The Agony and Ecstasy That is Dom Brown

Does anyone else find it odd that the Phillies can not beat the Houston Astros?  This team  lost 106 games last year, but for some really strange reason, the Phillies do not seem to perform well against the Astros.  There has been some player swapping between the two teams, but no trades that were so lopsided as to engender a curse.  In lieu of having a rational response, I will blame my least favorite Phillie of this era; Brett Myers.

In today’s game, Brett did not appear, but the Phillies still fell to the Astros on a walk off three run homer in the tenth inning.  Cole Hamels started the day and did what Cole Hamels does.  He was opposed by Livan Hernandez, who throws the kind of dreck that has the ability to send the line-up into a tailspin.  Both pitchers threw well with Hernandez handing the Houston bullpen a 1-0 lead.

After a bevy of nameless relievers appeared in the game, the score was tied 3-3 entering the top of the tenth inning.  Earlier in the game, Domonic Brown misplayed a ball in left field leading to an Astro run.  As the second hitter in the tenth, Brown atoned for his defensive lapse by smashing a solo home run into the wind and over the right field fence.  Offensively, Brown should be the everyday left fielder.  Defensively, he should not.  We have become accustomed to clay footed left fielders who generally catch the ball when it is hit to them.  Domonic can run, throw and do a bunch of other things that do not include him taking good routes to fly balls.  I have chosen to ignore that he can’t catch the ball and instead I am focusing on him smashing the hell out of the ball at the plate.

The Astros managed to win the game on a Brian Bixler three run home run in the bottom of the tenth.  Somewhere Brett Myers is laughing.

Tomorrow, Roy Halladay takes on Jason Marquis and the Minnesota Twins.