E/E/D/C/2/E Vs Lefty: 2) Contract: $390,000
RP-Brad Peacock(TOP SPD: 88, G/E, SLD: 1, CHG: 2) Contract: $390,000

All 4 players involved in the trade have been in AAA all year long but if the trade was to go through, Billy Butler would be promoted and would probably take Brett Wallace's starting spot at 1st base, also Danny Duffy could take over Dallas Keuchel's spot in the starting rotation if he continues to struggle.

APRIL RECAP
MONTHLY MVPS FOR APRIL
AMERICAN LEAGUE
David Ortiz(Red Sox): .469, 12 HR, 35 RBI
Max Scherzer(Tigers): 5 Wins, 0.85 ERA, 39 K
Felipe Rivero(Rays, Rookie of the month): 3 Wins, 2.40 ERA, 23 K
Grant Balfour(A's): 11 SV, 1.93 ERA, 16 K

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Brandon Crawford(Giants): .380, 3 HR, 26 RBI
Aroldis Chapman(Reds): 10 SV, 1.50 ERA, 7 K
Jason Castro(Astros, Rookie Of the Month): .352, 4 HR, 11 RBI

Fielding Stats
NAME AVG AB H 2B 3B HR RBI OBP
Jason Castro .363 91 33 6 0 4 11 .370
Brett Wallace .340 100 34 1 1 0 4 .353
Rick Ankiel .292 96 28 1 2 3 10 .299
Chone Figgins .262 122 32 0 1 0 3 .274
Jonathan Villar .254 118 30 2 1 2 8 .273
Jose Altuve .250 120 30 1 0 2 5 .262
Matt Dominguez .237 114 27 1 0 2 7 .241
Carlos Corporan .286 21 6 0 0 0 0 .286
Chris Carter .250 60 15 2 0 4 8 .246
Jake Elmore .231 13 3 0 0 0 0 .231
J.D. Martinez .173 52 9 0 0 1 2 .204
Justin Maxwell .136 22 3 0 1 0 2 .174

PITCHING STATS
NAME ERA IP W L SV SO AVG PA
Erik Bedard 0.65 41.2 2 2 0 35 .186 141
Jordan Lyles 1.70 37.0 1 0 0 15 .287 145
Bud Norris 2.43 37.0 1 1 0 19 .274 146
Nate Eovaldi 1.60 33.2 1 2 0 22 .300 131
Dallas Keuchel 5.96 22.2 0 4 0 12 .353 103
Jose Veras 5.17 15.2 2 2 7 8 .279 68
Paul Clemens 2.40 15.0 0 2 0 6 .290 62
Travis Blackley 1.98 13.2 1 1 0 5 .275 52
Jarred Cosart 4.73 13.1 0 2 0 3 .352 56
Wesley Wright 1.38 13.0 1 0 0 11 .283 53
Josh Fields 5.14 7.0 1 1 0 5 .432 38
Jose Cisnero 7.20 5.0 1 1 0 2 .440 25
Hector Ambriz 5.79 4.2 0 0 0 0 .350 21

NL CENTRAL STANDINGS
NAME RECORD GB
Cardinals (18-11) ---
Brewers (17-11) 0.5
Cubs (15-13) 2.5
Reds (15-14) 3.0
Pirates (13-16) 5.0
Astros (11-18) 7.0

The Houston Astros had a better than expected April by most fans standards, but don't tell Astros manager Bo Porter that as he was furious with the way his team has been playing. The Astros finished the month winning 2 out of 3 against the Arizona Diamondbacks while scoring 13 runs which was a good way to end a month where the offense was just not there. The Astros hit .258 for the month, which is good enough for 4th in the NL Central but only scored 66 runs which is dead last in the MLB. On the bright side however, the Astros pitching seems to be on of the best in the league posting a 2.73 ERA on the month which is the best in the MLB, the Astros might not be making the playoffs this year but the future looks bright for this young pitching staff led by veteran lefty Erik Bedard who currently has the lowest ERA in baseball with a 0.65, hopefully the great pitching can continue and rookie of the month catcher Jason Castro can help get the struggling Astros out of last place.

TOP 10 PITCHERS LOWEST ERA
1.Erik Bedard: 0.65
2.Max Scherzer: 0.85
3.Shelby Miller: 1.09
4.Clay Buchholz: 1.50
5.Annibal Sanchez: 1.55
6.Nate Eovaldi: 1.60
7.Jeff Locke: 1.63
8.Chris Sale: 1.66
9.Jordan Lyles: 1.70
10.J.A. Happ: 1.78

TOP 10 BATTERS HIGHEST AVG
1.David Ortiz: .458
2.Miguel Cabrera: .427
3.Placido Polanco: .396
4.Brandon Crawford: .382
5.Grant Green: .376
6.Matt Holliday: .376
7.Norichika Aoki: .373
8.Starlin Castro: .366
9.Aaron Hill: .364
10.Jason Castro: .363
10.Adam LaRoche: .363

APRIL TRADES
Rangers Get: SP-Taylor Jordan(TOP SPD: 93, D/B, SPLT: 3, CB: 2, SLD: 3) From the Washington Nationals for CF-David Murphy(E/E/D/D/E/2/D)

Milwaukee Brewers(17-11) At HOUSTON ASTROS(11-18) SERIES PREVIEW

Brewers Starting Line up
1.Aoki .373
2.C.Gomez .259
3.Jean Segura .306
4.Ryan Braun .317
5.Lucroy .276
6.Rickie Weeks .297
7.A.Ramirez .333
8.Betancourt .194
9.PITCHER

GAME 1 STARTER
Gallardo: 2.59 ERA(TOP SPD: 92, D/B, 2SFB: 1, H-SLD: 3, CB: 4, CHG: 2

KEY BULLPEN PITCHERS
Jim Henderson: 1.74 ERA(TOP SPD: 97, B/E, 2SFB: 2, SLD: 5)
John Axford: 0.71 ERA(TOP SPD: 97, C/E, SLD: 2, CB: 4)

ASTROS GAME 1 PITCHER
Erik Bedard: 0.65 ERA(0.74 At Home, TOP SPD: 93, C/B, CUT: 3, CB: 2, CHG: 3

TRADE INFO: The trade between the Kansas City Royals and Houston Astros has been declined by the Royals, but still with hopes to bolster their bullpen the Astros have proposed a trade with the Atlanta Braves.

Braves would get: RP- John Ely(AAA): TOP SPD: 90, E/C, CHG: 2, CB: 2, Poise: 4, Salary: $400,000

Astros Would get: RP- Cristhian Martinez(AAA): TOP SPD: 91, C/E, CHG: 1, SLD: 4, 2SFB: 1, W/RISP: 4, Release: 2, Recovery: 4, Salary: $390,000

GAME 1 May 2nd, 2013 Series Astros(11-18) Vs Brewers(17-11)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Astros 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 X 3 12 0
Brewers 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0

Line up
Figgins- 2-4, 1 SO
Altuve- 1-4
Villar- 2-4, 2 SO
Castro- 1-4, 1 HR(5), 1 RBI, 1 Run, 2 SO
Carter- 1-4
Dominguez- 1-4, 1 Run, 1 SO
R.Ankiel- 1-4, 1 HR(4), 2 RBI, 1 Run
Wallace- 2-3, 1 SO
Bedard- 1-3, 1 2B

Pitching
Bedard- 8 IP, 5 H, 6 SO, 2 ER WIN(3-2)
Veras- 1 IP, 0 H, 1 SO, 0 ER SV(8)

BREWERS GAME 1 LINE UP
Aoki- 0-4, 1 SO
C.Gomez- 1-4, 1 2B, 1 SO
Segura- 0-4, 1 SO
Braun- 0-2, 2 SO
Bianchi- 1-2
Lucroy- 1-3
R.Weeks- 2-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 Run
A.Ramirez- 0-3
Betancourt- 0-3, 1 SO
Gallardo- 0-1, 1 SO
Gindi- 0-2

Pitching
Gallardo- 5 IP, 9 H, 4 SO, 3 ER LOSS
Thornburg- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 SO, 0 ER
Gonzalez- 2 IP, 1 H, 3 SO, 0 ER

I can't imagine that trade getting more than 1 star, if that!

lol It actually had 4 stars, but apparently 4 star trades have a zero percent chance of working because I've requested like 3 this year and all of them have been declined.

Washington Nationals(16-16) At Houston Astros(12-20) Series Preview

WASHINGTON NATIONALS Line Up
1.Denard Span .270
2.Steve Lombardozzi .220
3.Ryan Zimmerman .262
4.Adam LaRoche .333
5.Bryce Harper .252
6.Jayson Werth .319
7.Kurt Suzuki .324
8.Ian Desmond .337
9.PITCHER

GAME 1 STARTING PITCHER
Gio Gonzalez: 3.28 ERA(TOP SPD: 95, D/B, CB: 6, CHG: 3)

KEY BULLPEN PITCHERS
Rafael Soriano: 1.80 ERA(TOP SPD: 92, C/E, CUT: 5, CHG: 3)
Tyler Clippard: 4.32 ERA(TOP SPD: 94, C/D, SLD: 2, CCHG: 6)

The Washington Nationals have one of the best young pitching staffs in baseball, with their 3 big starters of Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, and Jordan Zimmermann, the Nationals were the pre-season favorites to represent the National League in this years world series, but a disappointing start to the season has them sitting in first in the NL East but with just an even .500 record, The Astros pitchers are going to have to be careful, the Nationals line up might not wow you with a lot of runs but every player in their line up has the ability to knock the ball out of the yard, especially young left fielder Bryce Harper.

The trade between the Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros has been accepted, Right handed reliever Cristhian Martinez(TOP SPD 91: C/E, 2SFB: 1, CHG: 1, SLD: 4, W/RISP: 4, Release: 2, Recovery: 4) has been called up to join the Astros major league roster, and reliever Josh Fields(4.50 ERA) has been recalled down to AAA Oklahoma City, The Astros released a statement saying "We're very happy to have Martinez on our club, he gives us some much needed depth in the bullpen and will be used as soon as possible."

Awesome trade, he's got some nice speed and his slider looks pretty good, he looks quite serviceable.

GAME 1 May 6th, 2013 Series Washington Nationals At Houston Astros(11-20)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Astros 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 12 1
Nationals 1 0 0 3 2 0 4 0 0 10 15 1

Line up
Figgins- 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 Run, 1 SO
Altuve- 0-4, 2 SO
Villar- 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 Run
Maxwell- 2-4, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 Run, 1 SO
Castro- 1-4
Dominguez- 2-4, 1 2B
R.Ankiel- 0-3
J.Elmore- 0-1
Wallace- 1-4, 1 Run, 1 SO
Eovaldi- 1-2, 1 SO
Carter- 1-1

Pitching
Eovaldi- 4 2/3 IP, 8 H, 0 SO, 5 ER LOSS(1-3)
J.Cosart- 1 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 SO, 3 ER
Wright- 0 2/3 IP, 3 H, 0 SO, 2 ER
R.Ankiel- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 SO, 0 ER
Veras- 1 IP, 1 H, 1 SO, 0 ER

GAME 2 May 7th, 2013
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Astros 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 7 1
Nationals 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 5 10 0

Line up
Figgins- 0-3, 1 SO, 1 SH
Altuve- 0-4, 2 SO
Villar- 1-4, 1 HR(3), 1 RBI, 1 Run, 1 SO
Castro- 2-4, 1 HR(6), 1 RBI, 1 Run, 2 SO
Carter- 1-4, 1 HR(5), 1 RBI, 1 Run, 1 SO
Dominguez- 1-3, 1 SO
Maxwell- 1-3
Wallace- 1-3, 2 SO
B.Norris- 0-1
R.Ankiel- 0-1
J.Elmore- 0-1

Pitching
B.Norris- 6 IP, 7 H, 1 SO, 3 ER
Martinez- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 SO, 0 ER(Astros Debut)
Clemens- 1 IP, 3 H, 0 SO, 2 ER LOSS(0-3)

GAME 3 May 8th, 2013
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Astros 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
Nationals 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 3 9 17 1

Line up
Figgins- 0-3, 1 BB
Altuve- 1-4
Villar- 2-4
Dominguez- 0-4
Carter- 1-4
Castro- 0-4
R.Ankiel- 0-3
Wallace- 1-3, 1 SO
Bedard- 0-1
Maxwell- 1-1
J.Elmore- 0-1

Pitching
Bedard- 6 IP, 11 H, 3 SO, 5 ER LOSS(3-3)
Veras- 2 IP, 2 H, 1 SO, 1 ER
Blackley- 1 IP, 4 H, 1 SO, 3 ER

PLAYER TO WATCH(Bryce Harper): Bryce Harper dominated the Astros pitching staff in this series, hitting 6 Home Runs in 3 games.

RECAP: There isn't much good to say about this series for the Astros, the pitching was horrible and the Nationals showed why they were the preseason favorites to win it all, the one good thing you can take away from this if you're the Astros is that recent pick up Cristhian Martinez pitched 2 scoreless innings in his debut with the team and looks to be the Astros go to long reliever down the road, it doesn't get any easier for the Astros as they travel to Dodger Stadium to face the red hot Dodgers who currently hold the best record in baseball.

GAME 1 May 9th, 2013 Series Houston Astros Vs Dodgers
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Astros 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 4 0
Dodgers 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0

Line up
Figgins- 1-4, 1 Run, 1 SO
Altuve- 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 Run, 1 SO
Villar- 0-4, 1 SO
Castro- 1-4
Carter- 0-3, 1 RBI
Dominguez- 1-3, 1 RBI
Maxwell- 0-3, 1 SO
Wallace- 0-3
Lyles- 0-3, 1 SO

Pitching
Lyles- 9 IP, 4 H, 9 SO, 1 ER WIN(2-1)

GAME 2 May 10th, 2013
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Astros 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 7 0
Dodgers 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 X 3 11 0

Line up
Figgins- 1-4
Altuve- 1-4
Villar- 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 Run, 1 SO
Dominguez- 0-4, 1 SO
J.Martinez- 0-2
Carter- 0-2
Castro- 3-3, 1 2B
R.Ankiel- 0-3, 1 SO
Walalce- 0-3
Keuchel- 0-1
Maxwell- 1-1
J.Elmore- 0-1

Pitching
Keuchel- 5 IP, 7 H, 1 SO, 3 ER LOSS(0-6)
Martinez- 1 IP, 3 H, 1 SO, 0 ER
J.Cosart- 1 IP, 1 H, 2 SO, 0 ER
Clemens- 1 IP, 0 H, 2 SO, 0 ER

GAME 3 May 11th, 2013
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Astros 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 11 0
Dodgers 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 X 2 5 1

Line up
Figgins- 1-5
Altuve- 1-4
Villar- 0-4
Castro- 2-4, 1 Run
Carter- 4-4
Dominguez- 0-4
R.Ankiel- 2-4, 1 RBI
Walalce- 1-4, 2 SO
J.Cosart- 0-3
Maxwell- 0-1

Pitching
J.Cosart- 7 2/3 IP, 5 H, 9 SO, 2 ER LOSS(0-3)
Veras- 0 1/3 IP, 0 H, 1 SO, 0 ER

RECAP: The Houston Astros were lucky enough to not have to face Clayton Kershaw in this series but still lost 2 out of 3 games against possibly the best team in the MLB. Jordan Lyles started the series off with a gem in game 1, going the distance for the first time this season while striking out 9. The Astros now travel to AT&T Park to face the Giants of San Fran.