That means he would have really been safe had he run through the bag (unless he was avoiding a tag due to an errant throw).
That's not a big deal... much easier to follow any team when they're "good", and frankly that's the only way most people develop enough loyalty to follow them when they're bad as well. What's annoying is people who will start casually following this team now when they're good... only to flip-out and start calling them "Lastros" again when they struggle. That sort of bandwagon hop-on/hop-off gets pretty annoying.
In no way am I condoning a dive/slide to first, just to be clear. I dont think he was avoiding a tag. It was just an all out hustle dive. You should always run them out bobrek, its kind of a no-brainer. :grin:
8 IP, 2 er, 9 hits (8 were singles), 1 bb, 6 k Just missing Dankush's drivel and we'd get the usual suspects that crap on things before they even remotely play out.
Did you watch the game though? He was terrible in the first inning. He settled down but his usual MO lately has been a big inning but decent in the rest. I was frustrated too. He luckily got that double play and was solid the rest of the way but he did not look good in that first inning. Pair that with his less than ideal pitching lately, maybe not the name calling, but calling his pitching into question in that first inning was totally legit.
A lot of pitchers are prone to one bad inning... even an "ace" (hell, the Astros have just tattooed the two highest paid "aces" in the division in the last 2 weeks). Being able to regroup and not "lose the game for your team" based on just that one bad inning.... and still go deep in the game and give a quality start.... says more about the makeup of a pitcher (and McHugh has done just that in 3 of his last 4 starts, so its more than just an isolated occurrence). Also, if you "watched the game" you would see several soft-hit/ground balls that only got through due to bad shifts or bad luck... McHugh was NOT hard hit last night, even in the shaky first inning and the inning he allowed runs.
How was he 'terrible'? He struck out the first guy, gave up an arguable 'beat the shift' single, gave up a double to Trout, intentionally walked Pujols and then got the DP to end the inning.
Given that this has happened two starts in a row, starting out rough only to deliver a QS victory for his team, I would probably hold off on calling his pitching into question until the sum of his outing has been reached. If anything, it gives me reassurance to know that he is mentally tough enough to shake it off, regroup and then deliver the rest of the way while his teammates get him some runs.
FWIW, I regretted typing that about McHugh as soon as I posted it. I thought he was on the way to another poor start. I'm ecstatic to see how he worked out of the jam and how he threw the rest of the game. He got away from what he's been doing recently and started pounding the strike zone at the knees again...not surprising that the results were much better once he stopped leaving the ball up in the zone as he has been lately. I don't want to be confused with the group of posters that are out to get him. I'm a big fan of his as a guy who we pulled off the scrap heap and has excelled through adversity.
I was just saying that it is not inconceivable for people to be disappointed with that first inning when it was happening live.
Wonder if Shoemaker was like "I don't want to face that lineup after last night. Ouch, I have a blister".
We also roughed him up earlier in the year. Plus we've been kind of struggling against lefties lately, save for yesterday's performance. 16-15 v LHP so far this year I believe
With springer on a tear, correa here, Santana getting some good swings and Gattis/Carter being one game away from starting a hot steak, I think opposing teams are playing with fire by starting a lefty if it's really for "that" reason. Hell, even Hank Donger is getting some good AB's with the more regular playing time against lefties.
He had the bases loaded with one out. In the first. After give up a few runs in the first inning his last start. And getting destroyed the start before. I am just saying, in the moment, it was ok for people to be worried that he was going to have a bad day. Thought it was kinda lame for someone to go back and quote all of the people who had the same fears I did and anyone who watching this team should. That is all. Not really talking about the outcome of it.
