On Saturday, the Astros offense took a major blow. Carlos Lee suffered a broken pinkie finger which will require season ending surgery. Today, the Astros pulled off a four game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds which puts them one game under .500 as they return to Texas for a seven game series against the San Francisco Giants (49-66) and the Arizona Diamondbacks (60-58). If the Astros have any thoughts at clinching a Wild Card......

It's that time of the year again, Houston. This year's mid-summer classic will take place in historic Yankee Stadium as two Astros and two Houston-area products will be showcasing their talent at the 79th All-Star game in The Bronx. Lance Berkman: The Big Puma is New York bound and will be making his fifth All-Star game appearance, but his first as a starter. Berkman has been on-fire all season long and has been a......

One day after Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon went Latrell Sprewell on GM Ed Wade, the team announced today that they are parting ways with the disgruntled pitcher by placing him on waivers. If Chacon goes unclaimed, the Astros will terminate his contract and more than likely ending his MLB career. For those of you that have been living in a closet, Chacon was told yesterday to meet in manager's Cecil Cooper's office before the......

All of the sports world is in envy of Boston fans today. Since October, the New England area has had the Red Sox (MLB), Patriots (NFL), Revolution (MLS) and Celtics (NBA) make their respective league championship game and two (Red Sox and Celtics) have won the title. It's rare and quite an impressive feat. Houstonist takes a look at Houston's sports teams and sizes up their chances at bringing home some hardware. Houston Astros:......

On June 5, the Houston Astros selected Stanford's Jason Castro, a catcher, 10th overall in the first round of the MLB Amateur Draft. This year has been a dream season so far for the Stanford junior. Along with leading his team to the College World Series, Castro is one of the best catchers in the nation who is sporting a .372 AVG with 12 HR's, 16 doubles and 68 RBI. The durable Castro has......

The Rice Owls won their Super Regional game against Texas A&M (6-5) at a sold-out game on campus last night. That's right, baby, we're headed to Omaha! Although, one hopes that the Rowdy Owls will tighten their game between now and the first game of the College World Series; last night's difficult win over the Aggies yielded six errors for the Houston institution. Seems that Rice coach Wayne Graham is a little conscious of those......

He's fast. He's agile like a cat. And he's the National League Player of Month. Lance Berkman's torrid May garnered the Texan the award for only the second time in his career. Berkman had a May to remember. He hit .471 (49-for-104) with nine home runs, 11 doubles, 22 RBI and 31 runs scored. The Big Puma had a 17-game hit streak during the month and also tied the Astros franchise record by tallying......

The Rice Owls took care of business on Sunday night by bouncing the Texas Longhorns back to Austin with a 7-4 win at Reckling Park. The Rice Owls now advance to the Super Regionals next weekend in which they will host as they await for the winner between Houston and Texas A & M tonight at Olsen Field in College Station. After being destroyed 22-4 by the Aggies on Saturday, the Houston team bounced......

It's official. Your great city of Houston is the baseball capitol of America. How many other cities can say they have three colleges in the NCAA Regionals? None! The action gets started Friday as Texas Southern, the University of Houston and Rice, all prepare for their journey to Omaha, Nebraska, home of the College World Series. Texas Southern is the surprise of the bunch. On the season, the Tigers were 16-32, but they won......

You name it, Brad Lincoln won it. 2006 was a very special year for the University of Houston All-American. He became the first UH and C-USA player to win a national player of the year award. He led the Cougars in wins (12) with a 1.69 ERA and 152 strike outs. He also belted 14 home runs and led UH with 53 RBI. He was the fourth overall pick to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Brad......

If you're like Houstonist, then you can't wait until Monday for the Houston Astros, MLB's hottest team, to return to Minute Maid Park. So what are you going to do until then? You're going to pack your bags and truck it on up I-45 to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington to see your beloved Astros this weekend, that's what! This will be the eighth year for the annual Lone Star Series with the winner taking home......

For the second time in three weeks, Lance Berkman was named National League Player of the Week, presented by Bank of America, for the week of May 5-11. Berkman, who continues his Triple Crown chase, put up staggering numbers last week. Berkman's .682 AVG (15-for-22) was tops among MLB hitters. He also had two home runs, four doubles, 10 runs scored, a .741 on-base percentage and a mind boggling 1.136 slugging percentage. Berkman also......

What's better than going to Minute Maid Park and watching your red-hot Astros!? Watching the game with an all-you-can eat wristband, that's what! For the first time in the ballpark's history, Uncle Drayton has decided to catch on to a trend that other ballpark's have found successful. For only $35, you will receive a game ticket for section 434 with an all-you-can eat wristband to a designated Thursday game of your choice in which......

Five in a row. Eight straight home wins. 12 wins in their last 16 games. If you haven't been out to Minute Maid Park recently, then you're missing quite a show. The surging Houston Astros are one of the hottest teams in baseball and their being led by some clutch hitting by a mean sandwich called B.L.T. (Berkman, Lee and Tejada). Lance Berkman, also known as Big Puma, 'cause he's agile and fast like......

Astros first baseman, Lance Berkman was named National League Player of the Week, presented by Bank of America, for April 20-27. The Texas native continued his torrid 2008 start by putting up massive numbers. Berkman hit .455 (10-for-22) with four homers and 12 RBI, which lead the league. Berkman also hit safely in six of the seven games he played in. While in Cincinnati this past week, Berkman torched the Reds on April 24......

The day was April 27, 1983. The location was Olympic Stadium in Montreal. 25 years ago today, Nolan Ryan struck out Expos pinch-hitter Brad Mills for his 3,509th of his career to break Walter Johnson's all-time strike out record. 1983 was an interesting year for the coveted mark. Phillies legend Steve Carlton wasn't too far behind Ryan for the race to the mark. Ryan would reach it first, but Carlton would pass Ryan on......

Since last week, Miguel Tejada's age jumped to 33 from 31 when he admitted he lied about his age when he was 19 so he could improve his chances of playing big league baseball. But the age change doesn't seem to be affecting him; he's playing like he's a rookie with fire and something to prove. The newest Astro shortstop is punishing the National League with a .360 AVG and 19 RBI and his......

Wandy Rodriguez's home dominance continued on a beautiful day at Minute Maid Park on Sunday as he pitched seven strong innings while giving up only one earned run and leading the Astros past the Marlins 5-1. Rodriguez (1-0, 2.33) breezed through the Florida Marlins line-up with his only hiccup being a Josh Willingham home run in the fourth inning. In two home starts at Minute Maid Park this year, Wandy has given up only......

The Astros' season is in full swing, and no one is swinging more than Hunter Pence. Good grief, Spaz, if you're going to be the number 2 hitter, you might want to be a little bit selective. We can't wait for Kaz Matsui to get off his aching butt and take over the job he was signed to do. Here's what the blogs are saying about our hometown teams and sporting events: - Apparently, there......

Oh, man was it an ugly road trip, 2-5 to be exact. But don't be so hard on them, they did face All-Star pitching in Jake Peavy, Chris Young, Greg Maddux and Carlos Zambrano, that's no walk in the park. But now it's time to put that in the past and focus on the now. Your Houston Astros return to Minute Maid Park tonight for their 2008 home opener. Things get kicked off today......

With two outs in the ninth inning and facing MLB's all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman, Lance Berkman was well aware the Astros were just moments away from an 0-3 start, but he didn't let that happen. Hoffman delivered a fastball to Berkman on a 3-1 count and he smashed it to deep center field for a three-run home run to give the Astros a 9-6 win. After a stagnant showing of one run in......

What's that you say? Opening Day was yesterday? The Astros lost to the Padres? Pssh. In our world, the Astros' season doesn't begin until the boys in red win a game. Which could mean that "Opening Day" may not happen until mid-month. Regardless, Houston is pretty much a baseball town, even when the Astros are facing a rough season ahead. Assuming that you want to keep track of the ups-and-downs of the hometown boys in......

The Astros' spring training schedule in Florida wraps up today with a game against the Toronto Blue Jays, and then the team returns to Houston to play a weekend series against the Detroit Tigers before Opening Day on Monday in San Diego. The weekend's festivities will include the annual Fan Fest, which will feature autograph sessions, a baseball card & memorabilia show, and a bunch of opportunities to get up close and personal with the......

Well, the Streak is over, but the Rockets' chances of a top seed in the West are still intact. Will they be able to pull it out in the first round with all this momentum behind them? The Astros' rotation is almost set, but can Woody Williams find enough juice for one more season? Will the Texans' roster needs be met via free agency or next month's draft? All these questions (and a few answers)......

Top o' the afternoon to ya! We always have trouble with Irish accents; we always either end up sounding Scottish or like a pirate. But regardless, the Rockets' streak poses an interesting conundrum, especially if you plan on getting sauced tonight: do you talk about the streak (potentially jinxing it) or refuse to even acknowledge its existence (which makes you seem like kind of a jerk). The choice is yours. Here's what the blogs are......

Rice baseball is coming off a sloppy-but-entertaining win (7 runs, 5 errors) yesterday vs. Creighton (and their magical AMBIDEXTROUS PITCHER...we ain't kidding, folks.) After yesterday's experience of excited crowd, tasty hot dog, gorgeous weather, and slight sunburn, we're not sure anything until conference play could make for as exciting a day at Reckling... ...except for tomorrow, of course, when UT comes to town to attempt to avenge their defeat in the College Classic at Minute......

As the Astros start their Spring Training schedule today in Osceola County, the college baseball season has been underway for a couple of weeks now. The annual Houston College Classic returns to Minute Maid Park this weekend as one of the premier regional showcases of top-level NCAA baseball. Starting on Friday and continuing through Sunday, the Juice Box will be host to an almost non-stop flow of games. The teams participating in the tourney are:......

Just when you thought that the return of actual baseball would distract us from the off-season drama, a Congressional committee has taken the first steps toward starting a criminal investigation of Roger Clemens on a charge of perjury in his testimony about whether or not he used HGH and other steroids. But what about McNamee? Thusfar, he's home free: a draft letter that mentions Clemens--and only Clemens, not his former trainer--was drawn up by the......

Spring Training is the time for all things to be made new, for minor league farmhands to have their shot at the big league club, for mid-career players to reinvent themselves, and veterans to try to hang on for one more year. As the Astros assemble the position players who will come off the bench in 2008, there are some familiar faces, one very home town name, and a lot of unknowns. As we did......

A week after the pitchers and catchers arrived, the Astros' position players are due in Kissimmee today. Some, including Hunter Pence, Michael Bourn, and Kaz Matsui, have already arrived to get a jump on the rest of the team. Others, like focal point Miguel Tejada, arrived on time today. Like we did with the pitchers and catchers, we'll take a look at the guys out in the field and see where things lie. We'll start......