It was a nice hit on a low pitch brah... Acting like the Red Sox destroyed the Astros. Just days after sweeping the defending AL champs and the team with the best winning percentage at the time.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hinch: "We have a new series, new city tomorrow, new strike zone."</p>— Brian McTaggart ⚾️ (@brianmctaggart) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianmctaggart/status/617821598486274048">July 5, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Well, not Houston. It sucks that the one guy he was brought in for (Ortiz) worked him for a walk. It's what good hitters do (foul off pitches and basically shrink the strike zone to a microcosm of what it was). Hinch had two options at that point... Leave Sipp in or bring in Neshek. Big panda being on deck also likely played into his thinking. And in the end, Hanley one arms a pitch at the ankles for a game winning HR. Beyond frustrating, but not earth-shattering. Also beyond frustrating includes Chris Carter both ways... But with Singleton up, at least they have the option to sit him more some.
Strike Zone was consistent both ways. Sucks losing this series, Stros almost had it. The last games 2 really sucked. Buchholz hadn't pitched a complete game all year. Then, the bullpen serves it today. Tough series, but Astros can quickly make a mends starting tomorrow.
frustrating series, esp the 2 losses. But the talk of issues suddenly being exposed is silly. The need for a SP continues to be highlighted, though. Lance is going to have days like this. I'm really excited that he got through 5 even on a really tough day.. but I wish Kazmir was in the rotation as well.
Going back to June 7, our bullpen aside from Gregerson has been really bad overall. I'm not the type that just ignores unearned runs. Neshek 6 R 10.1 IP Harris 5 R 12 IP Sipp 6 R 10.2 IP Fields 6 R 12 IP Qualls 4 R 4.1 IP Now before this rough stretch, Neshek, Harris and Sipp were all significantly outperforming their FIP. I'm hoping this is just regression, and not these guys starting to suck. I'm not ready to panic just yet. I still like our bullpen, even Sipp who has become the new whipping boy with Qualls gone. This is a situation that needs to be watched though. If it hasn't stabilized it may become a trade deadline issue.
There's not enough guys in the lineup making steady contact. It's top heavy with sluggers and many of those are on the downward curve right now. The need for another starting pitcher is evident. McCullers and Vasquez are great talent, but are throwing way too many pitches. Straily doesn't look ready. I think our bullpen is decent in the later innings, but with our starters issues finding the strike zone are being asked to go more innings than they they need to. Singleton just seems overkill in this lineup. Pitching is a priority, but I'd like to see them look at a solid on base bat in the order as well.
IIRC, this is our 3rd loss this season when hitting multi-HRs First 2 were @CHI during those 7 straight losses Astros will be okay. Bullpen just needs to improve a little. Not as good as earlier, just better than recently. Correa's bat can offset Springer, but we need one more hitter to step up. Lowrie's return is soon but where will he play?
He'll be the utility guy that Marwin was most of the season, playing third and first primarily, with the occasional days at 2nd and SS to give Altuve and Correa breaks.
The lead was down to 1.5 games during their 7 game losing streak. Directly after that, they pushed it back up to 5. Unless you're trotting an All-Star pitching rotation out there, it's very difficult to not let your division lead waver. I'm actually thrilled that we're 6 days into July with a multiple game lead. I was afraid we would have relinquished the lead by now.
Was never really worried about the Rangers... but unfortunately, the team that is most expected to win the division (Angels) is getting hot right now (around the same time they've gotten hot in previous seasons), while the Astros just lost their best run creator for an extended stretch (excluding Correa who is on a rapid pace to take over that title).
And I think Boston's issue is more pitching, not necessarily offense (especially in Fenway). What astounded me... did Ortiz-Ramirez-Sandoval bat *every* inning? It sure felt like every time they put a runner on, those three came up.
