Backe to Make Rehab Start for the Express
By Mark Fagan, 2:59PM, Tue. Aug. 7, 2007
Astros fan favorite and Galveston native Brandon Backe is on the road to recovery after undergoing Tommy John ligament replacement surgery last year and will make his first appearance with the Round Rock Express tonight as they battle the Salt Lake Bees. Backe gave up three runs on five hits, four strikeouts, and two walks in an Aug. 2 start for the Corpus Christi Hooks and will hopefully be in the Astros' starting rotation as soon as Sept. 1 in Chicago. With off-season acquisitions Jason Jennings and Woody Williams struggling in their first year at Minute Maid the Astros could certainly use another arm to assist ace Roy Oswalt and the recently impressive (at least at home) Wandy Rodriguez.
Backe is 19-14 with a 4.71 ERA over five major-league seasons. He is also handy with the bat sporting a career average of .227 (62 points higher than Jason Lane's current .165 average). Time to kick Lane to curb and give Round Rock's Tim Raines Jr. a shot in the bigs. Raines is currently batting .346 for the Express, is a serious threat on the base paths, and can't really do much worse than Lane, can he?
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barndon backe, tim raines jr., roy oswalt, wandy rodriguez
