Just can't believe the Cards are about to knock out the Braves who I thought had a chance to take out the Dodgers, but the Nationals might do that. Crazy.
I've never really been a big conspiracy theory guy but I just can't imagine a scenario where the league, tbs, fox, mlb network, or anyone outside of Tampa wants to see Tampa Bay vs New York instead of Houston vs New York. Former champs... 2017 ALCS rematch... To me the storyline is just too good to pass up. But ehh what do I know, just thinking out loud...
And during the height of the steroid era, "they" were completely ok with the Florida Marlins winning two titles?
There’s fair argument in saying because we were down early 1) the bats got tighter and 2) the crowd became a bigger factor. Those two bullets are the very reason everyone seems to prefer a fast start. The fact the Rays didn’t score against the bullpen with relaxed bats is an even bigger credit to our relievers.
Just think, if we lose game 5 we will become a trivia answer. Alds teams who lost 3 straight to lose the series.
Baseball doesn't go chalk as much as some other sports. Since 2002 the team with the best record in baseball has won the World Series 5 times. Red Sox in 07 (tied with Cleveland at 96 wins) Yankees in 09 Red Sox in 13 (tied with STL at 97 wins) Cubs in 16 Red Sox in 18 Since 2002 a Wild Card team has won the World Series 5 times. Angels in 2002 Marlins in 2003 Red Sox in 2004 Cardinals in 2011 Giants in 2014
I think the law of averages is on our side, our hits will start finding holes and the Rays will find gloves.
I don't want to see one Astro hitter called out "looking." Swing, swing, swing! That's you Alvarez! And Springer, and Brantly, everybody "go for it." No wimpy at bats.
Baseball is too random. Regular season and home field means SQUAT in the playoffs. Cautionary tale for the Astros.
Well, researching now, Vlad wasn't there yet (2004). Perhaps a good thing due to his wretched .662 career postseason OPS.
We would have been better off looking past them. It's never a good ide to give a major underdog confidence. And aj handed it to them on silver platter by abandoning the regular gameplan. He flinched first. Now we gotta knock the snot out of them and retake it. But that's what we do. It's our slogan. You should always look past these little mats and focus on the endgame.
790 reminded everyone earlier that Cole threw 118 pitches last outing (career-high). Can't see that being helpful tomorrow
Look at the Cards vs. the Braves. The point is....it is not like Football or even Basketball when it comes to home field advantage. Road teams are like 19-11 in Game 5s in the LDS since 2012. Since 1998, teams without Home field in the LDS have actually won more series.
Other teams don't have the home field advantage we do. Astros are undefeated at home in the divisional round the last 3 years. In 2017 they only lost 1 home game the entire postseason. This year it's a wide spread on home vs. away. Likewise the Rays have a big home field advantage in their dumpster.
