Kazmir went 3-2 on like 4 batters in a row, was wild in those at-bats, and then to start the inning I think the count was 2-0 and then ultimately gives up the double. There were plenty of signs he needed to be pulled. I was ok with it at the time. He appeared to be teetering although up to that point he had done quite well. I don't think Hinch was trying to protect him from losing. I think he was seeing what we all saw... That Kazmir has lost some control.
It's crazy how people are glossing over those little facts... Kazmir was definitely laboring. Add to the fact that in 8 postseason starts he's never recorded an out past the 5th inning and the notion of leaving him in makes even less sense. To think Perez was a much worse option than Kazmir at that point is pure fallacy. Would I have preferred Fiers over Perez? Possibly, but Fiers as a LR is a total unknown commodity and Perez actually made solid pitches.
Sometimes things just don't go a team's way and they lose. The two hits Perez gave up were unfortunate and it was just the Royals inning. Hosmer had no business swinging at that pitch and certainly no business blooping it into the perfect place. Stuff happens.
Astros going scoreless the final SIX (6) innings didn't help. So far this postseason, Astros have won 2 games by 3 runs each. Then we lose another 1 run game. It's a repeat of the regular season in which our W-L didn't match our run-diff. Hopefully "stuff" happens in the Astros favor.
Keuchel just needs to be Keuchel Then we put the royals backs against the wall Love our chances here I would have much rather seen Fiers come into the game than Perez/Fields. Fields is kind of getting a free pass here because of the two strikeouts, he did walk in the tying run. In any case...we got a split, and have a guy who hasn't lost at home pitching at home GO ASTROS!
In 3 games, no one's W-L matches their run differential. That's something you can look at over a ton of games...not 3. You can't look at the postseason and say it's a repeat of the regular season because the team happened to lose a 1 run game. That's just silly
Good article on Hosmer's AB vs Perez and that 0-2 pitch: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/the-mo...n-their-series-with-the-astros-034333457.html Bad luck happens, and you just tip your hat to the other guy.
There's nothing far-fetched or inaccurate about what I said. Stros basic blueprint this season has been win comfortably or lose by 1 run. This postseason, regardless of sample size, has been a continuation of exactly that.
enough negativity, let's close these sons of beeches out. a no hitter from dallas and a two hitter from lance should do it.
Great post. People expect the world when this team wasn't even projected to make the playoffs at the beginning of the season. I'm so stoked with this team right now. Can we make some offseason adjustments? Sure, but it's been a great ride so far, considering we had almost blew it in September. I still believe we can beat the Royals. It's the Rangers I'm afraid of.
Astros' 1-run record is not actually too terrible (21-29 vs an expected 25-25). There are some teams with absurd ones - Toronto (15-28) and Pittsburgh (36-17) - that probably reflect on the team itself, but the ones closer to 0.500 like the Astros are more likely just a bit of good or bad luck.
Of course we can. It's a 3 game series now, with the first 2 at home and the best home pitcher in baseball going in Game 1. Bring it.
The Astros stole the first game. That's all they needed to do. Going to Houston up 2-0 is just asking for too much.
No more negativity... We are vs. a team who could have won the WS last year. Let them play. We took 1 out of 2 in KC and while it's not mission accomplished... we have Keuchel on the mound for Game 3. That's a damn good chance to be up 2-1 if he brings his stuff and we can score some runs. Go Stros.
It doesn't take much understanding of the game to understand that pitching away with the shift on vs. a team who's consistently capable of hitting opposite field but more importantly for that game IS hitting opposite field is a recipe for disaster. And we got the result we got. Next time, hopefully they do a better job of managing when you put the shift on. In the meantime, are you the guy who invented the shift? Related to Hinch? Because you defend it/him like you are.
Pitchers don't "pitch" to the shift. They just pitch, and the results much more often then not work out in their favor. Anybody that has been paying attention all year realizes this. Plenty of baseball guys hate the shift, but those that pay attention know it's working, it's the reason the entire league is doing it. Trying to poke singles the other way is a recipe for failure because singles don't beat you, and most guys don't have the bat control to begin with. It only worked yesterday because Perez gave up a very poorly hit blooper that would have been a hit against a standard defense, and they walked 2 people.
