ALDS IST - BOS vs HOU

[Guest Mets Willets Point]

Chris Sale has some post season yips and gives up back-to-back HRs to Alex Bregman & Jose Altuve in the first but has settled down since.
Red Sox manufacture a run in the 2nd.

Top of the 4th, HOU 2 - BOS 1.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I find that I have to root for Boston here if, for no other reason, than I don't think a National League team should win the American League pennant.

I'll feel differently, of course, if the next round has Yankees vs. Astros.

[Guest Mets Willets Point]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I find that I have to root for Boston here if, for no other reason, than I don't think a National League team should win the American League pennant. I'll feel differently, of course, if the next round has Yankees vs. Astros.

I’m with you there. I stubbornly believe the Astros (and the Brewers) should never win a pennant in both leagues.

[Frayed Knot]

Chris Sale -- 7 runs on 9 hits over 5 Innings -- joined the parade of under-performing aces in these early playoffs.
Verlander is so far the only starter out of the first three games to come out with any glory as he lasted 6 innings while holding the BoSox to 2 runs / 6 hits / 2 walks

8 - 2 Astros in the 8th

[Guest Mets Willets Point]

Well, that sucked...

[MFS62]

Why is Mr. Incompetent (Angel Hernandez) umpiring a playoff game?
I recall that he was rated the third worst umpire in the majors. There were higher rated options.
Later

[Guest Mets Willets Point]

Fuuuuuuuuuuuck....

[Guest Mets Willets Point]

Keuchel’s getting some generous strike calls from Angel.

[Frayed Knot]

Price out of the bullpen saves the game from being a total disaster for Boston (two pop-outs w/bases loaded) but they still have to figure out a way to get to Keuchel.

4-1 Houston in mid-4th (nearly two hours into the game - ugh!)

[Guest d'Kong76]

Verizon keeps turning FS1 off on me with a screen that I'm not authorized.
Then I change channels and go back and it's on again. Hi tech!

[ashie62]

I like the Astros and don't care for the Red Sox. Go Astros!

[Lefty Specialist]

I'm still grappling with the fact that the Astros are in the American League.

[Frayed Knot]

Boston looks like they're going to survive to fight another day despite another case of a one-inning outing by a starter (Foster this time) but, holy shit, every other pitch in this game is followed by a
mound conference!! - it's either the catcher, an infielder or three, the pitching coach, or the manager.

7-3 Sox with two on and still no one out in the bottom of the 7th, but in a game that has already left the three hour mark in the dust.

[MFS62]

10-3 is the final.
I never thought I would be able to use the word "final".
The game seemed like it was going to go on forever.

Later

[Lefty Specialist]

Keith is having fun on the post-game show. Helps that he's working with Kevin Burkhardt again, but he looks comfortable doing this.

And he's got his big scorecard, too. Hope he had all his colored markers.

[Frayed Knot]

I've only seen about 30 seconds of that crew on their set, and my only reaction is that, even standing amongst large-ish guys like Keith & Burkhardt, and the significantly large ARod and Papi, Frank
Thomas looks like a building.

Edited October 8, 2017 by Guest

[Guest Mets Willets Point]

Yay! The Sox will not be swept. My hopes for Boston at this point is that they can do better in the Yankees, so if Cleveland can just win tonight, that small wish will be fulfilled.

[Frayed Knot]

Game 4 in Fenway has taken a few some interesting turns.
It's just 2-1 Astros in the 5th. The starters each threw a ton of pitches but obviously got out of most of the jams they created.
But now, even with heavy rain predicted and a probable stop of the action in the next inning or so, the managers have turned to Chris Sale and Justin Verlander for middle relief!
One would have assumed that those guys would be the Game Five matchup but not in today's game.

It's Verlander's first ever relief appearance and he's just celebrated that by giving up the lead.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Always cool to see an inside the park home run in the bottom of the 9th inning but Boston falls a run short.

[G-Fafif]

The series-ender was a classic, but hard to believe a 5-4 game that took nine innings needed 4:07 to conduct. By comparison, the Astros' predecessors in 1986 lost a series to the Mets in an afternoon game that took 16 innings, yet went only 35 minutes longer.

Or, from a Red Sox point of view, Boston lost its divisional tiebreaker playoff by the same score in 1978 in 2:52.

[Frayed Knot]

G-Fafif wrote: The series-ender was a classic, but hard to believe a 5-4 game that took nine innings needed 4:07 to conduct. By comparison, the Astros' predecessors in 1986 lost a series to the Mets in an afternoon game that took 16 innings, yet went only 35 minutes longer.

Or to look at it another way: the 1986 game saw 123 batters come to the plate and yesterday's game just 82, or right around 50% more at bats in just 14% more time.

[Guest Mets Willets Point]

Alas.