Bridge Ball

3-Run Luck
Jimy Williams could well be on thin ice this year if the Astros don't get off to a hot start. He sure showed that he might be well on his way to helping it along. With the Giants looking up at a three run deficit in the eighth inning, Williams watched Roy Oswalt give up singles to both Ray Durham and Michael Tucker around a JT Snow strikeout.

With Oswalt nearing the 100-pitch mark and Barry Bonds coming up in the top of the 8th, you’d think time to go to the best bullpen in the NL, right? Yeah, not really. First pitch Bonds sees he tomahawks a line drive into the right field bleachers. Tie game. A three-run homer.

And yes, you’d have to imagine that Williams knew that there was indeed a base open and a three-run jack would tie the game. Bonds only had three three-run homers last year, and they all came with a significant run difference in the game. As a matter of fact, Bonds had almost as many walks (38) as he had at bats (45) with two men on last year. Let the second-guessing begin.

After F-Rod gets the Astros out in order, Octavio Dotel comes out and premieres as the team’s new closer. He promptly pegs Tony Torcado in the foot on a curveball. After a sacrifice bunt by Durham, Dotel loses control of another curve, pushing the runner to third base. Snow golfs a low fastball for a flyout to right, the runner tags, 5-4 Giants.

But the Astros also had some bad luck on opening night. Both Craig Biggio and Jeff Kent were called out for making contact with a batted ball outside of the box. Kent’s was exceptionally painful, coming with two outs and the bases loaded and Kirk Rueter looking like he might be toast. Mark it in your scorebook as 2-unassited.