Those of us who actually watched the Astros during the regular season know that Sipp should've been pitching from the beginning of the 8th inning.
Because he is not a good manager, and he will make SAME mistake in near future. Already has 2 loses under his belt for screwing the bullpen. If the game is a 1 run game in the 5th, we are going to lose, we have a bad manager on hand.
The guy makes some gutsy calls and some head-scratching calls. Some times they work, sometimes they don't. Obviously it didn't this time. It really sucks and I was yelling at the TV as well. BUT the season isn't over. If the astros win on Wednesday, all will be forgiven.
I don't generally call the manager out on issues that are hindsight, but I was screaming for him to bring Sipp out to start the 8th. I don't trust Harris much at all right now and certainly not after having to sit in the dugout for half an inning.
I'm going to whine about it all day (and night). That was 100% Hinch's fault. I don't like to overreact to stuff like this, but he just cost the guys a trip to the ALDS. That's grounds for dismissal IMO. Maybe I'll feel better tomorrow, but he did NOTHING to prevent that comeback. You don't wait until the bases are loaded with no outs and ask guys to bail you out. That's ridiculous.
I have to admit, that was pretty piss poor managing. In July, you might leave the guy in after 2-3 straight hits. In the ALDS clinching game, you HAVE to have a quicker hook. The pressure these guys are under makes leaving a guy in under those circumstances an EXTREMELY questionable decision at best.
I am so disappointed with Hinch today. I felt like he put in Harris in the 8th because he thought he had this game wrapped up. Who does this!!! This is not little league, it should have been Sipp in the 8th. Everyone who has seen this team all season could have made this one call.
So the royals 12 pitch at bats had nothing to do with the loss, it was all because sipp didn't start the inning? Got it.
Same. Harris got out of the first inning he pitched, but he didn't look good doing it at all. I was not confident about him coming back in. And there's no room for a reliever to "find his groove". A relief pitcher has to come in and shut guys down because he's only going to be pitching a short time anyway.
To add to that thought... I don't know why Hinch waited until Harris was getting shelled before he pulled him.
Hinch is just not that good. In close games he can't be trusted. With a more capable pen things would be better but key mistakes by Hinch have prevented the Astros from already wrapping up this series. The Astros could have very possibly swept the Royals by now if Hinch had made smarter moves.