Also, not to post-fact b****, but can we talk about Hinch's... curious decision to burn Marisnick in the 8th on a pinch-running assignment? I'm not sure it was wholly necessary (White isn't McCann slow; or really slow at all, frankly), + it took your hottest bat out *and* best glove out of the line-up with 6 very difficult outs left to get. Reddick in LF (if you insert Marisnick in CF) makes the catch on the game-winner, doesn't he? Especially considering Gonzalez may not be 100%.
I don't think Osuna would have pitched 3 straight days. I think the pitching basically plays out the same either way. Hinch is clearly comfortable with Rondon closing games.
Still taking 2 of 3 in Boston is no small task. While I would have loved the sweep I can't be overly disappointed. Now if someone could just beat the damn A's. Talk about layup's back to back sets against the Rangers and Orioles? I don't expect Baltimore to win a game which means we need to go sweep in Detroit.
You could be right. But Hinch very obviously wanted to win last night, and you get three against the Tigers in which it's less likely Osuna will be needed.
Two controversial replays - ~3 weeks apart - are right now a 3-game difference in the standings; that's huge.
You know who also lost that outside corner? ESPN. Towards the end of the game, they were not putting the little circle on screen showing where the pitch actually went in relation to the strike zone. They were still replaying close pitches, and the commentators were still commenting on it, but it sure seemed like a conscious decision to stop showing how off that ump was. I mean, both teams benefited from balls called strikes. I just thought it was weird how ESPN stopped clearly showing it as the game went on.
You know what was really annoying? Saturday night I started off watching the game on the MLB network. It was the Red Sox feed. I think it was Eckersly. Took me about an inning to switch over to the Astros feed.
Hmm, that's very interesting. That removes any last doubt I had that they botched that call. Here's a post from Baseball Rules Academy from April 26th of this year addressing this exact thing. Relevant part: Definition of Terms A TAG is the action of a fielder in touching a base with his body while holding the ball securely and firmly in his hand or glove; or touching a runner with the ball, or with his hand or glove holding the ball (not including hanging laces alone), while holding the ball securely and firmly in his hand or glove. Interestingly, here's a USA today article from a couple years ago talking about it right after the rule was changed. The video that MLB used to explain showcased an out made by the laces of one Jose Altuve.
Hinch hasn't used any pitcher 3 days in a row all year... he wasn't going to change last night. Also, the Red Sox pinch-ran for JD Martinez... who may be faster than White. I have no problem with Hinch using a pinch runner there... maybe if you don't want to use Marisnick, and use Kemp, that's certainly possible. But the only way to have Marwin-White-Yuli all in the same lineup (presuming all the other regulars still play) has Marwin playing LF.... and it was a short LF (like MMP), so we may have to get used to his defensive limitations out there.
If the Astros don't win the division, this loss to the Red Sox won't be the main reason. The replay call against the A's was a 2 game swing. Plus they have the easiest remaining schedule of any AL contender outside Cleveland. Astros just need to continue to handle their business over the next few weeks. No reason they shouldn't get another 100 win season and clinch the division with 3-5 games remaining.
The guy in the booth said he looked safe. MLB looked at themselves by saying don't overrule the ump and let's have a good ending for the national audience. We swept those Dirty Sox. Dirty Rotten Dirtbags.
No...it literally won’t. First and foremost, while counting that run would have made a win more probable, it didn’t guarantee anything since the best offensive team in baseball still had nine outs and the whole game would have played out differently. Second...if you’re going to pinpoint a game..there are plenty of others, most notably Celeveland, that can be pointed to.
Regardless of how the 3rd game came about, I am proud of our guys for winning the series and being there till the end in game 3. If we can play like we did in this series to finish the year, I have little doubt we take the division and momentum into the playoffs.
