There may be a way for Jamey Wright to look at the Houston Astros and see the light.
All he has to do is get down on his knees this morning and thank goodness baseball has gone to an unbalanced schedule. Barring a trade, Wright will not have to face the Astros again this year.
Mercy. Wright can be pitching well as he’s about to face the Astros, or he could be pitching poorly. He can dominate when he faces them or he can get his face handed him. None of it matters. When Wright pitches against the Astros, Houston never has a problem.
The Astros whipped the Rockies 11-5 on Monday night before a crowd of 21,877 at Coors Field. The outcome snapped the Rockies’ four-game home winning streak and extended Wright’s losing skid against the Astros to 12.
As in 0-12 lifetime.
Think Susan Lucci through her first 18 Emmy shows, or the Broncos’ defense against Peyton Manning. Against the Astros, Wright can’t win.
No pitcher since 1969 has suffered more losses against a team without a victory. The Dodgers’ Don Sutton started his career 0-13 against the Cubs, but he wound up pitching 19 more seasons and winning 324 games, so he obviously got over it.
The Astros may be getting close to inflicting a permanent psychological effect against Wright. The 15 hits he allowed Monday were the most in his career and tied a Rockies club record.
Naturally, two of those hits – an RBI single and two-run homer – were driven from the bat of Lance Berkman. Lifetime, Berkman is 14-for-24 (.583) against Wright with three homers.
