April 8: St. Louis Cardinals-0 Hits, 2936 Total Hits

By Robert H. Kelly

Biggio and the Astros faced the St. Louis Cardinals in the final game of their three game series. Biggio has lead off the Astros batting order in all six games this season and is batting .273.

Biggio first at bat was in the bottom of the 1st inning. He faced pitcher Kip Wells, grounding out on the 5th pitch. Here are the pitches he took:
1: ball
2: ball
3: ball
4: called strike
5: grounded out on a throw from third baseman Scott Rolan to first baseman Albert Pujois.

NOTE: Houston Texan Mario Williams, President George Bush, and Barbara Bush were sitting in the stands behind the plate. The Bushes are big baseball fans; Bush played at Yale, while Barbara was the official scorekeeper.

Biggio second at bat was in the bottom of the 3rd. He was still facing Wells. He took four pitches. Here are the results.
1: called strike
2: foul
3: ball
4: struck out swinging

His third at bat was in the bottom of the 6th, batting second in the inning. Wells was still pitching, and Biggio faced five of his pitches.
1: missed bunt
2: ball
3: swinging strike
4: ball
5: struck out swinging


Biggio 4th and last bat of the game was leading off in the bottom of the 9th. He faced relief pitcher Josh Hancock.
1: called strike
2: ball
3: swinging strike
4: struck out swinging

The Astros lost the game 10-1 to the Cardinals and are now 1-5 for the season.

Biggio's hits today: 0 hits
Biggio's total career hits to date: 2936

NOTE 1: Today's attendance was 36,743. Not bad for Easter Sunday. The attendance has averaged 37,000 for the first six games.

NOTE 2: Brad Lidge pitched 2/3 of an inning in the top of the 9th giving up 5 runs off 3 hits with two walks. The game was already over by that time, but after his sub-par performance on opening day, manager Phil Garner may want to think about keeping Lidge as his reliever.

I will post some thoughts about this on the main TexSport Publications blog. Look there for my comments.

The Astros will travel to Chicago for a three games series against the Cubs on Monday-Wednesday, followed by a day off on Thursday.

They then face the Philadelphia Philles in another three games series before returning home on Monday, April 16 for two games against the Florida Marlins.

All the games against the Cubs will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net (television) and 740AM (radio).