Astros 7, Dodgers 6

The boys made four errors, two by Delwyn Young, and DY could have been charged with TWO errors on one of them, a grounder that he bobbled, then threw away, allowing Miguel Tejada to get all the way to second leading off the third inning. He wound up scoring an unearned run to put the Astros on top to stay. There was also a series of plays that weren’t made and double plays that weren’t completed. Ivan DeJesus bounced a throw to the plate trying to cut off a run on a bouncer with the bases loaded. Russell Martin threw a ball into center field, leading to another unearned run. After the game, Larry Bowa had some pointed comments.

On the game
“We made errors, and you can’t make errors. You can’t give the other team 32 outs. You can’t do it.”

On DY, who presumably is a lock to make the club as a fifth OF because he is out of options, but is now hitting .121 for the spring, with 13 strikeouts in 33 at-bats
“Young is not an everyday player, but he has to get better than he’s doing, I know that. He isn’t swinging the bat, and he isn’t making plays, and you have to do one or the other.”

On Blake DeWitt, who has no chance of making the club but is now hitting .333 for the spring after going 3 for 4 with a triple and his second HR of the spring, plus a walk
“He is swinging the bat good, no question. Other guys are getting opportunities and not doing anything about it. He is getting opportunities and showing he is legit.”

I think Bowa is going to have a MAJOR impact on this team that goes WAY beyond deciding whether to hold runners or wave them around. He’s going to be fun to cover, too.

Dodgers fall to 6-9-1. Tommy falls to 0-3 and isn’t hiding the fact he is seriously bummed about it. This temporary managerial stint isn’t something he is taking lightly, and as long as Bowa is around, the players had better not take it lightly, either.

Home against the Cardinals tomorrow.