At this point if it comes down to Mancini, Diaz, or nobody I pick nobody...at least nobody can't ground into a double play...
Verlander has to be on a short leash. Cmon Stros get the first lead in this series so you can win it on Saturday.
They will be prepared. The Astros pitching coaches and front office is extremely well prepared and have all possible scenarios mapped out and I am sure that they have it figured out how they will respond to Verlander struggling.
Fully agree about the respect they have shown JV, way more than what it should have been. Having said that, I would definitely start him tonight, but I would also have Garcia go through his typical game day routine as if he was starting. That way if we have to pull JV early, Garcia isn't going to have to ramp up quickly. Have him ready. On the pray for rain, luckily we aren't stupid like so many franchises and we have a roof, so they would be praying for a Harvey like rain in order to ppd a game here. Heck, even the memorial day floods didn't stop the Rockets game (nor did the Warriors)
I barely missed watching an Oilers game or Texans game my entire life until last season. Since then, I've barely watched the Texans at all given my full understanding that the way the franchise had been run made it one of, if not THE, worst organization in sports and had dug the franchise a multi-season at least whole to emerge from. It simply seemed like a waste of time and I've felt more than content to watch Red Zone on Sunday in the meantime while the franchise tries to get it's house back in order. So now you combine that with The Astros playing game 5 in a World Series tied 2-2?........good luck with that Texans, Amazon, and anyone else hoping to draw anything near market share for Houston tonight
I never saw it mentioned again, but can we get some love for the guy way back in this thread who stopped what he was doing and left his house to go to some bar in the Galleria in the middle of the game because the team has typically played better when he watches from there? The next inning the Astros scored 5 runs. That guy is the true hero here. I wish I had the patience to scan back through the thread and find who it is.
Here's how I'd fill out the lineup card tonight and handle the pitching: Pitching Verlander 3 innings Garcia: 1-2 innings Neris: 1 inning Stanek: 1 inning Abreu: 1 inning Montero 1 inning Pressly 1 inning Lineup Altuve Pena Alvarez LF Bregman Tucker Gurriel Hensley DH McCormick Maldonado
Man. Astros would be up 3-1 if not for that one in a quadrillion chance catch by forever scrub Castellanos in game 1.
I think JV gives up 2 runs over 7 innings. Whether that is enough depends on whether we get the Syndergaard we expect or a better version. Astros depth is showing the difference between Hot and Deep. Syndergaard is not JV. And our Bull pen is just better top to bottom.
Friends were at the game on the first base line, was a fairly routine catch bc the ball hung up in the air, just looked difficult on TV
