I remember the Oswalt-Clemens combo that was suppose to carry us in 2004 NLCS... asking a starter to be a reliever... I am uneasy...
Does anyone have problems with lagging when posting from time to time? I've experienced on my phone (horribly a lot of the time) and on my desktop tonight. If so, is there any solution to it?
His scenario was Game 7 of the WS. All winter to recover from that. But as I think about it, you are just talking about SP vs Reliever mentality likely. I still like LMJ more than Giles. Giles seems to not have it between the ears for the game (did you see him acting like a complete moron behind AJ and Julia before the game in the pregame interview?). If I was in a fight in a dark alley at night, give me LMJ on my side every time...dude just seems to have a mean streak (i.e. pitch behind Napoli vs Rangers....ball just got away from him my ass) and will do what it takes to win.
I think Hinch manages this game differently if we really needed it. Up so many games in the standings, he can give guys more opportunities. We really need another pitcher than gives you 7 innings a start.
Not on my phone. However, when using chrome on my desktop im noticing some very bad ad spam that prevents you from scrolling unless you click the ad.
As disappointing of a loss that was after blowing such a big lead, I have loved every minute of the run we were on. It's been a great ride, and watching our guys score 82 runs in our last 9 games has been so exciting. Yeah, we lost a game, but we just swept our nemesis Rangers, and this group of guys are such a fun crazy bunch of guys, who have great chemistry. I love this team!!! Go Astros!!! Also, do you realize that if every member of Clutch Fans voted their 35 allowed times in the All Star Vote that we could add 1,522,710 votes to every Astros player on their ballot? This city has well over 2 million people, and hopefully a good percentage of them are also Astros fans and will step up. But, let's not wait for everyone else to do their part. Clutch Fans can make a big difference!!!!!!!!
Great post. Let's make a thread where you have to screenshot your daily votes. Whoever doesn't vote that day is banned from game threads.
It's not the loss per se but the manner of the loss.... giving up 8 runs in the 8th and 9th inning... including a bases clearing double with 2 outs in the 8th.... geeshh... that's rough.
Android, galaxy s7 and I use chrome. Seems to work with no issues. My desktop on the other hand? Been getting spammed by ads for the last week now.
Bringing in Giles with the bases loaded doesn't seem to work well, he seems to b better with no man on base and starting an inning. Take the game in Anaheim for example. I suppose gregerson wasn't an option tonight? At the end of the day, like others said, the pen has been overworked and it finally caught up, we need the starters to eat up some innings.
If there is a trade to be made, it would be another closer from another team that is doing a fire sale. You can't have too many closers.
Can't tell if you're being serious or not. I think it's pretty clear that Hinch is pushing people out of their comfort zone. There are things Hinch needs to find out that can only be determined through trial and error. Extending Paulino into the 6th, replacing him with Guduan, bringing in Hoyt to mop up Guduan, and then finally bringing in Giles in a shutdown role rather than a cushy 9th inning role. Extremely irregular bullpen use from what we're used to seeing. I see that as a good thing. If they were really so concerned about the win, Devo could have pitched another inning and then had Hoyt come in a low-leverage 9th. At the risk of sounding like a total apologist I'm 100% on board with the way he managed the game. The outcome sucks but ultimately a tough loss after an 11 game road winning streak is not a big deal. I think a lot of learning points will be taken away from the game, both for the players and Hinch. Positives: -Paulino pitched into the 6th inning with ~90 pitches. We now know Paulino can go a bit further than 4 IP and won't require 5 IP of pen usage every spot start. -The offense is still extremely productive. Negatives: -Both Hoyt and Giles choked in leverage situations. -For Hoyt, it's good to see him get some high leverage opportunities. Obviously didn't work out this time, but he probably appreciates not being confined to boring low leverage middle relief. -For Giles, Hinch is seeing if he can be a shutdown closer. The answer continues to be no. This data has value come October. -The sucky version of Guduan came out. He'll have his share of sucky outings but he needs to get ML innings while he's with the club. I agree this was a winnable game but I don't look at it as a bunch of mistakes.
Hinch is managing big picture which is the smart thing to do. He wants to keep Harris and Devo as fresh as reasonably possible.We cant use them in every game thats slightly close. Giles failed today but he hasnt failed much this year so I am still not really concerned.
One loss guys. In a game in which three of the four pitchers will rarely if ever pitch in a high leverage, big game situation.
