ASTROS V RED SOX
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2017, 1 PM AT FENWAY PARK
TV: FOX
HOUSTON, (100-60).............................................................................BOSTON, (92-68)
HOUSTON:
LANCE MCCULLERS, JR., RHP, 7-3, 4.01 ERA, 125K
Considering he's only made two starts since July 30 because of injuries,
McCullers' final regular season start will determine his availability for the ALDS.
He gave up two runs in 3 1/3 innins Sunday against the Angels in Houston.
BOSTON:
DREW POMERANZ, LHP, 16-6, 3.38 ERA, 171K
The lefty's velocity has dipped in his last two starts and it showed last time
out, when he was hammered for seven hits and five runs over two-plus innings.
Pomeranz is three innings from matching the career-high of 170 2/3 he logged
in 2016.
Sox try to lock up AL East facing red-hot Astros
Brian McTaggart
The Red Sox's magic number to clinch the American League East title is one, meaning they can lock up the division if they beat the Astros on Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park or the Yankees lose to the Blue Jays. The Astros need to win their final two games and have the Indians lose their final two games to get the top seed in the AL and home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs.
So there will be plenty on the line when left-hander Drew Pomeranz (16-6, 3.38 ERA) faces Lance McCullers Jr. (7-3, 4.01 ERA) in the penultimate game of the regular season for two teams getting to know each other well. The Astros, who have won 13 of their past 15 games, and the Red Sox could potentially meet in the American League Division Series presented by Doosan beginning Thursday.
If the Yankees, who are two games back with two to play, come back and catch the Red Sox, the longtime rivals would play a one-game tiebreaker for the AL East title on Monday at Yankee Stadium. The winner of that game would play in the ALDS against either the Astros or the Indians. The loser would host the Twins in the AL Wild Card Game on Tuesday.
"We'll come back [Saturday] ready to play," said Red Sox manager John Farrell. "That's without a doubt. This team has definitely done that all year long, bounce back from some tough days, and we'll stick together. That's what we do as a team and what we'll do again."
Pomeranz's velocity was down in his last start, when he got rocked for five runs and seven hits in two-plus innings Monday against the Blue Jays. He's pitched 167 2/3 innings this year, leaving him three shy of his career high he set last year.
McCullers is pitching for only the third time since July 30 because of injuries. He threw only 63 pitches in 3 1/3 innings in his most recent start Sunday, and the Astros would like to stretch him out to about 80 pitches to gauge his readiness for the playoffs.
A healthy and effective McCullers would be a boon to Houston's postseason rotation.
"He's in a different situation just because he hasn't been on the mound a ton in the last month or so," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "We're going to attack the game as he would any start to see what he can do to make himself ready for whatever role we would have for him in the Division Series. He needs to extend himself as long as he can with the pitch count. Just seeing him bounce back from that will help us decide what the best use of innings are going to be."
McCullers went 7-2 with a 3.05 ERA in 16 starts in the first half of the season en route to being named to his first All-Star Game. He was 0-2 with a 9.64 ERA in four July starts before going on the disabled list with back discomfort for the second time this season at the end of the month. He was then scratched from a Sept. 13 start with arm fatigue.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THIS GAME
• The Astros (100-60) have won 100 games for only the second time in club history. The only other time they reached the century mark was in 1998, when they went 102-60. They are the third team to reach 100 wins this year (Dodgers, Indians) and own baseball's highest road winning percentage (.658).
• Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts has hit safely in eight consecutive games (.387) and reached base in his last 11 games.
• Astros third baseman Alex Bregman has driven in a run in six consecutive games (11 RBIs in that span) and reached base in 12 games in a row. He has 39 doubles, which trails only Cleveland's Jose Ramirez (53) for the most among AL third basemen, and he has set a Houston single-season record for most doubles by a third baseman.
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170929256769042/sox-try-to-lock-up-al-east-facing-red-hot-astros/?game_pk=492505
NUMBER OF GAMES
2
MAGIC NUMBER
1
BOS vs. HOU:
Bogaerts SS,
Pedroia 2B,
Benintendi LF,
Betts RF,
Moreland 1B,
Ramirez DH,
Devers 3B,
Vázquez C,
Bradley Jr. CF,
Pomeranz LHP
What would DAD say ??? thumb_d iono rofl
Bill, nevermind what DAD would say, What do you say?
Best thing about today's game --- that comes to mind --- the results will be in by 4:00. Don't have to agonize into 11:00 and have sleepless nights. sigh
BOS vs. HOU:
Bogaerts SS,
Pedroia 2B,
Benintendi LF,
Betts RF,
Moreland 1B,
Ramirez DH,
Devers 3B,
Vázquez C,
Bradley Jr. CF,
Pomeranz LHP
Lineup looks a little better today; we shall see.
Quote from: Bear on September 30, 2017, 08:12:25 AM
Bill, nevermind what DAD would say, What do you say?
I say, beyond my BLOOD PRESSURE, it's all about APRIL, MAY, & JUNE !! & If DAD was here, he would add "SON, ya don't want to keep the opposition close as the string winds down, as bad things can/will happen" !! thumb_d rofl
The yankees have CC Sabathia pitching today as opposed to Garcia???
Bottom of the 2nd, a LOT of EMPTY seats at the FENS !! iono
I was thinking the same thing Bill, could be the rain kept them home, or, they've had enough! iono
Never seen a team swing at as much crap as the Sox batters do. Devers K'd on back-to-back dirt balls.
Quote from: Bill-806 on September 30, 2017, 12:29:08 PM
Bottom of the 2nd, a LOT of EMPTY seats at the FENS !! iono
The Red Sox have had a promotion on for this homestand that is 4 seats for $20 each and they are actually good seats. I believe they are tossing in some of the questionable Fenway food as part of the promo.
Had a chance for more than 2 runs that inning but Vaz decided to try and pull a low and away pitch and grounded to SS & Holt looked at all 3 strike pitches.
SCORED 2 RUNS !!! As DAWN breaks ovaa MARBLEHEAD!!! thumb_u rofl
Wow, a lead. We'll see how long it holds up. Probably all the scoring they'll do today.
WOW, 5 on the board.... As` DAD would say, "SON, I told you not to give up on our RED SOX" !!! thumb_u rofl
Don't celebrate, the game's not ovah
This 7th inning is the inning you want to get through with at least a 3 run lead. Then can go to Reed and Kimbrel. Sox have some wiggle room.
With this group you wait until the final out and even then I'm not sure.
Quote from: Schloicka on September 30, 2017, 02:19:43 PM
This 7th inning is the inning you want to get through with at least a 3 run lead. Then can go to Reed and Kimbrel. Sox have some wiggle room.
Wiggle room is gone. LOL.
Let's go Price.
Got a gift 3rd strike call on the second out.
Got him. Nice going.
What a crappy day in Boston, though.
Price still not scored upon since going to the pen.
Good job Price. Now let's tack on a run or 2 here.
This is not going to be easy, is it? Why would it?
Attaboy, Mookie.
Got one back. Thx Mookie
There's 1 back.
3 down by Reed. Nice.
1 more frame. :-X
Was a nice play by Marrero on the line drive to 3rd. Moreland made a nice play at 1st on the low throw.
Drama time from Kimbrel.
Kimbrel saving his worst for last.
Clinched with a W! Hopefully it boosts some confidence. Play the scrubs tomorrow and 3 days rest.
This series comes down to Sale, Pomeranz and......Fister 8) Have ZERO faith in Porcello.
American League East Champs 2 years in a row. Probably a lot of guys with the day off tomorrow. Well deserved. Was great to see Pomerantz bounce back. Price looked good. Bull pen did the job. Came in with the lead and finished with it. On to Thursday.
Wow, we did it.
Never a doubt !!!!!!
Quote from: Rob from Mass on September 30, 2017, 03:52:40 PM
Never a doubt !!!!!!
LOL.
Thank god we have one day we can relax!
Never a doubt?????you bet.
Roto will be rested and set.Players that are nicked up have 4 days to get ready and thats important. H
Quote from: Bear on September 30, 2017, 03:56:39 PM
Never a doubt?????you bet.
lol ;) We're all in the same boat.
To make things even more strange: Farrell becomes the first manager in Red Sox history to win 3 division titles AND 2 back-to-back. :o
Farrell is safe for another year. But at least they took the AL EAST on their own and didn't need to have it handed to them.
THANK YOU GOOD LORD !!! Now the roster will finish tomorrow..... As DAD would say, "SON, this is why we play the games, it is now about SHORT SERIES and we know that anything can happen" !!! As my IDOL Jimmy DoLittle would say, "VICTORY GOES TO THOSE WHO WANT IT THE MOST, WANT IT THE LONGEST" !!!! thumb_u rofl
As they said on the radio, expect tomorrow's starter to be Johnny Allstaff.
Quote from: elktonnick on September 30, 2017, 04:59:07 PM
As they said on the radio, expect tomorrow's starter to be Johnny Allstaff.
Will be interesting to see what the playoff ROSTER looks like !! Holt, Nunez, Marreo & the new outfielder ????? thumb_u rofl
Just saw the score - and THANK G-D!
Sox WON!
Our Sox are the AL EAST champions!
AND they won on their own merit - no waiting
for another team to lose.
PHEW!!!
(I know that Houston is a superior team - however,
the Sox played well enough all season to be the AL EAST
champs.)
It turned out to be a very good day for us----save for that seventh inning scare---and Pomeranz pitched and restored order and we finally jumped ahead and got some key hits. Hopefully the team will rest up, heal and get ready for a tough series. I said I would be content with an AL East Title and that hasn't changed, but if many of you believe this team can go farther they have to get mended and play a better brand of baseball than they have of late. The question is will they be ready on Thursday to go into Texas and get it done?
QuoteAs they said on the radio, expect tomorrow's starter to be Johnny Allstaff.
Johnny Allstaff, the new kid from Greenville, gotcha. Bet he makes it interesting. rofl
Quote from: SeaBeachFred on September 30, 2017, 09:52:24 PM
It turned out to be a very good day for us----save for that seventh inning scare---and Pomeranz pitched and restored order and we finally jumped ahead and got some key hits. Hopefully the team will rest us, heal and get ready for a tough series. I said I would be content with an AL East Title and that hasn't changed, but if many of you believe this team can go farther they have to get mended and play a better brand of baseball than they have of late. The question is will they be ready on Thursday to go into Texas and get it done?
That's right, Fred---credit where credit is due. We won the AL East and kudos for that. But if I'm a betting man? Well...let's just say, "We'll see..."
B I N G O all of the above !!!! The marathon is ovaa, now 4 days to get ready for the SPRINTS !!! thumb_u rofl