Going through boxes of old stuff at my parents' house, I came across a scorecard from a random game from one of the worst seasons in Astros history...you know, until recently. It was not a particularly interesting game, and the Astros lost. There is almost no reason to revisit this game 12 years later. So, here we go.
June 6, 2000. Astros v. Twins. 7:05 at (still) Enron Field. Jose Lima v. Eric Milton.
Game started rather inauspiciously. Biggio led off with a single in the first, and was promptly bunted over to second by Julio Lugo. Really, Dierker? The first inning? He was promptly stranded. Eric Milton took an early exit and was replaced in relief in the 3rd by Johan Santana, in his rookie season. Milton was not exactly in trouble early, so I'm not sure why he left.
The Astros scored the first run of the game on a Biggio walk and Caminiti double in the 3rd inning. They would threaten again in the 6th, but stranded Bagwell on 3rd. Lima was dealing, and took a shutout into the 8th inning, where things began to unravel. After Jacque Jones and Midre Cummings reached with only one out, Lima was replaced by Yorkis Perez. After a fielder's choice by Christian Guzman allowed Jones to score, Perez gave up a double to Matt Lawton and a single to David Ortiz, allowing 2 more to come home. Everyday Eddie Guardado closed the Astros out in the 9th, and the Twins won 3-1.
Lima took the loss, falling to 1-8, with Perez earning the blown save. Santana got the win. It looks like it might have been Santana's first big league win, so that's kind of cool. I still left unhappy. The Astros fell to 21-36, on their way to a 90 loss season. I still don't understand how this team, with Biggio, Bagwell, Alou, Hidalgo (in his 44 HR season), Berkman, Caminiti, etc. lost 90 games. Maybe Lima at 1-8 had something to do with it. There would be better times ahead. There will now, too.
