Holdin' Onto Hope: A Houston Astros Dynasty (The Show 12)

[AC]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheNumber35

Yeah, how did you miss this lol? But I will be updating it...idk if it will be exactly when they come out, as I'm gonna be at the Tigers game tomorrow and after I'll probably be spending time with my woman. But I expect to pump out at least the first month's summary and a piece of story of some kind tomorrow (unless she spends the night that is.)

Ooh, Tigers game. I might be following my Jays out there in August.

Your backstory has been great. Loving the Milk Carton focus.

[TheNumber35]

Quote: Originally Posted by ACMilan1999

Ooh, Tigers game. I might be following my Jays out there in August. Your backstory has been great. Loving the Milk Carton focus.

Yeah, I love my Tigers, they're under-performing right now, hopefully they can right the ship...and yeah, the Jays always play em pretty tough, so that should be a good series.


Thanks, I'm loving it too...I figured I could use some of the hatred we've been spewing in a productive manor. Then I got the idea of this, of how one man could alter the history of a whole organization.

I am excited for this to get into the actual updates of the season though. I wanna get the ball rolling and get into the future of the Astros a bit more. But I can't until the season progresses a bit more. So stay tuned I guess.

[AC]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheNumber35

Thanks, I'm loving it too...I figured I could use some of the hatred we've been spewing in a productive manor. Then I got the idea of this, of how one man could alter the history of a whole organization. I am excited for this to get into the actual updates of the season though. I wanna get the ball rolling and get into the future of the Astros a bit more. But I can't until the season progresses a bit more. So stay tuned I guess.

I'm tempted to make a countdown clock for Scott's roster hehe...

[TheNumber35]

MONTH REVIEW-- APRIL 2012

MLB 12 The Show.jpg

As you can see, the month was not so kind to the Astros...as they went a measly 8-15 in April (The 9th win came in the first game of May, which accidentally got simmed as well.)

Below are the stats for all Astros players for the month of April

2012 Houston Astros Stats - Hitting
NAME	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG
Jose Altuve	108	5	28	5	1	0	5	5	16	11	1	.259	.296	.324
JD Martinez	88	11	25	3	0	2	7	18	26	0	0	.284	.406	.386
Brett Wallace	97	8	20	5	0	1	8	8	27	0	0	.206	.271	.289
Chris Johnson	85	11	22	5	0	1	9	7	17	0	0	.259	.337	.353
Brian Bogusevic	74	9	20	4	2	0	7	12	16	3	0	.270	.368	.378
Marwin Gonzalez	39	2	14	3	0	0	4	2	6	0	0	.359	.395	.436
Jordan Schafer	89	9	19	3	0	0	3	4	28	3	0	.213	.255	.247
Jed Lowrie	73	8	18	4	1	2	11	7	17	0	0	.247	.317	.411
Jason Castro	66	11	16	1	1	2	13	14	16	0	0	.242	.361	.379
Matt Downs	24	1	7	1	1	0	2	0	9	0	0	.292	.292	.333
Justin Maxwell	28	5	7	0	1	0	4	7	7	1	1	.250	.400	.321
Chris Snyder	24	1	7	2	0	0	3	3	5	0	0	.292	.370	.375
Travis Buck	6	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500	.571	.500

2012 Houston Astros Stats - Pitching
NAME	GP	GS	W	L	SV	QS	HLD	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	ERA
Wilton Lopez	13	0	1	2	0	0	0	14.2	16	4	0	5	12	1.43	2.45
Brandon Lyon	12	0	0	0	0	0	2	14.1	14	4	3	3	13	1.19	2.51
Wesley Wright	12	0	0	1	0	0	0	11.0	13	5	0	5	9	1.64	4.09
David Carpenter	11	0	1	1	0	0	0	10.2	17	5	3	6	13	2.16	4.22
Fernando Rodriguez	10	0	1	1	0	0	1	7.0	14	6	2	1	7	2.14	7.71
Brett Myers	7	0	0	1	6	0	0	6.1	6	2	1	1	3	1.11	2.84
Sergio Escalona	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	7.2	3	0	0	2	3	0.65	0.00
Wandy Rodriguez	5	5	0	2	0	3	0	29.0	32	14	1	12	20	1.52	4.34
Bud Norris	5	5	2	2	0	3	0	30.1	25	13	5	8	36	1.09	3.86
JA Happ	5	5	1	3	0	3	0	32.1	37	13	3	5	29	1.30	3.62
Jordan Lyles	5	5	1	0	0	4	0	33.0	36	10	4	13	22	1.48	2.73
Milk Carton	5	5	1	2	0	1	0	23.1	29	9	1	5	17	1.46	3.47

Notable Minor Leaguers:
Paul Clemens: 3-2, 1.67ERA, 0.90WHIP, 37.2IP, 24K, 5BB
Jarred Cosart: 3-2, 2.56ERA, 1.03WHIP, 38.2IP, 26K, 7BB
Jonathan Singleton: .148/.205/.235 with 1HR and 6RBI



Next game is against the 7-17 Mets

Milk Carton (1-2, 3.47) vs Jon Niese (0-2, 7.58)

[TheNumber35]

Here's how the playing of games is going to work one more time for all who missed it...I'm going to play 1, sim 5 games in the regular season. This way I see every pitcher in my rotation, and I also can get fairly deep into the season. My updates are going to be once every 6 games, with one in depth boxscore and summary, possibly with pictures (of the game I played) and then 5 simple scores with a little blurb about what went down in those games.

So look for the first update tonight, I just have to finalize what I want to do for this one and then it will be up and posted!

[TheNumber35]

UPDATE: May 2nd through May 8th

May 2nd:

New York Mets at Houston Astros
May 2, 2012	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York (7-18)	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	6	1
Houston (10-15)	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	x	3	12	2
W: Milk Carton (2-2) L: Jon Niese (0-3) S: Brett Myers (7)

New York Mets
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Rubin Tejada	4	0	1	1	0	0	.231
Kirk Nieuwenhuis	4	1	1	0	0	1	.234
David Wright	4	0	2	0	0	1	.283
Lucas Duda	3	0	0	0	1	1	.292
Scott Hairston	4	0	1	1	0	0	.212
Daniel Murphy	4	0	0	0	0	0	.267
Ike Davis	4	0	0	0	0	2	.257
Josh Thole	4	1	1	0	0	0	.224
Jon Niese	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Justin Turner	0	0	0	0	1	0	.171
BATTING 2B: Wright (5) RBI: Hairston (14), Tejada (7) SAC: Niese GIDP: Davis, Tejada
FIELDING E: Murphy (4)

New York Mets
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Jon Niese (L; 0-3)	7.0	10	2	2	0	7	6.23
Jon Rauch	0.2	2	1	1	0	0	3.14
Tim Byrdak	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	3.00

Houston Astros
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Jordan Schafer	4	0	1	0	0	1	.215
Jose Altuve	4	0	1	1	0	0	.259
Brett Wallace	4	0	2	1	0	1	.218
JD Martinez	4	0	0	0	0	1	.272
Chris Johnson	4	0	0	0	0	2	.247
Jed Lowrie	4	0	2	0	0	0	.260
Jason Castro	4	1	2	0	0	1	.257
Brian Bogusevic	4	1	3	1	0	1	.295
Lucas Harrell	3	1	1	0	0	0	.250
BATTING 2B: Lowrie (5), Castro (2) 3B: Altuve (2) RBI: Altuve (6), Wallace (9), Bogusevic (8) SAC: Harrell
FIELDING E: Altuve (4), Wallace (3)

Houston Astros
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Lucas Harrell (W; 2-2)	8.0	6	2	2	2	4	3.16
Brett Myers (S; 7)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	2.45

Altuve Sliding.jpg
Altuve sliding in with his RBI triple that chased home Milk Carton



Myers Punchout.jpg
Myers punching out a man with 2 outs and the bases loaded to end it


SUMMARY: This game was a real treat to play. It was a pitching duel as Niese and Milky locked up in an epic. Matching each other pitch for pitch and really making short work of two lineups devoid of serious offensive talent. Brett Wallace tied the game at 1 with an RBI single in the 3rd inning and Jose Altuve untied it with an RBI triple in the 5th which drove in his pitcher. Bogusevic added an RBI single to make it a 3-1 game entering the 9th. Milk Carton was sent back out there to go for his CG, but quickly loaded the bases with nobody out. Brad Mills signaled to the pen and in trotted Brett Myers. He gave up a run on a SAC fly and followed by getting a fielders choice (play at the plate) and a punchout to record his 7th save of the year in 8 chances. Harrell improved to 2-2 on the year.


MAY 3rd:

St. Louis Cardinals at Houston Astros
May 3, 2012	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
St. Louis (14-16)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
Houston (14-16)	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	x	3	6	1
W: Wandy Rodriguez (1-2) L: Adam Wainwright (3-1)

Summary: Wandy outdueled Wainwright by tossing a 2 hit shutout against the reigning WS Champs. Schafer paced the team with 2 RBI.


May 5th:

St. Louis Cardinals at Houston Astros
May 5, 2012	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
St. Louis (14-16)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
Houston (14-16)	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	x	1	7	0
W: Bud Norris (3-2) L: Jaime Garcia (1-4) S: Brett Myers (8)

Summary: Norris, Lyon, and Myers combined to shutout St. Louis again. Bud pitched 7.1 scoreless, walking 2 and punching out 7. Marwin Gonzalez had the lone RBI, he drove in Chris Snyder to snap the tie. JD Martinez also had a 2 hit game.


May 6th

St. Louis Cardinals at Houston Astros
May 6, 2012	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
St. Louis (14-16)	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	1	5	11	3
Houston (14-16)	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	x	7	9	0
W: Wilton Lopez (2-2) L: Kevin Gregg (1-1) S: Brett Myers (9)

Summary: Happ pitched fairly well, 6 innings of 2 run ball, 5 walks and 2 punchouts. But F-Rod blows the lead. Only to have JD Martinez hit a 3-R Double in the bottom half of the inning. Matt Downs homered on the day for Houston and Castro had a pair of RBIs as well.

May 7th:

Miami Marlins at Houston Astros
May 7, 2012	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Miami (23-8)	0	0	2	2	0	0	1	0	0	5	11	2
Houston (14-16)	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	7	1
W: Ricky Nolasco (3-0) L: Jordan Lyles (1-1) S: Heath Bell (16)

Summary: Lowrie homers in the losing effort. Lyles gave up 4 runs in 5 innings of work as Miami's offense pounded on the rookie a little bit. Former Astro Carlos Lee went 2-5 with 2 RBI in his return to Houston. Nolasco gives up 3 runs over 6.1 innings in earning his 3rd win of the season. Bell gets his 16th save on the young season.

May 8th:

Miami Marlins at Houston Astros
May 8, 2012	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Miami (23-8)	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	5	0
Houston (14-16)	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	x	3	10	0
W: Lucas Harrell (3-2) L: Anibal Sanchez (3-4) S: Brett Myers (10)

Summary: Chris Johnson had a 3 hit performance which included a 2 RBI double in the 3rd inning. Chris Snyder had an RBI single in the 5th to give the Astros all they would need in this game as Harrell was solid again, going 5.1 innings of 2 run ball. He then handed it over to the surprising bullpen of the Astros. Myers worked a perfect 9th to secure his 10th save. Carlos Lee had another 2 hit game against his former team and Anibal Sanchez failed to make it past the 5th inning as he went 4.2 innings, allowing 9 hits and 3 ER...as well as 3 walks.

[TheNumber35]

Office of Jeff Luhnow
May 9th, 2012

The team was starting to play better after their god awful start, they were scoring some runs and they were dominating on the mound. Leading the charge was Milk Carton. His last two starts were exactly what the Astros needed and sadly for Jeff...he was arguably their best pitcher on the season. He was getting All-Star considerations...

Quote: Originally Posted by Jeff Luhnow

Damnit! Why now? Why me? I had this all planned out, this was supposed to be my year. But now, the team wants to contend and actually win? That bum...actually pitches well? UGGHHH!!!

Jeff paces back and forth in his office, as he reaches his desk again he stops and opens the bottle of bourbon sitting next to his phone. He pours a glass and takes a drink. As much as he tried...he couldn't drown his misery in alcohol, he needed to take action. But what could he do? There was no way to prevent Harrell from winning until the rest of the team started losing. He couldn't deal away all the pieces until the team was well out of it. In the background, his phone rang...

Quote: Originally Posted by Jeff Luhnow

Hello? Who is this?

Quote: Originally Posted by ???

You know who this is Jeff...you aren't producing what we want from you. And if you can't soon, well you know what happens next.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jeff Luhnow

But sir...I can't control how the team ON the field plays. Not without risking your exposure of course. The key here is for them not to realize who you are, and know you're even involved.

Quote: Originally Posted by ???

Of course...but that doesn't change the fact that this needs to get done. If you want your payment, you better deliver.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jeff Luhnow

Yes, things will get done...I just need time. As soon as Milk Carton fails, the team is mine...err well, it's "mine" if you know what I mean sir.

Quote: Originally Posted by ???

Absolutely. You have until the end of the season to get Mr. Crane out of there.

*Click*

The mystery man hangs up the phone and Jeff sits in his office pondering his next move. His boss was getting antsy, and it was time to produce results. Harrell had to fail soon, or it would cost Jeff far more than his job.

[TheNumber35]

Back between the lines, the Astros ran off a nice stretch by winning 7 of their last 10 games. A stretch which got them back to .500 on the season, and tied them for the lead in the division with St. Louis! The team has really come together and is playing much better than the overall talent level they have indicates they could. Bud Norris is getting some serious Cy Young consideration, with his 4-2 record and a sub 3 ERA. Jose Altuve is 2nd in the NL in stolen bases and Justin Maxwell has taken the starting CF job from Jordan Schafer due to a lack of production.

6 game recap:

Miami Marlins at Houston Astros
May 9, 2012	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Miami (23-9)	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	2	5	11	1
Houston (15-16)	0	0	0	0	4	0	1	1	x	6	13	0
W: Wandy Rodriguez (2-2) L: Mark Buehrle (4-1) S: Brett Myers (11)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			MIA	HOU
MIA	3	Buehrle SAC Fly, Morrison scores	1	0
HOU	5	Rodriguez singles to center, Lowrie scores	1	1
HOU	5	Altuve singles to left, Rodriguez scores	1	2
HOU	5	Wallace doubles to left-center, Altuve and Schafer score	1	4
MIA	6	Ramirez singles to right, Bonafacio scores	2	4
MIA	7	Dobbs SAC Fly, Sanchez scores	3	4
HOU	7	Wallace doubles to right-center, Altuve scores	3	5
HOU	8	Buck pinch hit homer to right	3	6
MIA	9	Morrison homers to left, Sanchez scores	5	6

Miami Marlins
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Emilio Bonafacio	5	1	0	0	0	1	0	.234
Omar Infante	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.391
Mike Stanton	4	0	1	0	0	2	0	.316
Hanley Ramirez	4	0	2	1	0	1	0	.276
Carlos Lee	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	.296
Gaby Sanchez	4	2	2	0	0	0	0	.339
Logan Morrison	4	2	3	2	0	0	1	.361
Brett Hayes	4	0	1	0	0	2	0	.286
Mark Buehrle	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	.235
Jose Reyes	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.305
Greg Dobbs	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	.263
Chris Coghlan	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.357
BATTING: 2B: Morrison (12) HR: Morrison (3) RBI: Buehrle (4), Ramirez (25), Morrison 2 (23), Dobbs (1)r SF: Buehrle, Dobbs GIDP: Bonafacio
FIELDING: E: Sanchez (3) PB: Hayes

Houston Astros
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Jordan Schafer	5	1	1	0	0	1	0	.222
Jose Altuve	4	2	2	1	0	0	0	.257
Brett Wallace	4	0	3	3	0	0	0	.238
JD Martinez	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	.287
Chris Johnson	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.266
Jason Castro	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Jed Lowrie	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	.264
Brian Bogusevic	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.268
Wandy Rodriguez	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	.200
Travis Buck	1	1	1	1	0	0	1	.571
BATTING: 2B: Martinez (6), Wallace 2 (8), Lowrie (6), Johnson (7) HR: Buck (1) RBI: Rodriguez (1), Altuve (7), Wallace 3 (13), Buck (1) SAC: Rodriguez GIDP: Lowrie, Johnson
BASERUNNING: SB: Altuve (14), Bogusevic (4)

Miami Marlins
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mark Buehrle (L; 4-1)	5.0	8	4	4	0	1	0	3.35
Edward Mujica	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	3.86
Michael Dunn	0.1	3	1	1	0	0	0	3.48
Randy Choate	1.2	1	1	1	0	1	1	0.79

Houston Astros
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Wandy Rodriguez (W; 2-2)	6.0	8	3	3	0	4	0	3.48
Wesley Wright (H; 3)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3.29
Brandon Lyon (H; 4)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2.20
Brett Myers (S; 11)	1.0	3	2	2	0	2	1	3.97

Wandy Pregame.jpg
Wandy warming up in the first inning


Buck HR.jpg
Buck homering off Choate in the 8th


Summary: This game was an excellent matchup of two soft-tossing lefties in Buehrle and Rodriguez. Wandy got the better of the matchup as he stuck around for 6 solid innings of work before getting knocked out in the 7th inning by a couple Marlins hits. The bullpen made things close with Myers allowing a 2-R HR to Logan Morrison before closing down his 11th save in 12 tries, and his 10th in a row. Offensively, the club was led by Brett Wallace who went 3-4 with 3 RBIs. Travis Buck hit a pinch hit HR off Randy Choate in the 8th inning to put the game away for Houston.

May 11th:

Houston Astros at Pittsburgh Pirates
May 11, 2012	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Houston (18-18)	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	3	0	7	9	0
Pittsburgh (17-19)	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	8	0
W: Bud Norris (4-2) L: James McDonald (2-3)

Summary: Bud pitches a gem here, dominating the Pirates for 8.1 innings before departing in the 9th, he allowed 2 runs on 8 hits and struck out 7. James McDonald took the loss for Pittsburgh as he allowed 4 runs on 6 hits over 5 innings. He did strike out 7 batters though. Chris Johnson had 3 RBI in the game as he went 2-4 in the game. Alex Pressley homered for the Pirates in the loss.

May 12th:

Houston Astros at Pittsburgh Pirates
May 12, 2012	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Houston (18-18)	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	5	10	0
Pittsburgh (17-19)	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	11	2
W: Wilton Lopez (3-2) L: Joel Hanrahan (0-3) S: Brett Myers (12)

Summary: Both starters scuffled a little in this game, but the Astros get the win behind a JD Martinez homer late in the game. JA Happ pitched 6 innings of 3 run ball but got a no-decision. Joel Hanrahan took the loss for Pittsburgh, as he gave up 2 runs without recording an out. Pressley homered again for the Buccos in the losing effort.

May 13th:

Houston Astros at Pittsburgh Pirates
May 13, 2012	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Houston (18-18)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
Pittsburgh (17-19)	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	1	x	5	7	0
W: Erik Bedard (3-1) L: Jordan Lyles (1-2)

Summary: Not much to say here, Bedard 4 hits the Astros as he dominates them with 11Ks. Lyles gives up 3 runs over 5+ innings in a loss.

May 14th:

Houston Astros at Philadelphia Phillies
May 14, 2012	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	R	H	E
Houston (18-18)	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	13	0
Philadelphia (14-23)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	10	1
W: David Carpenter (2-1) L: Kyle Kendrick (1-3) S: Brett Myers (13)

Summary: What a game! The Phillies jumped out to a 2-0 lead behind RBI from Mayberry Jr and Orr. But the Astros battled back, Brett Wallace had a 2 RBI single in the 8th inning and then homered in the bottom of the 16th to give the Astros the lead for good. Cliff Lee and Harrell locked in and both allowed 2 runs in their time in the game. Harrell pitched 6 solid innings and Lee pitched 7.2. Kyle Kendrick takes the loss for the Phillies after giving up the longball to Wallace.

May 15th:

Houston Astros at Philadelphia Phillies
May 15, 2012	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Houston (18-18)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
Philadelphia (14-23)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	5	0
W: Antonio Bastardo (1-2) L: Wilton Lopez (3-3)

Summary: Wow...another great game against the Phils, but this time we get the short end of the stick. Wandy Rodriguez goes 8 scoreless innings, punching out 6 and earns a no-decision. Although, Roy Halladay gets the same treatment going 8 scoreless and punching out 11. Hunter Pence hit a walkoff homer off Wilton Lopez. The one positive for the Astros is the 2-4 game from 1B Brett Wallace, who continues to impress this season.




Who's Hot:
Chris Johnson- Batting .351 over his last 10 games with 5 RBIs
JD Martinez- Batting .361 over his last 10 games with a homer and 4 RBI
Wandy Rodriguez- 2-0 with a 0.87 ERA over his last 4 starts
Bud Norris- 3-0 with 1.24 ERA over his last 4 starts
Brett Myers- 10 for his last 10 in save chances.


Who's Not:
Jose Altuve- Hitting .186 over his last 10 games
Brian Bogusevic- Hitting .179 over his last 10 games
Justin Maxwell- Hitting .125 over his last 10 games


Minor League Tidbit: Mike Foltynewicz threw a no-hitter in AAA on May 15th, he shut down the Padres AAA affiliate with a 9 inning gem. He missed the perfecto by a lone BB, he also punched out 5 en-route to the win. This improves Foltynewicz to 1-1 since joining the Redhawks in mid-April, he sports a 1.67 ERA in his 3 starts since joining the Hawks.