crawfish boxes wants to know where the hell was bagwell -- 5 for 15 career vs izzy, with 6 walks and 1 strikeout -- in the bottom of the 9th last night. the guys at the birdwatch are wondering, too. bags could've pinch-hit for brad ausmus with one out and runners at 2d / 3d; a single makes it 5-4 and brings the lead run to the plate. or, after ausmus' sac fly, he could've hit for astacio, with essentially the same opportunity. instead garner let ausmus swing for himself and then pinch-hit jose vizcaino. did he give his team the best chance?
| WHO HIT | bats | season | career v izzy |
|---|---|---|---|
| ausmus | r | .258 av, .682 ops | 2 for 11, 1 hr, 0 w, 3k |
| vizcaino | sw | .246 av, .636 ops | 5 for 12, 2 w 2 k |
| WHO DIDN'T | bats | season | career v izzy |
|---|---|---|---|
| bagwell | r | .250 av, .733 ops | 5 for 15, 1 hr, 6 w, 1k |
| palmeiro | l | .284 av, .772 ops | 2 for 9, 2 w 0 k |
i'm guessing that garner let ausmus hit for himself because brad hit a game-tying dinger off izzy a month ago. and the rationale for vizcaino? he's 5 for 12 vs is'hausen. trouble with that line of thought is: ausmus and vizcaino are both bad hitters. who cares what they've done in 10 ab vs is'hausen? you've got two good hitters -- bagwell and palmeiro -- sitting on the bench watching two bad hitters make the last two outs of the game. i feel your pain, josh; 'nother favor the astros rendered unto the card'ls.
as for izzy's performance, it wasn't that bad -- nobody hit the ball particularly hard off him. but he did yield the run, and if he's called on to hold a one-run lead later in this series i don't have great confidence.