It's a pipe dream expecting Strasburg or Scherzer to pull a Yu Darvish. Astros offense were never going to put up big numbers against them. Unfortunately they pitched in 4 of the 7 games and the Nats got just enough timely hits against our aces (and our 'better' bullpen).
Uh......0-6 in the WS. Verlander, as it turns out, is way overrated; and his pitching gave us two losses in the WS. JV and his feminist wife should relocate to a commie state; they would be happier there. And we would be happier with them there.
This was a collective effort in blowing a World Series at home(save for Greinke who was terrific), but Hinch is gonna get a lot of heat over the next year probably all the way through the next postseason(assuming the team gets there). Literally every decision he made from the 7th inning onward blew up in his face: Pulling Greinke(a move I was fine with) Bringing in Harris(a move I was NOT fine with after Game 6) Bringing in Osuna in the 7th(a headscratcher, but I get that he needed to get out of the inning) Leaving Osuna in the 8th(a really dumb decision after what happened in Game 2 vs the Rays) Bringing in Smith and Pressley(this was inexcusable to leave Cole in the bullpen when you desperately needed to keep the deficit at 1 run) Leaving Marisnick in the 9th spot in the 8th(I know he got a hit earlier, but Tucker should've pinch hit) I know hindsight's 20/20, but given that virtually everyone is scratching their head about why Cole wasn't brought in for Greinke, this ain't about Monday morning quarterbacking. The fans are just smart enough to know that Harris isn't infallible. If Game 4 of the 2015 ALDS doesn't still haunt you, Game 6 on Tuesday night oughta be enough of a reminder. You need two outs in the 7th. You're past Rendon and Soto, the two most dangerous hitters in that lineup. Get the next two guys out and you've got the 7-8-9 hitters due up in the 8th. Cole could easily deal with them. Now the 9th would've been a b-tch, no doubt. You've got the top of the order up and maybe Cole is out of gas at that point. You'd likely have to turn to Osuna with a 2-1 lead which is no guarantee. But at least you've got a good shot at closing the deal instead of finding yourself down 4 runs and pretty much out of it.
This one still stings. So much hope for the Astros on becoming a dynasty. I felt uneasy when they were leaving RISP. Opportunities were there to leave a cushion. Then taking out Grienke after he had a couple of mistakes was okay but not to bring in Will Harris. I was thinking either Urquidy (what we all talked about as coming in for Game 7 if Grienke wasn't pitching well) and Cole were better options. Good thing is, the Astros still have the talent to make it to the WS the next 2 years. I just don't want them to be the one hit wonder team even though they have won more games each year since 2017. No one will care about that if there's only one championship. I have to go into a sports blackout for a little while. Next year they need to just handle business. Don't talk about being a dynasty, who could be the WS MVP, or blacking out in front of fans "if" you win. Just take care of business.
Baseball is a funny sport, wouldn't surprise me if the Nationals don't even make the postseason next year like what happend with Boston (NL East is going to be a bloodbath now that the Mets and Phillies improved)
14-1 for the Nats? I guess they're thinking Rendon and/or Strasburg are gone. I tweeted last night that the one consolation from this is if the 2020 Astros pull a 2014 Spurs. Play the following season from day one with a chip the size of Mount Everest on their shoulder for blowing a world championship they had in their grasp. The parallels are there too. Pop who's normally the best coach in the game made the still-to-this-day inexplicable move of pulling Duncan late when they needed to secure defensive rebounds. I hope we see the same from the Astros. Hinch, the pitching staff(sans Cole and Miley, I assume), and the entire lineup need to remember the pain of this loss and use that as motivation to ensure they never experience that feeling again.
Will the Nationals even ****ing make the playoffs next year? Surely we can take Strasburg from them and we'll be right back in it next year
The Astros were playing with fire all postseason with the way they were stranding runners. Frankly, they were lucky to escape the ALCS. It's easy to forget, but Game 2 was barely eeked out in the 12th inning. Had they lost that one, that series was over. At best they were coming home down 3-2 and there's no way Hinch would've pitched a bullpen game in Game 6 in that scenario. He would've gone with Cole on 3 days rest. Then who the hell knows what happens in Game 7 if you get there? And let's not forget the Astros even coming home up 3-2 barely made it out of Game 6. It took that 2-run walkoff by Altuve off of Chapman to avoid Rondon pitching in the 10th inning.
Eh, Marwin had his fair share of outs at the plate. Hell, the big hit he's remembered for was a solo shot with no one on base.
And going in that series their two best pitchers were Tanaka and Paxton (ERA+ of 100 and 116). fml if the Yankees actually get good starting pitching this offseason.
I just hope Cole doesn't go there. I can live with him on the Angels. I don't think he makes enough of a difference with that roster. He'd put the Yankees over the top though. Ideally, he'll go back to the NL. Then we'd avoid him all season til the World Series.
I remember the week before playoffs Stros playing Angels they were 1 for 17 in RISP fighting for home field advantage.
