Owen White gave up 3 runs in one inning for the Rangers tonight to bring his season ERA down from infinity to 162.00…becoming I'd guess the first pitcher ever whose ERA dropped after giving up 3 runs in an inning.

Meanwhile Dana Brown is figuring what trade package to send to the Rangers to make White our 7th inning guy.

Marvin said:

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I didn't listen until the last inning. How do you guys think Julia did in the booth?

I just heard her homerun call of, "Say goodbye to that ball, y'all!" I mean, I've heard much worse.

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I think Julia could get a huge network job anytime she wanted to, but has stayed loyal to the Astros because it's been such a great ride.

Marvin said:

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I didn't listen until the last inning. How do you guys think Julia did in the booth?

I just heard her homerun call of, "Say goodbye to that ball, y'all!" I mean, I've heard much worse.

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She did fine, but did not make anyone forget TK.

Overall, she did better than I think most expected. More dead air than normal, but I assume that was the producer in her ear giving her cues and helping her out. Once she got past the first few innings, she seemed much more comfortable and at ease.

It was fun to explain to my daughter what was going on and why she was calling the game. Great publicity for the team, and a great opportunity for her.

The voices of TK, Blummer, and Julia are as much a part of the golden era of Astros baseball as the players. Soundtrack of summer!

1-3 inning Julia was terrible. Super nervous.

6-9 inning Julia was solid. I enjoyed her calls for big moments.

I think if she put the work in and got a shot she could do it a fairly high level.

tjack16 said:

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So Bregman has been hitting well in the 6 hole. Odds Espada moves him back to cleanup or rolls with what is working?

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You leave his ass right where it is. Don't mess with good juju. Do it again tomo, boys.

Dusty thinks Breggy should rest tomorrow.

This is starting to get fun!!!! Breggy back, JV showing up a lot in the dugout, lets f***ing do this!!!

Farmer1906 said:

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1-3 inning Julia was terrible. Super nervous.

6-9 inning Julia was solid. I enjoyed her calls for big moments.

I think if she put the work in and got a shot she could do it a fairly high level.

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I agree with this.

She's already better than Jessica Mendoza.

Marvin said:

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I didn't listen until the last inning. How do you guys think Julia did in the booth?

I just heard her homerun call of, "Say goodbye to that ball, y'all!" I mean, I've heard much worse.

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We have had much worse. Need I remind everyone of Brett Dolan and Dave Raymond?

Asked if there's a correlation between Alex Bregman's better swings and his move down to sixth in the batting order, Joe Espada replied "well, he's not going to stay down there very long, once we start seeing the Bregman that we all know."

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) May 14, 2024

I would say if it ain't broke, don't fix it...

Space City sunsets@stellarbanktx x @MinuteMaidPark pic.twitter.com/WtIUcAbihe

— Houston Astros (@astros) May 14, 2024

New mythical creature unlocked: Headband Bregman pic.twitter.com/Wh2TYHMp8f

— JoJo-Hot Cheeto (@jojo_blzza) May 14, 2024

Another recent team who started 16-25 in their first 41? The 2019 Washington Nationals.

Porkchop's Astro Shanks Report 5/13/2024

Score: Astros 9, A's 2
I Knew It Was Over When: Bregs hit his first bomb, literally seconds after I told my daughter he was having a bad year.

Record: 16-25 (.390)
Pace: 63-99

To go 81-81, ya gotta go: 65-56 (.537)
To go 90-72, ya gotta go: 74-47 (.612)

In one crazy night, Alex Bregman:
Triple his HR count for the year (1 to 3)
Raised his batting average 17 points (.201 to .218)
Raised his slugging percentage 63 points (.264 to .327)
Increased his RBI count by 31% (13 to 17)

Oakland A whose name is almost a Stephen King novella: Shea Langeliers, one letter off from the creepy airplane/airport story The Langoliers, about the people who time travel slightly and see the monstrosities that consume time after the present is over.

Later turned into a really, really bad TV movie starring Dean Stockwell cashing a check, David Morse aka General Hummel's #2 guy from The Rock, and Bronson Pinchot aka Balki Bartokomous. If you ever want to see the very worst special effects and some of the worst acting that ABC-TV could buy in 1995, please check out this YouTube clip. If you can't wait, the really bad CGI starts at the 3 minute mark.



Two guys with terrible records and ERAs pitched great? Spaghetti gets his first win with 5 IP, 5 H, ER; Ross Stripling gives up 2 ER and 4 hits in 5 IP and gets his ERA from 6.15 to 4.98.

Breggy Bombs: His 2 home runs break a tie with Glenn Davis and give him 168 for his career, 7th-most in Astro history. His double oddly broke a tie for 7th with Bob Watson, He now has 242.

Hit Parade: Altuve had 1 hit, giving him 2,099 for his career, tied with Brian Downing for #237 all time. Downing was huge for the Angels in the late 70s and early 80s, particularly in '82 when they won the West.

After 18 years with California, he signed with Texas in 1991 and they often batted him leadoff while DHing at age 40. My parents and I had taken 2 road trips to Arlington to see Nolan Ryan pitch in 1990, and had scheduled another one in early 1991. On a Saturday in mid-May, it looked like we were going to have tickets to the game of the year - Rangers / Red Sox with Nolan scheduled to start opposite Roger Clemens. Clemens came into the game white-hot, 6-0 with a 0.73 ERA and three 10-K strikeout performances. But alas, Nolan got hurt and went on the IR, so we settled for Rocket vs. Kenny Rogers.

On the first pitch in the bottom of the first, 40-year old Brian Downing was sitting fastball and turned around on Clemens for a solo home run that just shocked the hell out of the whole ball park. Downing singled off Clemens in the third that opened the floodgates to a 4-run rally. The Sox closed to 5-4, but int he sixth inning the Rangers lit him up some more, and scored 8 runs off him and a reliever. Clemens gave up 9 runs on 13 hits to take the loss. Downing went 4 for 5. As with most AL games of the time, it lasted 8 hours and the temperature in Arlington was 375 degrees.

Winners of 4 out of 5 with our MF ACE on the bump tonight

B(urkas)OFA

I don't usually check my TexAgs-appointed email much, but this is my secondary reply from moderation on the Bingo thread disappearing twice last week. Definitely think twice before you post anything or start a thread that might hurt any DFW feelings, because the writing is very much on the wall about tendencies at this point.

These 2 emails are completely unedited.

To: Texags Moderator

EDIT: ALL HAIL GLORIOUS LEADER

GO STROS!