Russ Ortiz takes the hill for the Astros tonight in game 2 of this series with the Mets. After an eventful six days before the All-Star Break where he got rocked by the Giants for 8ER in 5.2IP on July 4, and then got yanked after 3IP against Washington - and subsequently ripped Cecil Cooper - Ortiz threw another quality start, his third in five starts. Let's see how it rolls out:
Last three starts:
| Date-Opp | IP | H/ER | K:BB | GB/FB | Pit/Str |
| 7/4 @SF | 5.2 | 9/8 | 7:5 | 8/10 | 111/63 |
| 7/9 vWAS | 3 | 6/4 | 1:2 | 6/6 | 68/36 |
| 7/19 @LA | 6 | 5/2 | 4:2 | 11/7 | 104/64 |
Let's do the splits:
vs Righties: 45x153, .294/.379/.418, 26K:18BB
vs Lefties: 36x145, .248/.351/.386, 33K:23BB
When swinging at the first pitch (26): .333/.360/.792, 5XBH
After First-Pitch Strikes (161): .257/.331/.347, 42K:14BB
After First-Pitch Balls (160): .277/.400/.392, 17K:27BB
RISP: 17x75, .227/.294/.293, 17K:5BB
Runners on: 38x138, .275/.346/.391, 29K:13BB
2OwRISP: 10x36, .278/.366/.389, 12K:4BB
'09 At MMP: 3-3, 3.61 ERA/1.51 WHIP, .262/.369/.366 against
Career vs. NYM: 9-7, 5.20 ERA/1.56 WHIP, .270/.361/.461 against
Jon Niese
Niese will be making his 6th career start, third of the season and first since May 13, tonight. He walks in with a 5.91 ERA/1.50 WHIP.
Last two starts:
| Date-Opp | IP | H/ER | K:BB | GB/FB | Pit/Str |
| 5/8 vPIT | 6 | 7/2 | 5:0 | 10/10 | 95/67 |
| 5/13 vATL | 4.2 | 7/5 | 5:2 | 8/7 | 73/48 |
Let's do the splits, albeit with a limited sample:
vs Righties: 6x24, .250/.296/.375, 6K:2BB
vs Lefties: 8x19, .421/.421/.526, 4K:0BB
When swinging at the first pitch (7): .571/.571/.714, 1XBH
After First-Pitch Strikes (24): .304/.333/.391, 9K:1BB
After First-Pitch Balls (16): .231/.267/.385, 1K:1BB
RISP: 5x11, .455/.417/.545, 2K:0BB
Runners on: 8x20, .400/.400/.550, 3K:0BB
2OwRISP: 1x4, .250/.250/.500, 9K:8BB
