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ALCS -- Red Sox vs Astros

Beau Vine

By Beau Vine
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Wulaw Horn
Wulaw Horn

Yep. Like the Late 99’s Yanks attracting room temperature IQ morons from the RGV. 

kevwun
kevwun

Show me on the doll where the Astros touched you.

Huckleberry
Huckleberry

So a pitch that was outside the home plate umpire's strike zone all night and is usually called a ball by all umpires was called a ball and that's a big story. That's almost as dumb as pretending

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ztejas

ztejas 43,418

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2 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

Sox have confidence. Astros just don't look like they want it. Seems like everyone saw the record and said, meh. 

Bullpen is doing a lot better than I thought. Team is having fun. And fuck AROD. 

I wondered if they were about to rip off another one (WS) after that G2 against Tampa. They are certainly keeping it up.

Houston isn't to be taken lightly - though. Win tomorrow and game 5 becomes must win for Boston. They have GOT to get some better pitching though. 

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InkaUtexas

InkaUtexas 25,894

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1 minute ago, ztejas said:

I wondered if they were about to rip off another one (WS) after that G2 against Tampa. They are certainly keeping it up.

Houston isn't to be taken lightly - though. Win tomorrow and game 5 becomes must win for Boston. They have GOT to get some better pitching though. 

This is not over. Reading the other thread a lot of Astros fans have become online surrender cobras. And they should not be. The Astros can light us up and I know that. 

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David Dennison

David Dennison 18,853

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7 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

This is not over. Reading the other thread a lot of Astros fans have become online surrender cobras. And they should not be. The Astros can light us up and I know that. 

It's because our pitching is leaking oil all over the place and y'all are crushing.

Not a good combo.

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InkaUtexas

InkaUtexas 25,894

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5 minutes ago, ztejas said:

You are - but don't give us the underdog routine. Your payroll remains stupid. 

damn right. Just saying this team reminds me of 04. Don't get me wrong. I have said many times it is not over. I know Houston is a power. I just like the moxie they are playing with. They are not scared. Go back and look at how Cora spoke to Sale when he pulled him. It was up beat. Sale walked off with confidence. And according to all the experts we should not even be here. Guess that is why we play the games. 

 

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ztejas

ztejas 43,418

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5 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

damn right. Just saying this team reminds me of 04. Don't get me wrong. I have said many times it is not over. I know Houston is a power. I just like the moxie they are playing with. They are not scared. Go back and look at how Cora spoke to Sale when he pulled him. It was up beat. Sale walked off with confidence. And according to all the experts we should not even be here. Guess that is why we play the games. 

 

You have that asshole Boston magic about you. It's the best sports town in America for a reason. Your teams always do shit like this - since '04 or the beginning of the Pats run at least. I'll tell you for the nth time it started with that game 2 against the Rays. Beating the Yankees - yeah whatever - they had serious issues. But when you shelled the Rays after the G1 loss I thought "These assholes look ready to win it again." (and trust me - asshole is pretty much a compliment from me)

Lot of games to be played. Like you said - that's why they play the games. But gun to my head I'm taking Boston and I'd guess you will lead in WS odds after tonight. 

I don't particularly like the Sox but I guess I like them more than Houston. Just enjoying what has been a great postseason so far. 

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InkaUtexas

InkaUtexas 25,894

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I try to be an honest fan. The Sox to me are family love. I have never lived there but that is where my mother is from. My grandmother lived for them. Yeah, all my cousins, nephews, etc are assholes. But damn, I love their teams. 

And agree, Baseball post season is a great event. All 4 teams could win it. Still early but it is fun for sure.

Go Blues. Top of the League where we belong. 

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4 hours ago, pops said:

Fox dumping every 10 seconds is funny

That was the funniest part of the game.  Wife asks why the broadcast is skipping out...I tell her the fans are chanting "F Altuve" and Fox is trying to protect us.

LOLz.

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 54,210

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Rosenthal:

Quote

Brent Strom, the oldest pitching coach in baseball, came up with a rallying cry that almost certainly is too antiquated for most of his Astros pitchers:

Remember the 1960 Pirates.

Strom, 73, was just about to turn 12 when the Pirates defeated the Yankees in a seven-game World Series despite losing 16-3 in Game 2, 10-0 in Game 3 and 12-0 in Game 6 — and getting outscored 55-27 overall.

The Astros are following a similar trajectory in the American League Championship Series, losing to the Red Sox 9-5 in Game 2 and 12-3 in Game 3. Yet, a win by the Astros on Tuesday night would tie the series at two games each and ensure they play at least one more game at Minute Maid Park this season.

Never mind that such an outcome seems utterly improbable with the Red Sox popping grand slams as if they’re daily vitamins and the Astros starting Zack Greinke, who has thrown 49 pitches in the last month, in Game 4. But Strom was full of brave talk after Monday night’s debacle, and he even offered an interesting theory as to why the Astros’ pitching might be coming apart.

Could it be that the Astros pitchers are unknowingly revealing the types of pitches they are about to throw, and the Boston hitters are figuring out what is coming?

Strom, mind you, was not suggesting the Red Sox were doing anything illegal through electronic means, something both these teams have been guilty of in the past. Rather, he was pointing to the Red Sox’s acumen at detecting anything opponents might be doing to tip pitches — old-fashioned inside baseball, the perfectly legal kind.

“This is a very good hitting team, and they’re very adept at picking up little things, much more so than most teams,” Strom said. “We need to be very cognizant of the little things, tipping-type things, things like that, that they’re very astute at. We’ve just gotten behind hitters.

“We have to re-evaluate and see if they’re seeing things that are maybe tipping the scales a little bit in their favor. These are veteran (hitters). And of course, they have the ultimate guy (Alex Cora) as their manager, who … he’s just very good at it. We just have to do a better job of watching what our pitchers do and getting ahead in the count.”

Cora was the Astros’ bench coach in 2017, working alongside Strom. Even in his playing days, he had the reputation of being a next-level baseball mind. And his legend is only growing now that his postseason record is 17-5, the most wins ever by a manager in his first 22 playoff games, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.

Strom said his belief the Astros might be tipping is based more on the pitches the Red Sox are laying off than the swings they are getting. On the other hand, it’s also possible the Astros are just pitching poorly, and that Cora and his players are inside Strom’s head.

“If they have our pitches, we’ve got to do a better job. I don’t think they do,” Astros shortstop Carlos Correa said. “It’s fun to watch as a fan of the sport, see how everybody in the lineup has the same approach. They’re not chasing. They’re staying in the zone. They’re not swinging at borderline pitches. It’s beautiful what they’re doing. We’ve got to find a way to throw more strikes and keep the ball in the ballpark.”

Strom is correct about the Astros’ pitchers falling behind in counts. According to STATS Perform, the first-pitch strike percentage of their starting pitchers in this series is 37.8 percent, well below their average of 58.4 percent during the regular season and the major-league average of 62.9 percent in the postseason. The ALCS sample obviously is small — the three Astros’ starters have combined to pitch just 5 1/3 innings, in part because Luis Garcia left Game 2 after one inning due to right-knee discomfort. But the starters likely would be lasting longer if they were doing a better job getting ahead.

José Urquidy retired his first four hitters in Game 3, looking rather poised after a three-pitch strikeout of Xander Bogaerts to begin the second inning. But the right-hander who beat the Nationals on the road in Game 4 of the 2019 World Series unraveled after getting ahead of Alex Verdugo 0-2, then walking him on 11 pitches.

Eight of the next nine Red Sox hitters got ahead at least 1-0. The damage against Urquidy included a double by J.D. Martinez, a walk to Hunter Renfroe and a grand slam by Kyle Schwarber on a 3-0 pitch. After a single by Bogaerts, the 10th hitter of the inning, Astros manager Dusty Baker could not stay with Urquidy any longer and went to his bullpen.

Strom, while acknowledging the Red Sox are hot, said, “We’re making a lot of mistakes. Basically, we’re falling behind. We’re falling behind countless times.”

 

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dbecks

dbecks 442

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I know he hasn’t had the best year, but Greinke in a must-win game is exciting, even from an objective viewpoint (which I am not).

The Sox have capitalized by scoring runs early all of these games so far (even going back to the ALDS), but if Greinke can get through the first 3 innings unscathed, the Astros’ bats will eventually put runs on the board.

Pivetta is fun to watch (and very energetic), but he’s gonna hang one or two over the plate inevitably.

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Al Czervik

Al Czervik 1,229

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12 hours ago, InkaUtexas said:

I try to be an honest fan. The Sox to me are family love. I have never lived there but that is where my mother is from. My grandmother lived for them. Yeah, all my cousins, nephews, etc are assholes. But damn, I love their teams. 

 

Are you the sibling my Mom never told us about?  Hitting the nail on the head.

 

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49,162

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19 hours ago, ztejas said:

You have that asshole Boston magic about you. It's the best sports town in America for a reason. Your teams always do shit like this - since '04 or the beginning of the Pats run at least. I'll tell you for the nth time it started with that game 2 against the Rays. Beating the Yankees - yeah whatever - they had serious issues. But when you shelled the Rays after the G1 loss I thought "These assholes look ready to win it again." (and trust me - asshole is pretty much a compliment from me)

Lot of games to be played. Like you said - that's why they play the games. But gun to my head I'm taking Boston and I'd guess you will lead in WS odds after tonight. 

I don't particularly like the Sox but I guess I like them more than Houston. Just enjoying what has been a great postseason so far. 

2-1 lead has been lost many times in a 7 game series.

Still don't like that the previous series is only 5 games instead of 7 games that is used in both the ALCS/NLCS and World Series...  

 

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G650

G650 14,249

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21 hours ago, InkaUtexas said:

Just saying this team reminds me of 04

That team was the most magical bunch of idiots. I remember vividly watching standing in a bar watching Dave Robert's steal in game 4 to kick off the comeback.

 

The only thing I can compare them too, ironically, is the 86 Mets.

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Sbbruin

Sbbruin 21,840

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1 hour ago, G650 said:

That team was the most magical bunch of idiots. I remember vividly watching standing in a bar watching Dave Robert's steal in game 4 to kick off the comeback.

 

The only thing I can compare them too, ironically, is the 86 Mets.

Or the ‘88 Dodgers.  A team that was vastly better as a sum of the parts than the parts alone.

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