Game time - 8:09pm
Astros
Justin Verlander (R)
1. George Springer (R) CF
2. Jose Altuve (R) 2B
3. Alex Bregman (R) 3B
4. Yuli Gurriel (R) 1B
5. Tyler White (R) DH
6. Marwin Gonzalez (S) LF
7. Carlos Correa (R) SS
8. Martin Maldonado (R) C
9. Josh Reddick (L) RF
Red Sox
Chris Sale (L)
1. Mookie Betts (R) RF
2. Andrew Benintendi (L) LF
3. J.D. Martinez (R) DH
4. Xander Bogaerts (R) SS
5. Steve Pearce (R) 1B
6. Brock Holt (L) 2B
7. Eduardo Nunez (R) 3B
8. Jackie Bradley Jr. (L) CF
9. Sandy Leon (S) C
Gametime Temp: 49°F - Chance of Precip: 6%
Damn GIDP again ruins a scoring chance.
Is TBS broadcasting an Astros home game again?
Slider after slider looks like Sale is afraid to throw his fastball.
Sale is.looking shaky to me.
This isn't encouraging.
Sale may not make through 3 innings
Sale doesn't have it.
Yikes. Had two quick outs and then falls apart.
Sale may not make it through this inning.
If they bring in Kelly, it's all over.
Sale looked as tight as a drum. I don't see Sale as an October pitcher just like Price.
How long after the season is over does Sale go in for surgery? Obviously he hasn't been right for quite a while.
I think Sale's physique means he doesn't have the stamina for a full year.
Sox batters are making this easy for Verlander.
Of Boston loses this one look for a very short series
Cora needs to pull Sale . He has nothing.
Best inning for Sale so far.
I guess seeing Kelly warming up have a Sale an adrenaline rush to get through that inning.
Leon makes it even easier on Verlander by looking at a pitch down broadway.
Verlander is cruising while Sale is struggling. Just what we needed tonight.
Sale's fastball velocity is down.
Best inning by far, Sale's velocity may be down but he has the heart of a lion. He doesn't give in.
The lion is done for the night. Let's hope Kelly has some stuff working.
Kelly got through that inning well. It time for the bats to show up.
Based full.Moreland up. This could be the Sox best chance.
Verlander suddenly looking shaky.
GIDP coming right up.
Wow, Verlander walks in a run. Wow.
What happened to the Mookie who was so clutch all season?
Game tied and the Sox have yet to drive in a run.
Dammit Beninitendi. Swing at those you dope!!
Pretty pathetic showing by the Sox batters. All those gifts and they couldn't even drive in a run on their own.
Bystander had looked untouchable but walks and wild pitch tie game, go figure!
Quote from: markj on October 13, 2018, 09:10:44 PM
Pretty pathetic showing by the Sox batters. All those gifts and they couldn't even drive in a run on their own.
Can not blame Beni for not swinging since Verlander had been wild besides it was a bad call, that was a ball.
Cora was ejected ?
Quote from: elktonnick on October 13, 2018, 09:13:35 PM
Quote from: markj on October 13, 2018, 09:10:44 PM
Pretty pathetic showing by the Sox batters. All those gifts and they couldn't even drive in a run on their own.
Can not blame Beni for not swinging since Verlander had been wild besides it was a bad call, that was a ball.
Two strike zones tonight.
Didn't the TBS strike zone thing show it catching the corner?
I missed Cora getting tossed, too.
Dammit, Nunez.
Six inches outside is a strike. Over the middle of the plate is a ball.
Nunez is only marginally better defensively than Devers at third.
We'll be here all night waiting for Kelly to throw the ball.
Quote from: longgame on October 13, 2018, 09:21:10 PM
Six inches outside is a strike. Over the middle of the plate is a ball.
I wonder if he was sending a message to Kelly about plunking the other guy.
That was paint.
Watching Kelly pitch is excruciating. He is one weird dude.
Barnes gets out of it quickly.
Ok, I missed something. I saw Moreland's AB, but I assumed he was PH'ing for Pearce. But Pearce is still in. Whom did Moreland replace? Leon? And then Vaz ran for Moreland? Is that how it went?
Nice stop by Nunez and a stellar pick by Pearce.
Quote from: markj on October 13, 2018, 09:44:34 PM
Ok, I missed something. I saw Moreland's AB, but I assumed he was PH'ing for Pearce. But Pearce is still in. Whom did Moreland replace? Leon? And then Vaz ran for Moreland? Is that how it went?
Yes.
Sox best chance coming up as Betts,Benitendi and Martinez won’t be up.
Barnes is losing it. Can't find the strike zone.
Great job having nobody ready after two walks.
Out of it finally.
One could argue that Nunez failure to make two plays has been the difference thus far.
One could argue that the Sox offense hasn't a done a thing for themselves. Yet.
Quote from: elktonnick on October 13, 2018, 10:01:15 PM
One could argue that Nunez failure to make two plays has been the difference thus far.
^^^
This
Quote from: markj on October 13, 2018, 10:05:47 PM
One could argue that the Sox offense hasn't a done a thing for themselves. Yet.
^^^
And this.
Sox pitching is giving away bases and hence runs as well. Here's another now.
3 HBPs + 6 BBs + 1 key error is a recipe for disaster. Miraculous it's only 3 runs
Vaz plunks Joe West.
Vaz's throw hits the ump which keeps Houston runner on 2nd, not 3rd. Go figure
Sloppy pitching by both sides have led to most of the runs.
7 BBs
Sweet DP gets them out of it.
Out of it. DP. Let's go DeadBats. Wake up.
If JD had been paying attention, he might have made it to 1st.
Our offense is DOA. It gets HARDER with Cole on the mound tomorrow.
Hard to tell if the umps or the top of the Sox order is having a worse day.
You can see the Astros.game plan against Boston, breaking balls after breaking balls and the Sox hitters if they make contact it is a ground ball. BTW JD get your head out your butt and pay attention to what is going on.
Workman hands Houston the insurance run.
Why is Workman on the roster?
Workman does his thing and gives up a dinger. Not that it will matter with the Sox having zero offense.
The good news is Price goes tomorrow.
Quote from: elktonnick on October 13, 2018, 10:36:24 PM
You can see the Astros.game plan against Boston, breaking balls after breaking balls and the Sox hitters if they make contact it is a ground ball. BTW JD get your head out your butt and pay attention to what is going on.
Very surprised how unprepared the Sox appear to be tonight.
Quote from: longgame on October 13, 2018, 10:39:17 PM
The good news is Price goes tomorrow.
He'll crater again.
8 BBs.
And 3 hbp
This game will ever end.
9 BBs
What a terrible effort by Boston pitching.
And that's that. 7-2. Lose tomorrow, lose the series.
Workman truly has no business on this roster. You would have thought after his disastrous performance against New York DD would have known better.
Other than the lousy pitching, poor defense and lack of offense it’s been um, crappy.
I didn't expect the Sox woud beat the 'Stros. They're just too good. But I had hoped they'd at least not be embarrassed. That seems to be the situation, though. Sox have no runs tonight that they've produced. And they'd given away a ton.
It's like Houston handed us the 2 runs on purpose so as to make it slightly interesting. We're totally outmatched.
10 BBs! 8)
More crappy pitching.
Sox will be lucky to avoid a sweep in this series.
The Sox pitchers were all terrified to challenge anyone. It was so uniformly bad one must think it deliberate strategy which obviously didn't work.
Price will suck again tomorrow and the BP, which was sapped tonight, will not be able to fill the gap.
Pitching aside, the Sox offense did nothing tonight. That's 50% of the problem here.
Well that was a crappy game and loss.
Umpire was calling balls on Sale that were strikes
and called strikes on balls for the Astros.
NUNEZ had a few bad plays at third.
Sox lose 7 - 2.
Quote from: elktonnick on October 13, 2018, 10:01:15 PM
One could argue that Nunez failure to make two plays has been the difference thus far.
I would agree UNTIL the 9th inning.
Nunez AND umpires helped the Astros in the first 6 innings of the game.
AND I agree that the TBS announcers seemed pro-Astros.
I usually like Ron Darling (especially when he is in the booth for the Mets)
BUT he has been anti-Red Sox in the postseason. He seemed more complimentary
to the Yankees in the ALDS and sounded more complimentary to the Astros tonight -
from the beginning of the broadcast.
NOT right.
Wow, have we ever looked worse than we did tonight? I don't know where to begin but I do know that Jerkman has no business being in the game or on the team and I have said repeatedly all damn season. He hasn't been worth a damn since 2013 and even his injury and operation did not help him be anything more than a total stiff on the mound. Earth to Cora, don't use that butt ever again--not in this series and out of town this winter. Nunez? My God, he looked like Devers tonight, really pathetic. Our offense was non-existent with only three hits and we couldn't drive in a run. We walked ten batters, hit three more and, well what the hell, can we win a game playing like that? Tomorrow we send Price out there and he needs to made amends for that disastrous showing a week ago and he has that jinx in that he has never won a post-season game (0-9 anybody) Yet we need him tomorrow.
Let me end this ordeal by saying we need to shit can this game and hope we come out blazing tomorrow because as sure as God made little green apples, if we lost Sunday evening this series is already over.
AAAAA WELL, let me think for a moment. The Umps were terrible, both teams looked terrible---especially the Red Sox.
Price, depends which one comes in. I did not enjoy TBS. It was crappy all around.
If tomorrow the game appears to be crappy from the beginning, I'll watch the Patriots...and they too could lose.
They were fun to watch all season, suddenly they don't do anything right.
Better change that lineup. More bad news, Nunez is in the lineup for Sunday.
Get NUNEZ out of there, NOW GRASSHOPPER !! He is killing us with his bad KNEE...…. Also, as DAD would say "SON, you won't win many games on 3 HITS" !! thumb_d thumb_d iono iono iono
"LIKE SAND THRU THE HOUR GLASS, SO ARE THE GAMES OF THIS SERIES!!!" thumb_d thumb_d iono iono iono rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl
Cora better get this team to realize what the Astros are doing; killing them with sliders. curveballs and changeups. They must start going the other way.
The Sox are particularly vulnerable to off speed pitches. That being said except for Workman it was defense that killed Boston last night. Holt needs to be at third with Kinsler playing second. However, unless Price performs it won't matter.
After last night, this is a must win game.
I'm trying to be a glass half full guy this morning. First of all, they played like this in Game 2 of the DS and then came back like gangbusters the next day. Second, Sale pitched okay and was let down by the defense, not to mention a ridiculous strike zone where Sox could throw it over the middle of the plate and have it called a ball but pitches six inches off the plate routinely called strikes for Verlander. Third, other than the Brandon "AAA Forever" Workman, the pen held up okay given the situation. Fourth, up until Workman came in the Astros weren't getting it done exactly either, they just didn't screw up. Plus we had a highlight of Joe West getting drilled! Too bad it didn't hit him on the head. Between him (who was fine last night), Hernandez and the guy behind the plate last night, they could form a fine umpiring team for a seniors beer softball league - if the can pass a vision test.
Now for the downside - Mookie Betts needs to stop looking like he's sorry for sucking so far and stop sucking more. He and many other Sox hitters need to stop being so anxious, Verlander was the only guy able to throw a fastball for a strike on either team but he was hanging curveballs in the heart of the strike zone all night. The Sox looked like they had never seen breaking pitches all night so the Astros kept feeding them and they didn't adjust. Some of that may be on Cora, there was a shot of Roenicke looking completely flummoxed when Workman giving up the first HR. As a team I though they were completely unprepared for the game.
Another righty going for Houston tonight so I'd like to see Devers in there and hopefully Moreland too. It doesn't help when you don't play your lefties against righties. Second, I can't stand to see Leon ever again, lefty or not. I'm sick and tired of the praise for his defense. As I've said, he continually calls pitches his guys aren't making and then gets them behind in counts or end up throwing bad pitches. Combine that with the utter lack of offense, he just does not belong on the field. If Sale can't pitch as "well" as he did last night to Vazquez or Swihart then there's a problem there that has nothing to do with the catcher. Finally, they have to do something to get Betts, Beni and Martinez unhooked. They looked completely lost and there's no reason for that in the second round of the playoffs.
Absolutely must win for the Sox tonight behind Price.
Nunez is hurt; can't anyone on the coaching staff see that? He hurt himself on that last play Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium and it is hurting his lateral movement, not to mention his ability to use his legs in the batter's box. It seems to be Cora has a love affair with that guy. He needs to take a few days off...….Holt on third and Kinsler on second. And, yes, no Leon. Good God, we didn't hit at all last night and to put a zero back in the starting lineup reeks of incompetence and mental turpitude. Jerkman????? Hide him or kidnap him but get him far away from that pitcher's mound, and the hitters have to stop trying to hit through a shift and go with the pitch. All last night Benintendi kept looking to pull while pitches belt high on the outside he let go by. As for Bradley it gets very tiresome watching him try to jack the ball out. You are NOT Willie Mays young man. You are a gap hitter at best. Stop trying to be something you're not and never will be. As for our big guns JD and Mookie start acting like possible MVP's and superstars you are and grab ahold of the offense and lead us to victory tonight. We need one badly.
Quote from: SeaBeachFred on October 14, 2018, 02:49:16 PM
Nunez is hurt; can't anyone on the coaching staff see that? He hurt himself on that last play Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium and it is hurting his lateral movement, not to mention his ability to use his legs in the batter's box. It seems to be Cora has a love affair with that guy. He needs to take a few days off...….Holt on third and Kinsler on second. And, yes, no Leon. Good God, we didn't hit at all last night and to put a zero back in the starting lineup reeks of incompetence and mental turpitude. Jerkman????? Hide him or kidnap him but get him far away from that pitcher's mound, and the hitters have to stop trying to hit through a shift and go with the pitch. All last night Benintendi kept looking to pull while pitches belt high on the outside he let go by. As for Bradley it gets very tiresome watching him try to jack the ball out. You are NOT Willie Mays young man. You are a gap hitter at best. Stop trying to be something you're not and never will be. As for our big guns JD and Mookie start acting like possible MVP's and superstars you are and grab ahold of the offense and lead us to victory tonight. We need one badly.
SATURDAY nights game...… No NUNEZ, LEON, HOLT...….. Devers at 3rd, Vazquez, & Kinsler………. iono iono iono iono
Quote from: SeaBeachFred on October 14, 2018, 02:49:16 PM
Nunez is hurt; can't anyone on the coaching staff see that? He hurt himself on that last play Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium and it is hurting his lateral movement, not to mention his ability to use his legs in the batter's box. It seems to be Cora has a love affair with that guy. He needs to take a few days off...….Holt on third and Kinsler on second. And, yes, no Leon. Good God, we didn't hit at all last night and to put a zero back in the starting lineup reeks of incompetence and mental turpitude. Jerkman????? Hide him or kidnap him but get him far away from that pitcher's mound, and the hitters have to stop trying to hit through a shift and go with the pitch. All last night Benintendi kept looking to pull while pitches belt high on the outside he let go by. As for Bradley it gets very tiresome watching him try to jack the ball out. You are NOT Willie Mays young man. You are a gap hitter at best. Stop trying to be something you're not and never will be. As for our big guns JD and Mookie start acting like possible MVP's and superstars you are and grab ahold of the offense and lead us to victory tonight. We need one badly.
After the last couple of years these guys should be accustomed to playing in big games and with the data they have these days they should be able to pretty much know what the pitcher is coming with before the pitcher does. Yet Mookie looks like he's never seen a breaking ball and Beni drives me crazy with the bad pitches he chases. Martinez at the same time has decided that he's going to slow down his hands and pretty much miss everything. Both Betts and Martinez look like completely different hitters out there.
Plus for god's sake if they're going to throw you outside and play you to shift, open up and go the other way from the start of the at bat, especially weaker hitters. Get their defenders moving around and balls get through.