RMJ 105 May 30

FRIDAY, MAY 30 ● Houston, vs San Diego

I sent José Cruz out with the lineup last night, but tonight he lost the magic touch. The Pads ripped Chris Holt for six runs in three-and-two-thirds innings, and San Diego went on to crush us 9-2.

The wheels started falling off in the second, when Bagwell got picked off first. The crash came in the fourth.

Down 2-0 against rookie Will Cunnane, we were still in good shape when we started playing giveaway.

With a runner on first and no outs, Biggio booted a double-play ball. Then Cunnane hit a fly ball down the right-field line. Thomas Howard got to it, but he missed it. That was bad enough, but he made it worse by not chasing it down. He thought it was foul, but that’s no excuse. Cunnane ended up at third, and we were down 4-0. 

Archi Cinafrocco doubled, and Tony Gwynn singled. I brought Ramón Garcia in to replace Holt, and Steve Finley hit a home run that made it 7-0. If we had played good defense, it would still have been 2-0.

Bagwell drove Biggio home with a double in the bottom of the frame, but Cunnane stiffened, and that was it. They scored a couple more runs off Garcia, and we got one of Tim Worrell.

The loss was discouraging, because we were hoping to regain some momentum on the homestand. At least we have Shane Reynolds going tomorrow, and he is due for a good game. I hope he rises to the occasion, because the bullpen is spent.

 

Gerry came down after the game to air his frustration; I couldn’t blame him. He wants a corrective interview with Howard tomorrow, and I agree that the time has come to speak up.

Tank has not been giving us a good effort. I don’t know if he has given up hope of starting a lot of games, or if he is just not as good a player as we thought he would be.

We have already learned that our scouting reports on Pat Listach were faulty. He was supposed to be an offensive catalyst — a guy who could hit for average and steal bases. His defensive ability was the only question.

As it turns out, his defense, though shaky, was good enough if combined with good hitting and baserunning. We may never know about the baserunning, because he hasn’t hit well enough to get on base.

No player could fall as far as he has in one year. The only explanation is that the scouting report was way off.

As for Howard, we have no excuse. We have both seen him play a lot the last few years, and he has played well on offense and defense. We don’t remember him being so big; it’s not as if he’s fat, but he is definitely not as fast a runner as the guy we thought we were getting.

I have some confidence that he will start hitting better. But I fear he will be a liability in the outfield, unless he loses some weight and gains some footspeed.

Gerry wants to start holding early workouts to practice fundamentals, like we do at spring training. I think this is a good idea, but I believe we should start it as a once-a-homestand routine instead of as a punishment for losing.

At any rate, I have a sense that the pressure is building.

 

The loss was especially disappointing in that we had a large crowd watching. Those who may have been casual fans will not be back — and that hits Drayton in the pocketbook, where it really hurts.