Can the Astros score?
Houston lost star players Jeff Kent and Carlos Beltran in the offseason, and Jeff Bagwell was injured. It showed, especially early. In the April 18 game against the Braves in Houston, the Astros squandered seven scoreless innings from Clemens and lost to the Braves 1-0 in 12 innings. The Astros began June with a 19-32 record. After the All-Star break, Braves manager Bobby Cox said, “They kept the same pitching, but they started hitting.” The offense has been better — particularly in the past month, when the Astros were fifth in runs scored in the NL. But it’s still not great. The Astros finished the season 11th in the NL in runs scored and 14th in batting average. Eyes wide open The Braves have used a remarkable number of young players this year and will count on several of them — particularly Francoeur and left fielder Ryan Langerhans— in the playoffs. How will the rookies react to pressure? “We are young,” third baseman Chipper Jones said. “We’re not going to play five games of perfe
