[Unofficial 2017 ALCS] New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros

******* that was a fun game... there's nothing in houston like a sold out juicebox in the post season.

now lets take game 2! and preferably by more than 1 run

 

Man Yankee fans are confusing, they think this was a 'good' loss? Is there such a thing in the post-season lol?

 

I'm down for this lineup. Springer has GOT to get hits and get on base. He's the leadoff guy. That's his job. He's trying to hit home runs; just get hits. Bregman has absolutely earned that second spot. Gattis at 5th...I think I'd rather have Gurriel. Killer Gs. Gurriel, Gonzales, Gattis. Then Reddick and McCann.

 

So, Morton is starting Game 3.

 

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...stros-goes-game-1-wife-side-birth-third-child

Astros' Marwin Gonzalez goes from Game 1 to wife's side for birth of third child
2:07 AM CT

HOUSTON -- Marwin Gonzalez delivered the biggest play Friday night in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.

And then, his wife was ready to deliver a baby boy.

Houston Astros' 2-1 victory over the New York Yankees. After the game, he hurried out of a news conference and went to a local hospital to be with his wife, Noel, who was giving birth to their third child

"I am thinking of naming him Jose Altuve or Dallas Keuchel," Gonzalez said in Spanish, a reference to the Astros' All-Star second baseman and ace lefty, respectively.

Gonzalez, who said his wife was in labor, was escorted from Minute Maid Park by a security guard, but not before stopping to speak to a few family members.

With two outs, a runner on second base and the Astros leading by two runs in the fifth inning, Yankees slugger Aaron Judge lined a full-count pitch for a single to left field. Gonzalez fielded the ball, came up throwing and made a perfect peg to catcher Brian McCann to cut down Greg Bird, who had been running on contact.

"That was their best momentum in the game," Gonzalez said. "All I was thinking was to go get the ball as fast as I could since I knew he was on second and I knew that was the only chance to get a chance at home plate."

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GAME 3

Manager A.J. Hinch announced that Charlie Morton will start Game 3 and that Lance McCullers, a starter who pitched in relief in the ALDS, could pitch Game 4. The Yankees will start CC Sabathia in Game 3 and Sonny Gray in Game 4.

 

https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2017/10/13/16456274/houston-astros-alcs-mlb-postseason-happy-fun-team

The Astros are so joyful they might ruin my sports cynicism
Watching this team is refreshing and fun.
by Whitney McIntosh@WhitneyM02 Oct 13, 2017, 8:00am EDT TWEE

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Photo by MaddeMeyer/GettyImages
I’m a cynical person. Not constantly, but a decent chunk of the time. I get by on sarcasm and pithiness and expecting the worst. To put it succinctly, I’m a New Englander. This has worked out so far, mostly because it’s important to find a balance between a full-on cynical world view and appreciating the beautiful, uplifting, and happy parts of life.

But when it comes to sports, cynicism usually wins out. It’s easier that way, and not to bring Boston sports too much into this, but its pre-2001 history is definitely a part of why watching games with one eye on the negative is such a habit. Let’s make jokes and prepare for bad things to happen and neg our own players a little bit rather than earnestly watch a sporting event.

That’s not to say I don’t get excited about sports and there are of course individual games that give me nothing but warm fuzzy feelings, because I’m not a completely heartless sports fan. But most of the time I tend to fall into a cynical routine that has worked so far.

Watching the 2017 Astros has been the exact opposite of that.

I definitely realized it in the regular season, but watching the Astros for four games straight in the postseason drove the feeling home — this is a team that is so fun and joyful to watch that it makes me wish I could watch all sports this way.

It of course helped that the Astros were playing (and shellacking) my hometown team, the Red Sox, since it let me view the games through two at-odds perspectives depending on which half-inning we were in at any given time. The difference between my attitude watching the Red Sox (which could easily also be my attitude watching the Cubs or the Dodgers or the Indians) and my attitude watching the Astros is like night and day.

With the Astros, instead of expecting them to (or hoping for them to) succeed, there’s this sense of supporting each player and wanting them to succeed at all times. The team collectively emanates a feeling of “if you root for us, it will be wonderful even if we don’t win,” and I’m more than happy to oblige.

There’s Jose Altuve, who is a grinning, energetic bundle of “HECK YES” almost every time he sets foot on a field. There’s George Springer, who has always been a beacon of positivity but has really grown into his role as a leader on the team and has seen his profile rise this year. There’s Alex Bregman, who sometimes seems pleasantly surprised at his own accomplishments from game to game.

And that’s leaving out people like Carlos Correa, Carlos Beltran, Yulieski Gurriel, Dallas Keuchel, Marwin Gonzalez, and many more.

Every time a new young player does something awesome or unexpected (or is named Brad Peacock), it only makes me love them more and hope they achieve all of their dreams.

This isn’t the first team that’s made me more positive when I watch sports — last year’s Mississippi State women’s basketball team or Nashville Predators squad, to name a few recent ones — but it’s a reminder of the way that I wish I could watch sports all the time.

It’s freeing, watching baseball from this viewpoint.

This Astros team makes me wish my brain were wired differently, that my penchant for sarcastic jokes could completely disappear when I’m watching every sport, and that I were the type of person who took nothing but goodhearted fun away from each game. To live a life where snarky thoughts about a team aren’t the first thing to come to mind when I turn a game on, that would be nice.

It’s probably not going to happen. I’m set in my ways and for the most part I do enjoy watching sports this way. It’s still fun, and without taking the piss out of the game every now and then, it gets to be too much of the same. I can only muster so much energy for sincerity and earnestness.

But watching the Astros — who could very well go all the way this year — has opened a door to another universe where that’s not the case and watching sports is a completely pleasant activity where I don’t even have the urge to yell something sarcastic at the TV.

A world where the way I root for the Astros, uninhibited and without cynicism, is the way I consume all sports. It’s a great feeling.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Didi Gregorius and Carlos Correa make this the 1st postseason game in MLB history with both starting shortstops batting in the cleanup spot</p>&mdash; James Smyth (@JamesSmyth621) <a href="">October 13, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

So do the Yankees have momentum?

 

It's go time.

 

The game is at 3pm not 3am

 

I feel honored to have delivered a pizza to him (twice!) back when I was at UH two years ago. The second time Marisinick was there too lol

 

That post had zero to do with Keuchel. Nice to know the rent is free in your head though.

 

Wow, great game. Reminded me of '04/'05 - elite pitching & timely hitting got the job done. Marwin's throw...wow. I love the defense.

Bullpen really really scares me. Seems like there's no faith, and rightfully so, in anybody other than Giles. By the ASG I was thinking a Harris/Devenski/Giles rotation to close out games would be beastly. Would like to see McCullers groomed to be a 7/8 inning RP for these Playoffs.

Just a side note that I'm sure has been discussed, how the hell is Yuli not getting more of the limelight? Dude is tearing it up out there, he's been incredible this entire Postseason.

 

I see you were just waiting for the opportunity to post that. You must live an exciting life.

I won't go back on anything I've said about Hinch. Astros have won in spite of him, not because of him. Everyone knows that.

Just because CLE got eliminated doesn't mean they aren't better coached. They did have more RS wins than us if you really want to use winning as your barometer.

 

Josh Reddick on Justin Verlander

""He knows how to come in and handle his business and his routine. He doesn't talk to anybody and you don't want to talk to him, because you don't want to throw him off and make him mad. For me, it's pretty simple: Just leave the starter alone and pick on George [Springer]."

Hilarious.

 

Game 2. Lets go stros. Take care of business

 

Didn't you keep calling him "cuckel"

 

Springer is batting 0.350 with a 0.435 OBP in postseason. He's no Altuve, but I can live with that from a leadoff guy.