The Pecan Park Eagle

Constellation Field, Sugar Land,10/17/05: Fans arrived early for last night’s Game Three Contest between the 1888 Houston Babies and the 2005 Houston Astros in the Time Warp Series.

GAME THREE: ASTROS @ BABIES, MONDAY, 10/17/05, 7:30 PM

CONSTELLATION FIELD, SUGAR LAND, TEXAS

ASTROS EDGE BABIES IN 10; 7-6 WIN GIVES THE SPACE GUYS A 2-1 SERIES LEAD OVER THE TIME TRAVEL CLUB

An SRO crowd of 8,500 rabid fans showed up to support the Time Warp Series at Constellation Field last night. They were treated to a roller coaster scoring game in which both starting pitchers, Marie “Red” Mahoney of the 1888 Babies and Roy Oswalt of the 2005 Astros each got roughed up for 4-run innings in the top of the second and the bottom of the third innings. Both starters pinched well, otherwise, but neither survived late enough to be involved in the W/L decisions. With the Astros leading 5-4 in the bottom of the 7th, Mahoney was lifted for pinch hitter Marc Hudec. With the score still rolling at 5-4 ‘Stros, Babies slugger Alex Hajduk got both Mahoney and Oswalt off the decision hook by homering to left as the lead off batter  in the bottom of the 9th. The long home run tied the score at 5-5, chased Oswalt for Qualls, and sent the game into a 10th and deciding inning.

Taveras, Biggio, Ausmus, and Oswalt all had 2 hits each for the Astros in Game Three; Holland and Stevens had 2 each for the Babies. Chad Qualls (1-0) got the Astros win; Tony Cavender (0-1) took the Babies loss.

The two clubs meet again tonight, 10/18/05, in Game Four at Constellation Field. Mike “Piano Legs” McCroskey takes the mound for the Babies, hoping to even that 2-1 deficit that now favors the Astros. Brandon Backe gets the call for the 2005 Astros.

Here’s how the scoring went in Game Three by Inning (In these line summaries, each new batter is preceded by the “*” sign; outs (1) (2) and (3) are shown in parentheses as they occur; changes of pitchers are noted in bold type; and the new score is indicated in parentheses after each run crosses the plate and again, at the end of the half inning time at bat):

Top of Second: Astros batting, Marie “Red” Mahoney pitching ~

* J Lane strikes out (1); * M Lamb drops bloop single into LF; * B Ausmus walks; M Lamb moves to 2nd; * A Everett reaches 1st on E6 throw by SS J Disch; M Lamb to 3rd; B Ausmus to 2nd; bases full of space creatures; * R Oswalt drops looping opposite field single to RF; M Lamb scores from 3rd (Astros, 1-0) and B Ausmus scores from 2nd (Astros, 2-0); A Everett goe from 1st to 3rd; R Oswalt holds at 1st; * W Taveras singles to LF; A Everett scores from 3rd (Astros, 3-0); R Oswalt stops at 2nd, holding W Taveras at 1st; * C Biggio lines out hard to RF (2); runners hold; * M Ensberg hits towering fly ball to deep CF; K Burns drops it for an E8 play that allows R Oswalt to score easily from 2nd (Astros, 4-0), but W Taveras is retired 8-5 on play at 3rd (3); side retired; (Astros, 4-0).

Bottom of Third: Babies batting, Roy Oswalt pitching ~

* B Stevens doubles into the RCF gap; * R Mahoney singles into the hole on right side with infield playing in for the sac bunt; Red fools ’em; B Stevens scores from 2nd (Astros 4 – Babies 1); R Mahoney holds at 1st; * J Disch lashes third straight hit as an opposite field poke to RF; R Mahoney holds at 2nd; J Disch stops at 1st; * B Hale’s blooping bunt land safely; R Oswalt’s only play is 1-3 for the sac out (1); R Mahoney moves to 3rd; J Disch moves to 2nd; * P Holland lashes a 4th opposite field hit to right past C Biggio; R Mahoney scores from 3rd (Astros 4 – Babies 2); J Disch scores from 2nd (Astros 4 – Babies 3); P Holland holds at 1st; * LJ Miggins batting; P Holland steals 2nd; LJ Miggins lines a ball into the LCF gap, easily scoring P Holland to knot the game (Astros 4 – Babies 4); LJ Miggins holds at 2nd with a double; * A Hajduk strikes out (2); * K Burns flies out to L Berkman in LF (3); side retired; (Astros 4 – Babies 4).

Top of Sixth: Astros batting, Marie “Red” Mahoney pitching ~

* B Ausmus singles up the middle; holds at 1st; * A Everett strikes out (1); R Oswalt retired on a 3-1 sacrifice bunt (2); B Ausmus moves up to 2nd; * W Taveras drops a bloop single to RF; B Ausmus scores from 2nd (Astros 5 – Babies 4); W Taveras holds at 1st; * C Biggio batting: W Taveras out 2-6 on steal attempt at 2nd (3); side retired; (Astros 5 – Babies 4).

Bottom of Ninth: Babies batting, Roy Oswalt pitching ~

* A Hajduk crushes a home run to deep left – it is soon spotted flying over Missouri City, on its way to Pearland; (Astros 5 – Babies 5); Astros Manager Phil Garner pulls starter Roy Oswalt; Chad Qualls is now pitching for the Astros; * K Burns walks; * R Pena lashes a line drive out to 3rdbaseman M Ensberg (1); K Burns is at 2nd, having left early on the hit and run; M Ensberg retires K Burns on a quick 5-3 toss to 1st for the double play (2); * B Stevens strikes out (3); side retired; (Astros 5 – Babies 5).

Top of the Tenth: Astros batting, Tony Cavender pitching ~

* M Ensberg strikes out (1); * L Berkman walks; E Bruntlett enters the game as a pinch runner for L Berkman at 1st; * J Lane batting; E Bruntlett steals 2nd; J Lane doubles down the left field line, scoring E Bruntlett from 2nd (Astros 6 – Babies 5); * M Lamb draw an intentional walk; J Lane holds at 2nd; Babies Manager Bob Dorrill replaces Tony Cavender on the mound with reliever Ira Liebman; * O Palmeiro enters the game as a pinch hitter for B Ausmus; O Palmeiro lines a double into the RCF gap; J Lane scores (Astros 7 – Babies 5); M Lamb stops at 3rd; O Palmeiro holds at 2nd; * A Everett draws an intentional walk to load the bases and set up the double play; * C Qualls strikes out (2); * W Taveras strikes out (2); side retired; (Astros 7 – Babies 5).

Bottom of the Tenth: Babies batting, Chad Qualls pitching ~

* M Hudec doubles into the RCF gap; * R Martin grounds out 6-3 (2); Hudec stays at 2nd; * B Dorrill flies out to CF (2);M Hudec holds at 2nd; * P Holland singles to right; M Hudec rounds 3rd; J Lane makes E9 wild throw home; M Hudec scores on the error (Astros 7 – Babies 6); P Holland takes 2nd on the bad throw and now represents the potential tying run;  * LJ Miggins is retired on a 6-3 ground out (3); side retired; game over; (Astros 7 – Babies 6).

Social Note: Rumor has it that the headless time travel guest who accompanied Ichabod Crane through the time portal to watch this Series in our general time and space dimension may be planning to stay. We’re told by reliable sources that the unusual fellow was seen signing an earnest money contract for a nice grassy spread next door to the George Ranch. Speculation is that the land will have something to do with raising or riding horses. If any of these rumors prove to be  true, Sugar Land residents need to heed this advice: Next Halloween, folks, be careful what you wish for.