Post by bstros on Apr 18, 2007 7:23:54 GMT -5
Lee flexes muscles to support Oswalt
Left fielder's 3 hits, 4 RBIs put charge into Astros
By JOSE DE JESUS ORTIZ
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
Seconds before starting his round of batting practice Tuesday at Minute Maid Park, Astros left fielder Carlos Lee twirled his bat, shuffled his feet and essentially took inventory of his power.
The man known as El Caballo, the horse, was feeling mighty fresh hours before helping ace righthander Roy Oswalt beat the Florida Marlins 6-1.
"Me siento fuerte," Lee said in Spanish. "I feel strong."
It showed.
For good measure, Lee also honored his fan club, Los Caballitos, the little horses, by riding the stick pony the club members gave him during batting practice.
Two of the Astros' top horses, Lee and Oswalt, showcased their strength while completing the two-game sweep before a crowd of 38,106 and putting the Astros at .500 for the first time this season. Since starting the season 1-5, the Astros are 5-1.
"Carlos Lee's been hitting real well, and we had a real good team effort," Oswalt said.
Over Oswalt's last two starts, Lee has hit four homers and driven in 10 runs, six Friday against the Philadelphia Phillies and four Tuesday. Lee was 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and a two-run double to back Oswalt, who pitched an impressive 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball on only three days of rest instead of the usual four between starts.
"Roy, starting right off the get-go, has pitched well," manager Phil Garner said. "And even the game he didn't pitch well in Philadelphia, Carlos took charge in that game. I think it's important. After a while, I think it takes pressure off some of the other guys. And they should perform a little better, too, because they know that at the end you've got 'money players' that are going to come through for you."
Oswalt (3-0, 2.89 ERA) didn't give up a run after Hanley Ramirez led off the contest with a homer to right field.
Oswalt exited with two men on and one out in the seventh, and Chad Qualls stranded those two runners with two-thirds of a scoreless inning.
Oswalt didn't disappoint after requesting permission to go on short rest, even though he had thrown 120 pitches over five difficult innings Friday.
"Once you get a cushion, you can kind of just go right after guys," Oswalt said. "Before then, you've got to kind of pitch with caution to not give up too many runs. As soon as you get a cushion, I tend to go right after them."
Oswalt held the Marlins to six hits and one run with three walks, a hit batter and seven strikeouts, throwing 70 of his 100 pitches for strikes.
The Astros' offense sputtered along in the first three innings against the Marlins' first two pitchers. Righthander Sergio Mitre struck out leadoff hitter Craig Biggio and had a 2-2 count on Morgan Ensberg when he was pulled because of a torn callus on his right middle finger. Kevin Gregg took over for Mitre and struck out Ensberg.
After Gregg went 2 2/3 scoreless innings, Jorge Julio (0-2) took over in the fourth. Lance Berkman greeted Julio with a grounder to short, reaching safely when Ramirez pulled first baseman Mike Jacobs off the bag for an error.
Lee followed with a homer into the Crawford Boxes, and he put bigger smiles on his teammates' faces as he rode his stick horse in the dugout while being congratulated.
"Los Caballitos — they gave it to me," Lee said of the fan club that responds to his home runs by riding stick horses on the concourse in left-center field. "That was a gift today. They told me if I hit a home run, I have to ride it. I did. I promised them that I would do it, and I did."
Even Oswalt, who rarely breaks a smile when he starts, was laughing while watching the 6-2, 240-pounder gallop in the dugout.
"That's a big man on a horse," Oswalt said.
The Astros jumped on Julio again in the fifth. Biggio, who in the third inning moved into a tie for 30th place on the all-time hits list with Frank Robinson and in the eighth took sole possession with a double, was hit by a pitch as he led off the fifth. Ensberg followed with an infield single to the left side of the mound. Berkman walked to load the bases.
Lee then doubled off the left-field wall, driving in two runs and prompting the Marlins to make another call to the bullpen.
Lefthander Renyel Pinto took over and struck out Luke Scott before reloading the bases with an intentional walk to Chris Burke.
Adam Everett followed with an RBI single to left. Brad Ausmus drove in the fourth run of the inning with a fielder's choice grounder to second.
"Where would we be right now with Lance having his struggles without Carlos?" Garner said. "And that's the advantage of having a couple guys in the lineup that can do serious damage."
jesus.ortiz@chron.com
Left fielder's 3 hits, 4 RBIs put charge into Astros
By JOSE DE JESUS ORTIZ
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
Seconds before starting his round of batting practice Tuesday at Minute Maid Park, Astros left fielder Carlos Lee twirled his bat, shuffled his feet and essentially took inventory of his power.
The man known as El Caballo, the horse, was feeling mighty fresh hours before helping ace righthander Roy Oswalt beat the Florida Marlins 6-1.
"Me siento fuerte," Lee said in Spanish. "I feel strong."
It showed.
For good measure, Lee also honored his fan club, Los Caballitos, the little horses, by riding the stick pony the club members gave him during batting practice.
Two of the Astros' top horses, Lee and Oswalt, showcased their strength while completing the two-game sweep before a crowd of 38,106 and putting the Astros at .500 for the first time this season. Since starting the season 1-5, the Astros are 5-1.
"Carlos Lee's been hitting real well, and we had a real good team effort," Oswalt said.
Over Oswalt's last two starts, Lee has hit four homers and driven in 10 runs, six Friday against the Philadelphia Phillies and four Tuesday. Lee was 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and a two-run double to back Oswalt, who pitched an impressive 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball on only three days of rest instead of the usual four between starts.
"Roy, starting right off the get-go, has pitched well," manager Phil Garner said. "And even the game he didn't pitch well in Philadelphia, Carlos took charge in that game. I think it's important. After a while, I think it takes pressure off some of the other guys. And they should perform a little better, too, because they know that at the end you've got 'money players' that are going to come through for you."
Oswalt (3-0, 2.89 ERA) didn't give up a run after Hanley Ramirez led off the contest with a homer to right field.
Oswalt exited with two men on and one out in the seventh, and Chad Qualls stranded those two runners with two-thirds of a scoreless inning.
Oswalt didn't disappoint after requesting permission to go on short rest, even though he had thrown 120 pitches over five difficult innings Friday.
"Once you get a cushion, you can kind of just go right after guys," Oswalt said. "Before then, you've got to kind of pitch with caution to not give up too many runs. As soon as you get a cushion, I tend to go right after them."
Oswalt held the Marlins to six hits and one run with three walks, a hit batter and seven strikeouts, throwing 70 of his 100 pitches for strikes.
The Astros' offense sputtered along in the first three innings against the Marlins' first two pitchers. Righthander Sergio Mitre struck out leadoff hitter Craig Biggio and had a 2-2 count on Morgan Ensberg when he was pulled because of a torn callus on his right middle finger. Kevin Gregg took over for Mitre and struck out Ensberg.
After Gregg went 2 2/3 scoreless innings, Jorge Julio (0-2) took over in the fourth. Lance Berkman greeted Julio with a grounder to short, reaching safely when Ramirez pulled first baseman Mike Jacobs off the bag for an error.
Lee followed with a homer into the Crawford Boxes, and he put bigger smiles on his teammates' faces as he rode his stick horse in the dugout while being congratulated.
"Los Caballitos — they gave it to me," Lee said of the fan club that responds to his home runs by riding stick horses on the concourse in left-center field. "That was a gift today. They told me if I hit a home run, I have to ride it. I did. I promised them that I would do it, and I did."
Even Oswalt, who rarely breaks a smile when he starts, was laughing while watching the 6-2, 240-pounder gallop in the dugout.
"That's a big man on a horse," Oswalt said.
The Astros jumped on Julio again in the fifth. Biggio, who in the third inning moved into a tie for 30th place on the all-time hits list with Frank Robinson and in the eighth took sole possession with a double, was hit by a pitch as he led off the fifth. Ensberg followed with an infield single to the left side of the mound. Berkman walked to load the bases.
Lee then doubled off the left-field wall, driving in two runs and prompting the Marlins to make another call to the bullpen.
Lefthander Renyel Pinto took over and struck out Luke Scott before reloading the bases with an intentional walk to Chris Burke.
Adam Everett followed with an RBI single to left. Brad Ausmus drove in the fourth run of the inning with a fielder's choice grounder to second.
"Where would we be right now with Lance having his struggles without Carlos?" Garner said. "And that's the advantage of having a couple guys in the lineup that can do serious damage."
jesus.ortiz@chron.com