That was the other angle I wanted to ask about - I followed the ball to 1st and looked back to see Correa on the ground and Marwin did not look happy; he was... "on" Bogarts. So any talk of the slide being illegal? I think the issue was Correa labored to get to 2nd. You give them the "in the area" swipe - but he was stabbing at it and that has to be more definitive, IMO. Would've ended inning, right? They scored 1 after that? Man, this is why repeating is so hard... You look at... 2-3 plays - Bregman's near bomb in game 2; Altuve's non-HR; Correa missing the bag - we're talking about literally inches being the difference (well, maybe feet with Bregman's) in the series.
I really try not to second-guess managers - they have soooooo much more information than we do. Having said that, James was very obviously gassed and while I won't argue what Hinch should have done with him - he definitely needed a mound visit to assess his physical/mental state. The way he was walking around the mound...... he was spent.
I think Hinch pulled Morton way to early. I also thought he should of pitched him third in the rotation. .
I didn't hear any talk about the slide being illegal. You're right...tiny little things that add up. Plays that get made on one side, but not the other. i think about all the defensive gems that we made last year in the ALCS....and see the Red Sox making those same kind of plays this year. As soon as Bregman's shot to left was caught I thought to myself, "Last year, that ball bounces in front of the diving fielder and rolls to the wall..but not this year." Of course, all that could shift tonight.
Same thought, last year Alex would of got a triple out of that play instead Boston making all the plays.
morton never looked comfortable yesterday. whether that was bc of all the time off or still injured. probably a combo of both but he definitely was very shaky with alot of pitches.
Eh. Morton wasn't terribly effective and James was terrific in relief, given the circumstances. I think Hinch's two biggest blunders so far, are 1) trying to extend his pen by "sneaking" an inning from Joe Smith; 2) being - it sure seems - out of touch on James, who was (IIRC) going through the line-up the 3rd time and should've been more closely watched.
I mean, if you give me... - and I'm not even exaggerating here - 12? 15 inches last night - Altuve's HR, Correa's non-tag, and Bregman's last at-bat all go our way. That's the difference, right now, between 2-2 and 1-3. And, this Boston team - which I did not have much regard for - reminds me *a lot* of the 2017 Astros. Their line-up has been relentlessly patient and clutch. I don't think it's a coincidence they're managed by a key player from last year's team.
it was definitely rust. He hasn't pitched in a while for sure. That's why I wanted him to pitched him third in the rotation he would of remove all the rust pitching in the Cleveland series.
Don't forget George's almost catch against Vazquez. A couple of inches over and that's safely in his glove and Bradley never comes up to hit his bomb.
I agree with you. Betts had to do several things perfectly that play - range over to the ball, field it clean, pick it up and make an absolutely perfect throw. He did all of them. Off the bat, it looks like extra bases as it looks headed to the Corner. Also, it wasn't the ninth inning. It's not really a no brainer to take no risk trying to advance because if you can get one run in the inning you put a lot more pressure on Kimbrell in the ninth down 2 instead of 3 and getting to second helps your chances with that. Taking second also keeps you out of the Double Play. It wasn't as if Kemp tried to force the issue on a ball hit in front of Betts or close to him. Betts closed on that ball ridiculously quickly. It was an amazing defensive play.
Question on the HR call which is probably interpretational, but nevertheless - I think the consensus is that Betts and the fan were parallel to the wall. Or at the very least that you can't clearly tell if the fan is over the wall or if Betts is over into the stands, so by process of elimination you conclude they were parallel (i.e. in the NFL the ball was perfectly sideways and thus a true lateral). Based on the MLB rules, doesn't a fan have to clearly be in the field of play for interference to be ruled? In other words, if it's a tie situation (parallel) wouldn't the correct ruling be to not assess fan interference?
Yup. There is no margin for error but the Astros are very capable of winning the next 3. I would say there is like a 25% chance the Astros do it.
Random thought here but really wish Gattis didn’t completely suck behind the plate. Sick of Maldanado and McCann...they aren’t even helping defensively at this point.
