Monday's starter for Houston, Tim Redding, is a right-handed finesse pitcher & average ground/flyball guy. He's run hot and cold this season and has been mediocre this month.
No Pirate hitters have much of a meaningful record against Redding. Kendall's 1-for-14 at Enron whatever this year and usually he hits pretty well there so I anticipate a correction.
Josh Fogg, our right-handed finesse guy, leads the Pirates. Fogg has been generating more ground balls this season and you have to wonder if that's one reason for his recent success.
The big story tonight might be Daryle Ward's return to Enron Orange Juice Park. His career numbers there are better than the rest of his career numbers: .282 / .328 / .479 with 22 doubles and 14 home runs. The Astros were disappointed with his play in his 27th season; 2002 was his second straight "down" year after a most promising 2000 season. They dealt him for Ruddy Lugo - months before running his brother out of town for some off-the-field allegations - to Los Angeles in January 2003. The story then was that Ward was underachieving, the Astros wanted to reduce payroll, and Craig Biggio was going to play centerfield. Hunsicker's remarks at the time must have been irritating:
``I'm disappointed that we're not going to see him reach his full potential in an Astros uniform,'' Houston general manager Gerry Hunsicker said. ``He is still a young player with great talent, and I hope this opportunity will be positive for his career. We certainly wish him well.''Ward proved him right, however, with his poor play last year in Los Angeles. Like Ruben Mateo, Ward has a chance to fulfill the considerable potential most people saw in him as a young man. It would be a great story if he plays this well all year, and it would provide Pirate fans with something to consider when they see Jose Guillen blossoming years after leaving the Bucs as an underachieving prospect.
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