Tuesday, August 16, 2011

It's a Walkoff!

There haven't been a lot of reasons for Astros fans to have reason to celebrate this year. On track for their worst season in franchise history and having traded fan favorites Jeff Keppinger, Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence over the past month, the Astros have been difficult to watch. Losing seven straight games heading into play tonight certainly didn't help matters any. The Astros have gone with a youth movement, bringing up several players (Jose Altuve, J.D. Martinez, Jimmy Paredes) straight from AA as they look to build for the future. And while the future may be bright (or at least brighter), the present is pretty dismal. But that made tonight's dramatic victory over the Chicago Cubs that much sweeter. Brian Bogusevic delivered a pinch-hit walkoff grand slam off of Carlos Marmol in the bottom of the 9th to deliver the Astros a 6-5 victory over their NL Central rivals. The former first round draft pick and converted pitcher who has seen his playing time increase with the departure of Pence and Bourn sent a 2-2 fastball off of Marmol over the centerfield fence to give the Astros the walkoff win, just their 4th win in the month of August. It was just the second home run of Bogusevic's brief Major League career and it provided at least a brief moment of joy in what has been an otherwise disastrous season in Houston.

Photo Credit: astros.com

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