5GoldGlovesOF,75

Nate may not be great, but Boston's bats will bounce back! Remember, in the ALDS, this Red Sox lineup crushed a Tampa pitching staff with the best ERA in the AL... when ALL NINE hitters in the batting order had five or more hits each in the four-game series. SIX guys had six or more hits, while SEVEN slugged home runs. It happened this month, and can happen again... Optimistic outlook: Houston's rookie starter, Luis Garcia, has started two postseason games this October and got bombed in both, by two different colored Sox! His last win came over a month ago, vs. a last-place team that lost 102 games. In the regular season, left-handed batters had an .818 OPS vs. Garcia (Schwarber, Devers, Verdugo, take note). And here are playoff stats for Astros' reliever Yimi Garcia, no relation: 5 innings, 7 runs. So look for a Garcia... and listen to the river sing sweet songs to rock our souls.

I'm thinking a few Sox are bound to... vs. Garcia with a knee problem, Odorizzi with mild cheese, even Javier, who threw a lot of high leverage pitches Tuesday.

Can anyone envision Bogaerts becoming an All-Star outfielder in a few years, like when Robin Yount moved from short to center? Yount won MVPs at both positions...now, that's a Hall of Famer.

Well, the board can certainly give scouting reports for our own batters who drove us crazy all year -- like certain guys that shall remain nameless I'd never throw a strike to, who will start hacking sooner than later... or those who always take the first pitch right down the middle, then swing at crap the rest of the at bat. High heat seems to whiff the most Astros (Altuve, Brantley, Correa), but that holds true with most hitters at any level. Houston hit men just don't miss anything golfable... Gurriel is the guy the Sox should avoid -- just pitch around him and go after the 8-9 men, or hope he gets himself out. Gurriel is lethal.

Have to assume Perez made the ALCS roster because he shut out the Astros last June. And Brantley has bad numbers against lefties -- except when they throw meatballs right down the fly (that's a PC as I can get) two days in a row. While it's highly doubtful Perez will get a third chance this weekend, might as well start drinking now, because Darwinzon struck out Yordan last night. If Sale couldn't get Alvarez out in three tries, but Hernandez could in one, it's a sure bet we'll see that match-up again soon... ... just wish when it does happen that the Sox' season won't be at stake.

I'm on record saying he never will and never should. I also hope he'll at least meet us in the middle and get some at least reliable relievers that the manager can trust so he doesn't have to constantly use starters in late innings of the postseason. Most likely, we'll just have to be patient, because most of those guys take time to develop...

Your words. What's more likely this winter: more small moves like Bloom has made ever since he dumped Mookie and Price, or spending big money on free agent contracts of three or more years -- which Bloom has never done in Boston?

They should just ban the whole check-swing strike concept. With pitchers throwing 100 mph on every team now, it's not humanly possible to make contact anymore unless a batter starts his swing early. Without loading and shifting and flinching ("hips before hands"), there'd be no hitting. I'm convinced this why there are more check-the-checks now than even a decade ago... never mind a few decades ago, when you were asking for trouble if a player or manager appealed to ask for help in regards to the judgment of the all-knowing ego behind the plate.

The next morning I remember walking down the halls in high school and people congratulating me; I didn't hit it, but they knew I was a big fan. There were some controlled low fives -- it was a few years before Dusty Baker invented the high five.

Personally, I'd like to see the Sox add or develop some contact hitters that thrive on line drives. The grand salamis have been fun to watch this October, but a lineup that relies on scoring over 80% of its runs on HRs can predictably crash hard -- as we've seen this week. Lately, we're really no different than the Yankees' batting order, which failed and had fans bemoaning all season. The Sox need more swings like Verdugo's last night. If his opposite-field laser hadn't missed the chalk by half a foot, it's an easy leadoff double in a 1-0 game.

Win or lose, it's freaking awesome that a club that finished dead last with the worst pitching staff in team history last year still has at least one more game to play on the penultimate weekend of this season.

Sox aren't spending big on any free agent position players or big money pitchers. Even if they blow the budget on expensive guys, there's no guarantee they'll even advance to the LCS again soon (right, Yankees, Padres, Angels, etc?). Henry admitted this month the club is in the middle of a rebuild and "ahead of schedule". They're waiting on a future infield of Casas-Yorke-Mayer-Jordan. Hopefully, Bloom will add proven pitchers, but certainly expect him to continue to stockpile young arms to finally create an actual MLB bullpen.

Please forward this to Boston's analytics department ASAP -- that's exactly the pitch Altuve strikes out on, when he's trying to be Judge. Haven't we all learned by now that Might He Mouse is trying to leave with anything betwixt the belt and the knees?

Will there also be robots down the lines with zoom vision to check the checks? Or will they set up an invisible horizontal laser across the plate (like the electric eyes guarding valuable gems in crime movies) that will buzz when a check swing crosses the line?

True points, all. Maybe as a Red Sox fan, it just feels like whenever a Sox batter gets a hit, it just means he may be getting hot (except Devers, always a legit threat). But the feeling watching Houston bat is constant dread and impending doom. I'm glad Castro doesn't start for the Astros, because he's the only pinch hitter I can remember for either team that isn't an automatic strikeout.

The fake dotted line rectangle in front of batters doesn't mean much on telecasts, but the actual replays from cameras behind the batter -- that show whether the ball passes over home plate or outside of it -- mean everything.

The notion that the only way to beat the Astros is to outslug them is unreasonable. Outside of Devers, Boston's wildly inconsistent batters cannot and should not be counted on to outmatch Houston's juggernaut. It's also hard to play smallball vs. an opponent whose largeball skills have powered them to the ALCS every year for the past half-decade. The Sox' last hope is for their best pitchers -- Eovaldi, ERod, Pivetta, and Houck (curiously absent the past two games) -- to eat innings and pound corners without leakage for one more weekend. They won't replicate Framber Valdez (kudos to Old School Baker for letting him go eight), but Cora knows he has little chance if he has to use his actual relievers. The Astros led the MLB in runs per game, hits, batting average and on base percentage. Their batting champion bats seventh, and there's no tougher out in the lineup (as fearsome as their DH has been). Their leadoff man tries to homer on every swing. Their #2 hitter finished second in the AL batting race. Their shortstop/clean-up man has a career postseason OPS of .875 (his counterpart in Boston is at .707). Their rightfielder has 12 RBI in nine playoff games (his counterpart has hit into 5 double plays). This is just some of what we're up against.

What's worse is the gloaming at dusk just before it gets dark, when it's impossible for any human eyes to see a fly ball. Hopefully, the Sox will be batting and launching a lot of high pops (like last night with runners on base).

Except I don't see relievers throwing tantrums in the bullpen when Cora beckons them from the mound. Instead, they just dutifully walk the plank-- I mean, rubber.

No such thing as a quality start anymore, so buckle up for another bullpen game (that term's even obsolete now; it'll be a modern game). Here are the guys who didn't pitch yesterday that we should see: the Sox will rely on Houck for bulk, with Braiser and Robles for one inning each. Others who threw briefly yesterday and should be available: Ottavino 4 pitches to 1 batter; Taylor 6 pitches, 3 batters. Houston didn't use Ryne Stanek, Yimi Garcia or Blake Taylor yesterday; all are short men. Raley (9 batters, 43 pitches) and Maton (8, 23) have pitched the last two nights and if used yet again, might not be as effective. Starters Luis Garcia and Odorizzi don't look 100 percent. Javier threw 3 innings to 13 batters for 57 pitches and should be toast. The Stros will undoubtedly call again on their top 2 arms -- Graveman and Pressly -- though each threw a lot of pitches last night: 7, 30 and 5, 22, respectively. Those stints will either prove taxing or just warm-ups for tonight. Boston doesn't have anyone in the bullpen as good as either. The Sox' main hope will be if the rookie Houck can approximate his perfection vs. lesser lineups a few weeks ago...

No one's turning on Bloom. We disagree a lot here, but we all knew the bullpen needed help, and what Bloom added at the deadline was weak compared to what Houston got: Miami's closer, Seattle's closer, and a decent set-up man from Cleveland. The Astros also gave up a lot more in prospects, perhaps dealing from stronger depth, but also maybe sensing their window of stars (Springer already gone, Correa's last hurrah) is closing. Both the Sox and Stros can rake, and their starting pitching is thin. But the main reason Houston had to be favored -- and certainly is now, with the series tied, is the bullpen.

Once Eovaldi gave up the lead, Cora got him out of there to preserve his Game 6 starter. He brought in Perez because Brantley is a lefty and hit .219 vs. southpaws this year. It was either Martin or Darwinzon, because Taylor was burnt. But when Brantley cleared the bases on the first-pitch meatball, that was all she wrote -- no need to use any other relievers, who might help win the next game. The reason Cora didn't use Houck is obvious; Sale is starting Game 5, which means Houck is the long man. If Sale can keep the Sox in the ballgame for three innings or even into the fourth, then the season just may hinge on hoping Houck is on and unhittable the rest of the game.

The Red Sox bullpen -- or lack of it -- has already blown two games in the series for the pennant, while the Astros' pen has won two. Bloom has made a lot of good moves to rebuild Boston, and Cora has done more than expected with the roster he was given. But the bottom line is that Houston went for it at the trade deadline by getting three good relievers, while the Sox did not. The Astros' relievers acquired at the deadline played significant roles in each of their wins: Garcia and Maton in Game 1, Maton and Graveman in Game 4. Robles blew Game 1 for Boston, so Cora felt compelled to use his ace starter to try to close Game 4.

Now there's a name that overlapped two distinct decades this century -- Morneau, a shooting star in the mold of stud players who peaked in the infamous 00s, guys that were for some reason (cough, testing), never the same when they reached the deflated age of 30. Travis Haffner, Grady Sizemore, Richard Hildago, Morneau. More? No! Our Lars was no Michelin Man, though. He was said to be an eclectic sort, with lots of interests besides violently hitting a moving projectile with a club. After the US, he played pro ball in Japan, Australia and Germany. Then he became a partner in the Birdman Bats company out of California. So he still has a career in baseball.

And you know Nate wasn't starting anything, just trying to end some reporter's attempts at baiting him for a good sidebar.