8:07PM Eastern
Red Sox
Chris Sale (L)
1. Enrique Hernandez (R) CF
2. Kyle Schwarber (L) 1B
3. Xander Bogaerts (R) SS
4. Rafael Devers (L) 3B
5. J.D. Martinez (R) DH
6. Hunter Renfroe (R) RF
7. Alex Verdugo (L) LF
8. Christian Arroyo (R) 2B
9. Christian Vazquez (R) C
Astros
Framber Valdez (L)
1. Jose Altuve (R) 2B
2. Michael Brantley (L) DH
3. Alex Bregman (R) 3B
4. Yordan Alvarez (L) LF
5. Carlos Correa (R) SS
6. Kyle Tucker (L) RF
7. Yuli Gurriel (R) 1B
8. Chas McCormick (R) CF
9. Martin Maldonado (R) C
Gametime Temp: 79°F
Chance of Precip: 0%
LOOKING FOR CHRIS SALE TO SET THE BAR , GET US STARTED ON THE RIGHT FOOT !!! 6 INNINGS WOULD BE GREAT !! thumb_u thumb_u iono iono
Gotta love it when there is only one game in baseball tonight and our team is playing in it!
Seems to me that in 2018 our path was beating the Yankees, beating the Astros and beating the Dodgers so we're right on track, taking on TB along the way for practice.
Word from Houston, their ace McCullers won’t pitch this series. Replaced by Jake Odorizzi. Sox dropped Barnes and Davis, replaced by Darwinzon and Sawamura.
Here’s how Boston’s ALCS roster breaks down…
Right-Handed Pitchers
Ryan Brasier
Nathan Eovaldi
Tanner Houck
Adam Ottavino
Nick Pivetta
Hansel Robles
Hirokazu Sawamura
Garrett Whitlock
Left-Handed Pitchers
Darwinzon Hernandez
Martin Perez
Eduardo Rodriguez
Chris Sale
Josh Taylor
Catchers
Kevin Plawecki
Christian Vazquez
Infielders
Christian Arroyo
Xander Bogaerts
Bobby Dalbec
Rafael Devers
Travis Shaw
Outfielders
J.D. Martinez
Hunter Renfroe
Kyle Schwarber
Alex Verdugo
Infielders/Outfielders
Enrique Hernandez
Danny Santana
I'm expecting Cora to wait until the last minute to release his lineup, just because. Let the head games begin.
Interesting with Sale starting and it makes a lot of sense. There's a chance that Sale will need to come out early and that means that someone like Pivetta or Houck would be needed. Presumably there's a less chance of needing them with Eovaldi, so you basically have those guys back by Monday or Tuesday depending on how much they end up throwing. Let's hope it's not needed in the first place.
A great storyline to watch will be how old school Dusty Baker lines up with Cora. Cora is certain the epitome of the modern day playoff manager. Baker, while very successful, has different instincts. I think the edge goes to Cora, but the Sox need to be in the game for that advantage to mean much.
The real key is if the Sox pitching can hold Houston to about 5 runs per game as they did with TB and not fall behind early.
I was wondering if Cora may change things up. Some people thought Dalbec may start vs. a RHP. Going with the tried and true at this point makes sense though.
I found a 2004 Sox WS Champs shirt to wear tonight!
2-1/2 hours or so. Starting to get anxious for it.
Damn GIDP cost them at least a run if not two.
So much for Sale correcting his mechanics.
Another damn GIDP.
Almost another GIDP, except Altuve muffed it. Sox up 3-1 now.
What was that swing from Verdugo? It was way outside and almost in the catcher's mitt when he swung. Like it ws an afterthought or something.
Sox hit into two DPs, Sale stinks and the Sox lead 3-1 and chase the Houston starter.
What was that they were saying in the pregame about the vaunted Astros defense?
Man, I started seeing Arroyo in KC all over again. We need to put an invisible fence & collar on that kid. Gets 40-50 feet into the OF and it zaps him.
Raffy should have had that.
Kike is trying to give me a heart attack. But at least he caught it.
Dammit. Altuve is always a threat. But Fox showed a graphic about where he's hot and where he's cold. Too bad Houck didn't see that graphic.
Vasquez initial target was not that far from where it landed. A couple inches.
This ump is as bad as we've had in a while.
Schwarber finally gets on base.
Ugh. One strike away from getting out of the inning and bam, good bye.
I don't like being down 1 going into the last 2 innings.
Santana for Renfroe? Why would anyone put Santana in a game when there were alternatives?
And now Shaw?
Almost worked.
Cora better find his mojo, because it's not working tonight.
Cora better find his mojo, because it's not working tonight.
I think Renfroe would have caught that liner. Santana should not be in this game.
Bases loaded, no outs for Houston. Think this will end well?
Kike is having a great night at least.
Kike did well tonight. The rest of the team? Not so much.
Sox pitching staff better figure and fix Sale's problems quickly or they're all done for the season.
Bullpen wasn't so great but I thought that they could score more than 5. The two early GIDPs after getting the first guy on were tough. Kike carried the team but it wasn't enough.
I don't like Santana but clearly he was trying to do anything to get something going and throwing a few lefties in a row made sense. Although as I said to a buddy of mine "freaking Shaw, you had one job!"
I've noticed that Scwarber runs real hot and cold. Not so much streaky, just some games, like today, he looks lost at the plate and other days, he can't miss.
Sounds like I fell asleep just in time. I missed most of 8th and all of the 9th. This game was another long one. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
Think Baker will let us score 5 in an inning against one pitcher tomorrow? I think we're going to have to have a different sort of mojo going.
Dang, the batting can only carry us so far when our starter can't carry his weight. And the batting kind of dried up. I hope Sale gets it figured out by the Boston games, he can make a difference for us.
Houck followed by Sawa was not the luck of the draw in this game. Better pitching coming up tonight, and I think we'll have some good pen guys like Pivetta taking up the slack. It's looking OK. A win tonight going back to Boston will put us in great shape. But we need to score some runs off their bullpen.
Looks like I only missed the bottom of the 8th and the top of the 9th.
Vasquez is one of the reasons we are here in the ALCS. He was clutch in DC, obviously clutch in the post season so far. He's proven that this was his time of the game. I've not looked to see if he was something like 0-19 with 12Ks against the pitcher, but that is the only reason I would have him out of the game for a PH in the 8th.
I didn't like the use of Taylor. Wrong inning with what he had coming up, I thought. Thankfully Brasier bailed him out. I get what AC was trying to do - bridge to Houck for 3 and then Whitlock. It just didn't work out tonight.
It looked like a lot of nerves with both our pitchers and our batters. 18 LOB. Kyle and XB have to do more than one doinker and a couple of walks. I'm sure there was more. JD got screwed over big time. But this one is out of the way. Calm down, do some hitting and finish some pitches and we'll be in it.
There is a massive silver lining to this series. If we lose, it will be to a hugely superior traditional hitting ball-club. Those things do not go unnoticed.
Quote from: markj on October 15, 2021, 10:40:15 PM
Santana for Renfroe? Why would anyone put Santana in a game when there were alternatives?
Because Santana is one of Cora's favorites and it's like an itch Cora can't scratch. He was determined to make that bum a part of this team in the post season. You saw what the result was ---A BIG FAT "K"---and don't be surprised to see Alex do it again.