By DavidKaye
After losing tonight to the Reds 4-2, the Astros lost their tenth game in a row.
It's hard to imagine that a lineup loaded with so much power and talent could go eleven days without a victory. Since defeating the Texas Rangers on May 19th, the Astros were swept by the Giants in a three-game series, swept by the Diamondbacks in a four-game set at Chase Field and have now lost the first two games of their series at home to the division rival Reds.
On Sunday, May 20th Houston was shellacked by their interstate rivals 14-1, and since then they have been unable to resolve their struggling offense and mediocre pitching. Only twice during their eleven game slid did the offense manage to score at least four runs and on five occasions they scored one run or less.
Hitting coach Sean Berry must be scratching his head and wondering what do I need to do differently to get my players out of their funk. It's not everyday that all-stars like Craig Biggio, Carlos Lee and Lance Berkman, and rising stars Hunter Pence and Luke Scott fail to drive in runners.
Manager Phil Garner was quoted as saying ''there's no question we're not swinging the bats well. It's a team wide-funk.'' The ten straight loses by his ball club are the most since 1995 and if they are not able to right the ship in a weak division Garner's job could be on the line.
Owner Drayton McLane expects a winning product on the field and he has spent the necessary money to make sure the Astros' are a winner. It wouldn't be a shock to see general manager Tim Purpura get the axe if his team doesn't start to improve their play.
