Well, if they lose tonight and get (sorta) swept, then that is somewhat embarrassing. But that's very different than being "the biggest embarrassment of the league," or whatever the phrase was.
Boston's entire pitching staff is running on fumes. The matchups still heavily favor the Astros, regardless of where they play these games.... but they're going to have to execute better pitches against this Boston lineup.
He was egregiously not even close, and I saw it even in real time. Just a weird combination of timing where he was trying hard to get both outs. I'm not going to give him any grief. Replay is one of the reasons you have to touch the base now. Well, it's the always-looming eye to make sure you do. Which is good. I think the main reason close enough used to cut it, though, was because runners were allowed to try to slide to take out the guy turning the throw. So, in the spirit of letting that poor guy get the hell out of the way, sweeping past the base was good enough. Now runners have to slide into the base, so that's not an issue anymore.
Nope, there is not. Looking back, they really had them on the ropes in game 2... and then their offense came to life and they gained confidence while likely the Astros pitchers started either trying to get too precise or too cautious. They haven't really had any clean innings since game 1.
Brian McCann better be in the freaking lineup tonight. Do not overthink this Hinch. Against Price he is 11-32 (.344) with 3 HRs and 8 RBI for a 1.007 OPS. Maldonado is a total zero at the plate and is just 3-15 with a .517 OPS against Price. Maldonado's defense shouldn't be as big a factor since JV presumably will keep guys off base anyway. It's not like his defense has been that great this series anyway. Having an automatic out in the lineup is just inexcusable. I'm all for bringing in Maldonado for late inning defense after the Astros have secured a lead.
With all that said, I would run out this lineup tonight: 1. Bregman 3B, 2. Springer RF, 3. Altuve 2B, 4. Correa SS, 5. Margo LF, 6. Gurriel 1B, 7. McCann C, 8. Gattis DH, 9. Kemp CF
I'm still irrationally angry at Tyler White for not swinging the ****ing bat on a 2-2 count in that situation. YOU HAD ONE JOB!
I just gave a presentation at work on complex crap, and I'm about to meet with our Chairman. Not great when you're running on 4-5 hours of sleep and no coffee. And I'll do it all again tomorrow. **** Boston
Their offensive discipline has been otherworldly. It feels like the Astros hitters against Darvish last year. I'm rarely the tinfoil guy, but is there any chance we're tipping pitches or they're stealing signs?
@Nick @Houstunna Astros hungry ? Does this relationship with Corra hurt us? Meaning the team doesn’t want to disrespect his guys. I really feel like we are treating games like a regular one and corra is giving all out Bobby Cox. Maddux in the 16th.
There is no doubt in my mind Cora being our bench coach last year has given the Red Sox an advantage.
They may be running on fumes, but we're not making them pay for that. I don't think we'll get the chance tonight. I fully expect the Red Sox to all but concede the game if the Astros jump out to an early lead and Verlander has it going. They'll save their bullpen for Game 6 since the travel day gives them another day to rest.
His extra knowledge really hasn't helped them against our best hitters, including Correa. They got to Cole early/often... but Cora never worked with him last year. They probably do a better/seamless job of knowing when to change the signs/signals based on Cora's knowledge on how the Astros hitters process those... whereas Cleveland was having mound meetings galore and subsequent cross-ups/passed balls due to all the necessary switching.
Eventually, they do pay though. The Dodgers had a similar trend of bullpen overuse, and by game 5 there were cracks. But none of it matters if the Astros pitchers can't execute their pitches agains this lineup. They've had more bases loaded walks, wild pitches, and passed balls this series than they seemingly had all year.
Bring in Rudy T for a "don't underestimate the heart of a champion speech." In the Rockets quest for a repeat, they were also down 3-1 vs. Phoenix with 2 of the last 3 games on the road.
Did you know....Boston only lost 3 games in a row twice this season when they lost 3 to TB and Cleveland in late August. Later that same week Boston capped off a 1-6 stretch with 3 straight losses to Tampa Bay. Did you also know, that if not for a horrible call at home plate against Jose Altuve on a Sunday night game against the Astros, the Red Sox would have been swept and lost 3 straight games to the Astros in Boston. Did you know?
I don't care if McCann is an automatic out in the lineup at this point. Pitchers pitch to CATCHers not THROWers. Maldonado had two passed balls last night that became guaranteed runs. The umps put us down 2 runs, and he put us down 2 more. It's happened in multiple games. Hinch even chewed him out for it on the field. Get this guy off the field until we have a ten-run lead. And make him him give his Gold Glove back and give him a Gold Arm in exchange, so that the award is accurate.
Maldonado has been more of an offensive liability than McCann on one leg. At this point, nobody is risking getting thrown out on the base paths... base runners just too valuable in the playoffs.
