Oscar Villarreal News

First it was Runelvys Hernandez. Now it's Dave Borkowski. Both are singing the praises about Round Rock pitching coach Burt Hooton.

Righthanded reliever Oscar Villarreal, who is in the first season of a two-year contract that guaranteed him $3 million, was designated for assignment by the Astros on Wednesday.

Astros starting pitcher Roy Oswalt walked off the mound due to a left hip abductor strain after making his warmup tosses prior to the seventh inning Monday in a 4-1 win against the Dodgers.

Before an altercation cost him his spot with the Astros, Shawn Chacon was to be Houston's long-outing reliever.

Former Longview Lobo baseball standout Chris Davis made his Major League Baseball debut tonight in the Texas Rangers' Interleague game against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.

Box HR: MIL- R.Branyan , M.Cameron , J.Kendall , C.Hart HOU- C.Lee , M.Tejada , T.Wigginton Houston Bottom 6th - Reggie Abercrombie doubled to left.

Astros manager Cecil Cooper expects Wandy Rodriguez to be ready to pitch in Wednesday's game in St.

San Francisco Bottom 8th - Wesley Wright enters the game for the Astro`s with a runner on first, two out and John Bowker due up.

Los Angeles Bottom 9th - Jeff Kent grounded into a double play, pitcher to short to first to end the game.

Miguel Tejada singled in the go-ahead run in seventh Wednesday and Brad Ausmus added a two-run homer, giving Houston a 6-3 win over San Francisco. via UPI

“I think they started to figure out that I was predominantly throwing sliders in trouble situations, especially in the sixth inning, and they seemed to start reaching out over the plate and hitting the ball up the mid- dle.”

After thrilling Minute Maid Park crowds for five consecutive games with dramatic comeback victories, towering home runs and an exciting brand of baseball, the Astros were rather ordinary Thursday night. via Houston Chronicle

“The first two innings, I was getting ahead of hitters and wasn't able to put them away”

Bench coach Jackie Moore also reminded the right-hander of what got him to the majors. via Fox Sports

The Astros vaunted offense collected ten hits last night. Unfortunately, they only converted those ten hits into three runs. via Houston Press

Houston Bottom 6th - Kazuo Matsui singled to left. Runners on first and second with none out and Miguel Tejada due up. via Austin American-Statesman

“It woke them up a little bit, I guess”

Brandon Backe isn't sure if his bat provided the spark the Astros needed Saturday night against the Milwaukee Brewers. via Houston Chronicle

“Pretty soon here I'm going to settle on something”

The eighth inning belongs to Doug Brocail. That was made clear as soon as he broke out of his spring training slump. via Houston Chronicle

The Astros have reached the first mile marker of the 2008 season -- the end of month #1 -- and it's time for review, rants, raves and remarks. via Houston Chronicle

The talented and bright Sally Gunter of the Astros' media relations department just e-mailed this interesting note. via Houston Chronicle

“He's got to step up a little bit”

Looking for a way to spark his offense, Astros manager Cecil Cooper shuffled his lineup for Saturday's game against the Rockies. via Houston Chronicle

Astros left-hander Wandy Rodriguez and manager Cecil Cooper both left Saturday night's game earlier than expected, Rodriguez in the fourth because of a sore groin and Cooper in the eighth because he was sore at ... via Major League Baseball