Yuli needs to be moved back to 5th in the order. Correa is struggling and thus they're pitching around Yordan not really giving him anything to hit.
Hopefully Urquidy puts up some 0's early on and the bats scores some runs early to take pressure off Urquidy. I don't want Urquidy being afraid to make a mistake so he ends up walking batters. Also taking a early lead will take the pressure off the batters. They can relax and do there thing rather than trying to over do it because they're behind and trying to score runs.
And jobbed a possible DP ball. We seemed to make a lot more uncharacteristic mistakes than them though.
I firmly believe this team performs better when under pressure. We have seen it time and again the past 5 years. I thought going into the series that CFM was their X factor. He potentially could have shut the Astros down for 2 starts and then come in relief to close the series in Game 6 or 7. That advantage is now gone. Can the Braves jump on the Astros starting pitching for 3 more games? They have to. The Astros bullpen has finally rounded into shape and is a clear advantage especially since the Braves top relievers have all had extended stints in Game 1. Coming out flat was probably to be expected after such an exhausting comeback against the Red Sox. It might even carry over to Game 2, but this team finds improbable ways to win. I am hoping for a huge outburst at the start of tonight's game. Fried was beat up pretty well in his last start against the Dodgers and I think fatigue may be setting in.
Obviously bad to lose one at home. But the Astros got double lucky in that Morton got hurt and Odo ate 2.1 without too many pitches, so the Braves don’t have a pitching usage advantage going forward (although I think the Braves will get to replace Morton on the roster). Not a good sign that the Braves 2nd tier hitters did well. The Astros must have Altuve get hot NOW and they really need a gem from Urquidy and/or Garcia to have a shot.
Last time the astros go up against an evenly matched team, they got swept. Not a good track record for the astros currently.
The one drawback of fans making their players into heroes is that some of them some of the time think its their obligation to be the hero. Both Altuve and Correa are in heroball mode. Brantley, not a heroballer, needs to knock them on the side of the head.
If I recall, the Nats outplayed Verlander, who put up two stinkers at home no less, along with our bullpen, which was trash. I get that the man has more important things to get to at home (), but he could have at least kept the Nats to two runs. Grienke and Cole were awesome, however, which is what kept us in the series. If not for their pitching in D.C., we could have been swept. That Nats team had the best record in the league after May 15th, about a game better than us. They were a solid team with a good mix of solid veterans and Soto, who is a beast. They also got to run Strasburg and Scherzer out there for 4 games. That helps a lot.
Yuli needs to bat 3rd with Bregman dropped to 7th or benched for Diaz. Bregman’s inability to drive anything and Altuve’s inability to get on base is hurting the offense far more than Correa is.
Disagree on where to put Yuli. Yordan is the biggest threat and as I mentioned if Co rrea isn't hitting (which he's not) they can just pitch around Alvarez to face CC. With Yuli behind Yordan they can't pitch around him. Bregman and Altuve is another discussion.
It's 2021 for the first time. Did you not just see the Boston series where a 2-1 series deficit felt a lot worse and they were down a run heading in the 8th inning of game 4? Some folks on here can't remember last week but can remember the details of 2019 and 2005.
