10/14 ALCS game 2

[iortiz]

Great work by Barnes, Brasier, and POR.

 

Our pen has been terrific in POs against very good offenses.

[Sox75]

Our pen has been terrific in POs against very good offenses.

 

Now you're talking!

[iortiz]

My mistake.

 

Semantics matter. You are correct.. HUGE step forward. He didn't suck quite as bad as his last start.

 

LOL :0 SOOOOOOO much better!

 

Don’t get me wrong, this is by any means a gem for him, but I think this is going to help for his confidence moving forward. I expect a better start next time.

[TylerD]

But.... then again.... if I'm being real, I go with

 

 

Price absolutely SUCKED again!

He wasn’t great. Was good enough

[iortiz]

He wasn’t great. Was good enough

 

I think you put it better than I, Tyler.

[jacksonianmarch]

What a confusing game. David Price started, sucked, and the Sox still won. The Sox much maligned pen was nails sans their relief ace, who allowed a run and faced a top 5 MVP candidate with the tying run on. Cole comes out not throwing strikes, which is a deviation from his norm. The Astros, typically fundamentally sound, had a huge error in the first and then three passed balls to add an insurance run. AJ Hinch leaves Cole in with the sacks packed and gets burned by JBJ. Kindler, a veteran of many a post season series, didn’t even have a competitive AB. Just an all around weird game. The Sox won a must win and now throw their hottest two pitchers at the Astros in Houston while the Astros counted with their long time former ace and the ace from last post season.

 

Question for Sox fans. Let’s say Eo and Big Dick Rick are nail and the Sox win Sale’s game 5 with an all hands on deck performance, do you go with the righties against LA (they’re winning that series btw).

[iortiz]

We destroyed their number 2 (and could be worse), and with a “sucking” Price, so why not we can take a couple of wins in HOU, mostly since we hit well against Keuchel and Morton.

 

Positive vibes folks.

[TylerD]

I think you put it better than I, Tyler.

Lol. We will all be holding our breath if Price sees another start. On the plus. He looked better than he did last start. Maybe his 3rd start he can go 6 innings. A team gets a win with his start. Maybe this is the confidence he needs.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

WTF, Love Price or hate him, he's ours for 3 more years:(

[TylerD]

WTF, Love Price or hate him, he's ours for 3 more years:(

He’s a regular season machine. He was awesome for us the second half of the season and we won with him in today. I’ll keep him no problem. Maybe this is what he needs confidence wise to pitch better if he gets another chance this year.

[iortiz]

He’s a regular season machine. He was awesome for us the second half of the season and we won with him in today. I’ll keep him no problem. Maybe this is what he needs confidence wise to pitch better if he gets another chance this year.

 

Amen to this.

[jung]

Our pen has been terrific in POs against very good offenses.

 

If you don't count the zillion free bases and the HR's last night and being bailed out by starters coming in to relief roles. PLEASE.....they need to get through a game without giving up so many free bases, HR's and having to be bailed out by the starters before they are anything like "terrific". Christ, even our closer is a panic.

 

The reality is that pens that are great pens are measured against what they do with a lead in the post season anyway. Nobody gives a rats behind what a pen does when your team is behind especially in a short series which is why we did not see Kimbrel last night. You try to "gut out" games that you are behind in hoping your offense comes back and you try to "win" games you are leading in going into the late innings in the post season short series.

 

People need to understand that much of what is done in a baseball game most particularly in a short series is based on how many outs you have left in order to mount a comeback of any sort in a given game, conversely how many outs you need to make to get out of the game if you have the lead and the sense of the game you are playing in and that is how you expend your bullets.

 

At the same time, Managers and Coaches always have to have an eye out for how many games are left and how many innings are left to cover. Cora is playing to take this to 7 games for an all hands game because that is the only way he wins this thing without burning Porcello in these relief stints. As it is, Porcello has to start on Wednesday having pitched tonight. So Cora is already pressing his luck. But what choice does he have. With all those guys out there in that pen did Cora have anybody he could go to with any confidence at all for the 8th inning with the lead....ANYBODY? Could he even go to anybody out by out and piece together an 8th inning with the lead...ANYBODY???

 

I am however convinced that these two teams are going to beat each other senseless in this series. One of these two teams is going to end up wrestling the other team to the ground in this series. Nothing pretty to see here.

Edited October 15, 2018 by jung

[iortiz]

David Price on the ovation he received from fans at Fenway: "Definitely appreciated. It wasn't the line I had dreamed up to have tonight,…but everybody rallied together. That's what we've done all year."

[FredLynn]

Our pen has been terrific in POs against very good offenses.

 

True, but Kimbrel is a concern. He has surrendered runs in at least three games in a row now. Not exactly a shut down closer any more. He is taking zeros off his new contract.

[FredLynn]

He’s a regular season machine. He was awesome for us the second half of the season and we won with him in today. I’ll keep him no problem. Maybe this is what he needs confidence wise to pitch better if he gets another chance this year.

 

Sure. I would keep him too. But I would never give him another start in the postseason.

[Fan_since_Boggs]

Didn’t realize Kinsler is 2-26 lifetime against Cole. That is a mistake by Cora not to use Holt tonight.

 

They are lucky to be 1-1 with all of the mistakes Cora is making.

[Fan_since_Boggs]

Playoffs all considered. Was not a horrible start for Price.

 

Pretty bad though. 4 walks in 4.2 innings.

[Fan_since_Boggs]

Kinsler may be earning himself a spot on the bench for the rest of this series other than defensive replacement service or v lefties.

 

Hasn't hit lefties all year. He is better against RHP.

[d-money]

Very nice to see some fight from this team tonight. Hope they can bring that same intensity on the road. 3 straight games in houston.

[moonslav59]

My take aways...

 

Great game!

 

Huge hit by JBJ.

 

Kinsler cannot hit, if his life depended on it.

 

Price looked better than the numbers show.

 

What was Bogey thinking when he nonchalantly played that ball?

 

Devers looks like he has his hitting eye back. I'd play him (3B) and Holt (2B) as much as possible.

 

Cora managed a great game.

 

Our pen carried us. Surprise, surprise!

 

Porcello has proven to be our savior.

 

Kimbrel sure likes to play with fire. Often it's firemen who are the pyros.

 

Now, go take 2 here in Houston!

 

[Bellhorn04]

Didn’t realize Kinsler is 2-26 lifetime against Cole. That is a mistake by Cora not to use Holt tonight.

 

Probably thinking about making the infield defense a little better than it would be with Holt. Kinsler made the decision look bad on the offensive side, that's for sure.

[Bellhorn04]

They are lucky to be 1-1 with all of the mistakes Cora is making.

 

He's been making some good moves too. Using Porcello in the 8th is thinking outside the box a bit, and it paid off nicely again.

[OH FOY]

Next game for Price will be the biggie. We'll be coming back to Boston, I'm sure, but if the Astros are up 3-2, that game will be huge. Now that will be pressure.

[OH FOY]

2 for 28 for Kinsler, .071 avg. against Cole. JBJ saved him too, otherwise, he would have left, 6 men on base, with LESS then 2 Outs.

Not enough Defense in a game to justify, leaving that many men on base, for Runs!! Runs is the key word in every game of baseball. You win with scoring more, then Opponent. After the Astros took the lead, you need to score, otherwise you will lose. If you save 1 Run, it wont Matter. You'll still lose.

Simple when your behind you need Offense, Ahead and Late, Defense Matters.

Holt can play Defense just as good as Kinsler, facing a Good Offensive team like Astros, I'll take the bat at 2nd. Astros are averaging 6 runs a game up to this point.

Edited October 15, 2018 by OH FOY!

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

Whew what a relief. How low is the David Price bar when a poster describes a line of 4 ER in 4 2/3 as "good enough". It really wasn't, he got bailed out by his teammates on yet another post season failure. But so far I've been looking wrong on my bullpen comments. Obviously bringing in starters to close out the 8th has been a key, but I still don't trust Barnes and Kelly. Man I wish we had Wright. I am sill a believer in Kmbrell but it's getting harder and harder to justify that. At least he went with more fastballs this time out, he just needs to throw strikes.

 

But I'm very happy we saved our season last night, getting one with Cole on the mound was huge.

[BillyWilliams]

He's been making some good moves too. Using Porcello in the 8th is thinking outside the box a bit, and it paid off nicely again.

 

Managers have been using starters in relief during the playoffs for quite some time. While it was a good move it hardly qualifies as "outside the box".

[TylerD]

Pretty bad though. 4 walks in 4.2 innings.

 

That error on Xanders part was terrible though. Had he hussled that throw Price would have made it out of that inning. He was better than the numbers show.

[Bellhorn04]

Managers have been using starters in relief during the playoffs for quite some time. While it was a good move it hardly qualifies as "outside the box".

 

Using a starter in relief who is scheduled to start later in the series has not been done very often that I'm aware of.

 

Unless you've got some examples that show otherwise...

[jung]

Managers have been using starters in relief during the playoffs for quite some time. While it was a good move it hardly qualifies as "outside the box".

 

Managers typically relegate some starters to the pen for the post season. Using a Starter as a relief pitcher when he HAS to start in a post season series, not so much. Porcello now has to be moved back to game 4 when game 3 was likely optimal at this point. Eo has to get Game 3. Porcello has to start Game 4. Sale gets Game 5. Assuming more does not happen that forces starters intended to start in this series into relief appearances, Price gets Game 6 and its all hands on deck for Game 7. 7 might be the place where we see Erod again if only to pick up a couple of early innings. Cora no longer has confidence in Erod IMO and well he shouldn't. He won't nor should he give Erod any innings past the 6th in any game if he uses him at all.

 

The danger at this point is that Sale pitches poorly in game 5 if the Sox have lost Games 3 and 4. Then they will need God only knows what to pull Game 5 out which really puts any reasoned plan for Games 6 and 7 in jeopardy.

 

Cora has to plan on his RH starters pitching well or at least well enough in Minute Maid against what is in the main a heavy Astros RH lineup. The dif between what they had to do in Yankee Stadium v Minute Maid is that while our pitchers needed to avoid thigh high to the outer edge against the Yankee RH hitters they have to pitch away to the Astros RH hitters. In fact, the Sox pitchers are already doing that with the Astros in Fenway. We have not been willing to pitch to Bregman at all and that is likely a great move until the Astros can prove they can protect Bregman in their batting order.

 

Even with the unwillingness to pitch to Bregman we are giving away too many free bases to a very good team. AJ will process what is happening and likely respond to it in some way, shape or form.

 

Still see this series as a wrestling match with one team finally wrestling the other team to ground. I think our memories about this series in the end will be about these two teams just wearing away on each other until one team gets pinned by the other as opposed to memories of great plays made ala' Jeter post season play for example. Very tough on us fans as we spend entire games white knuckled. No lead seems insurmountable. Everything seems possible because the star of this series is the enormous pressure these two teams are putting on each other and the will of the participants or lack of it to survive it.

[Maxbialystock]

They are lucky to be 1-1 with all of the mistakes Cora is making.

 

You, sir, do not understand baseball. Cora has been far and away the best MLB manager in the postseason. He has dealt with two shaky aces (Sale and Price), the absence of his best bullpen arm, Wright, a closer who hsd given up 1 or 2 runs in each inning (3 so far) he has pitched, a bottom of the order that has mostly been a black hole, solid veterans (Nunez and Kinsler) who have been anything but solid, a bullpen overall that has a reputation of being inconsistent, and a batting order overall that, even with that 16 run bonanza in game 3 of the ALDS, has an OPS of .707, which just happens to be 4th best out of the 4 teams left in the ALCS and NLCS.

 

We lost game 1 of the ALDS because Sale struggled and, worse, our lineup came up with three putrid singles in 9 innings. We got those 2 runs because Verlander had a problem with control, period. Even then, the Sox had a shot until Nunez made that horrible, horrible error for the Astros 3d run.

 

We won game 2 because Cora changed the lineup, got the most out of a shaky Price who nevertheless pitched a clean 4th, used Porcello in relief, pinch hit with Moreland again at just the right time, and got another save out of shaky Kimbrel. Don't get me wrong--I do give the players credit for wins. They get all the hits, score all the runs, and make all of the pitches. But so far in both the ALDS and ALCS Cora has shown a magic touch.