Maxbialystock

You and d-money are both, unsurprisingly, full of prunes. The game was basically over before Eovaldi took the mound in the 9th, and it was over because Whitlock didn't do his job when he coughed up that Altuve dinger on a fastball right down the middle to allow the Astros to tie the game. The stark reality about last night is that Houston's bullpen dominated a Sox lineup which recently beat the crap out the Rays and Astros pitching staffs. After Bogey's stunning dinger in the 1st, our big guns just rolled over and died. Bogey later hit a double with 1 out and Verdugo and JDM failed to move him. Arroyo hit a triple with 1 out, and, wait for it, Schwarber and Kike couldn't bring him home. Perez was not sent in to stem the tide, but to get Eovaldi off the mound after 24 pitches. The game was basically over when the Astros scored the first run, off Eovaldi, in the 9th. And I blame that run on Eovaldi and Vazquez foolishly agreeing to throw four straight fastballs to Correa leading off the 9th inning. Time and time again Eovaldi has demonstrated that his very fast fastball is in fact quite hittable when batters, especially good ones like Correa, know it's coming. Immediately after the double, Eovaldi switched to breaking stuff and got two K's before that fateful single to bring Correa home. Then came Perez and the deluge.

I pretty much agree with that, but would add I think the Astros will win today with Sale starting for the Sox.

About the ALCS. Yes, I agree with most who say last night was a huge win for the Astros because it's now 2-2 in games, the last two will be in Houston, and the Astros' bullpen dominated the Sox lineup which had scored 12, 9, and 4 runs in the previous 3 games and 6, 6, and 14 against the excellent Rays pitching staff in the final three games of the ALDS. So, yes, I also think the Astros now have the upper hand. That doesn't mean it's over even though I think the Astros have a very good chance now of returning to Houston leading 3-2 in games.

I presume the complaints about the home plate umpire concern a pitch or pitches by Eovaldi in the 9th that eventually led to the hit and run #3 for the Astros, after which Perez came in along with a basketful of hittable pitches. So I kind of understand the bitterness. However, to me the game was over when the Astros tied it in the 8th on the dinger off Whitlock because it was no longer winnable for the Sox, who had not scored since Bogey's 2 run dinger in the first inning and in fact did not score another run in the next 8 innings. This happened despite a double by Bogey with 1 out, after which Dugo and JDM failed to bring him home, and a triple by Arroyo with 1 out, after which Schwarber and Kike failed to bring him home. Pure and simple, good pitching beat good hitting. Indeed, Pivetta initially was the one with good pitching and went 5 innings while giving up just 1 run (in the 1st) and hanging onto that 2-1 lead. Old Red would like to take over the narrative and claim that Cora blew it by not sticking with whichever reliever got the most recent out, but I would argue that Cora actually made some excellent moves leading up to Whitlock, by far our best reliever all season long, to pitch the 7th and 8th and Eovaldi to close in the 9th. Whitlock, however, threw a first pitch fastball right down the pike to Altuve, who drove it out for the tying run in the 8th. Then he got 3 outs. Then, it's true, maybe Eovaldi got screwed by one or two calls in the 9th, but to me the real problem was the Astros leadoff batter, Correa, to whom Eovaldi, no doubt encouraged by Vazquez, served up four straight fastballs, the final one driven to the RF wall for an easy double. Time and time again this season and in other seasons, Eovaldi's 97mph+ fastball has been shown to be very hittable when the hitter knows one is coming. So the double by Correa was almost inevitable. Notably, immediately after the double, Eovaldi and his idiot catcher wise up, leading to a succession of breaking balls that got 2 K's before that game-winning single of a splitter a little up in the zone. By then Eovaldi had thrown 24 pitches, the game was as good as over, and it made sense to send out Perez. The griping notwithstanding, Eovaldi was still a good choice, even with a tie game rather than the planned for 2-1 lead, to pitch the 9th. He started last Saturday and will likely start this Friday, so last night's venture will not put undue stress on his arm.

So what? Against the Rays Pivetta threw 73 pitches on Thursday, Oct 7, and 67 pitches 3 days later on October 10th.

Eovaldi can't pitch until Friday, game 6, which is 3 days from today and 3 days from his start last Saturday. So, no, this was not some huge gamble.

Eovaldi was a good call because he can't start until Friday anyway. The problem was that somehow he and Vazquez agreed to throw nothing but fastballs to Correa, and Eovaldi's fastball is hittable when you know it's coming.

Perez with the bases loaded. Hmmmm. But why not? I know it's just a 1 run Astro lead, but their bullpen has pitched 7 straight scoreless innings and I don't see them not pitching an 8th.

Fatal mistake was 4 straight fastballs to Correa. Dumb.

Two straight K's on non-fastballs.

I blame the consummate stupidity of Eovaldi throwing four straight fastballs.

And what do Eovaldi/Vazquez finally do after giving up that double form 4 straight fastballs? Throw breaking balls to get a K. I swear baseball players are inherently stupid, and our guys are certainly no exception.

So maybe it's Eovaldi and not Vazquez who is insisting on nothing but fastballs. Eovaldi's fastball has always been hittable when hitters know it's coming. Just stupid to throw 4 straight fastballs.

Right now you gotta favor the Astros to get the next run because their bullpen has been just amazing. It is especially painful that Arroyo's triple and Bogey's double came with just 1 out, so Dugo and JDM crapped out and so did Schwarber and Kike.

All of their relievers have looked good tonight.

Three straight sliders outside of the zone, and JDM just had to swing at one of them.

Amazing how often the Sox are hitting grounders off those fastballs that are not low in the zone.

Whitlock didn't actually look that good. No K's in 2 innings, for example. So now it's a brand new game and the Sox hitters need to, well, I'm searching for the word here, hit the dadgum ball.

Say what? Should the Sox give that GIDP back?

First pitch fastball right down the middle. Bad pitch call by Vazquez. Indeed, what has made Whitlock so effective this year is he actually has a decent repertoire.

Slider was the perfect pitch for the K. Astros bullpen, 4 pitchers so far, has gone 5.2 scoreless innings. Sox bullpen has gone 2 scoreless.

Bogey has 2 hits. His 8 teammates have 1, Arroyo's triple. The Sox are 0 for 8 with RISP.

Weather report says it's 55 degrees right now in Boston. That ain't so cold. Whatever the reason, both teams' hitters are icy cold.

Needed that lineout. Need Whitlock to get one more shutout inning. Are more Sox runs even remotely possible?

I bow to your cold hard facts.