I don’t agree with running Pressly out there for a 2nd inning. I’m a 3 game series yes…maybe in a 5 gamer, but not in a 7 game series.
1 Like
Also, had to waste Neris (7 pitches, 1 out) for the 6th out for Abreu (32 pitches, 5 outs).
You need to have a win THIS game mindset, not plan for future games. I would have pitched him a second inning over Garcia, but it should have been Stanek. Will Smith was a better option than Garcia, and so was Hunter Brown.
5 Likes
Yep
Verlander in the 5th and Garcia in the 10th has given me a migraine.
1 Like
I just said this out loud to my dad, but I’ll say it here as well.
Fuck Dusty Baker and his bullshit excuses and inabilty to admit he fucked up royally and repeatedly.
Saying you can’t burn through your bullpen in the first game as an excuse to get Verlander out before the lead is gone is just astronomically stupid considering we burned the entire bullpen anyway starting 1 out later.
Fucking chickenshit comments after an absolutely dogshit game. Fuck. Dusty. Baker.
You don’t even have to be a great manager, just don’t be a fucking idiot.
5 Likes
Couldn’t agree more. Every World Series game is a “win now.” Plenty of time to rest in the offseason. Verlander should not have been out there for the 5th and certainly should have been taken out when he had runners on. Bring Neris in with runners on and Verlander clearly struggling. The Phillies were managed with a “win now” mind set and they came away with the W.
The BBGs were having a laugh at the pundits and any 'Stros fans who were thinking this would be easy by playing opposite day in Game1.
– the Phillies, the team with the questionable fielding, made the plays, but the Astros did not.
– the Astros, the team touted for taking advantage of any mistake, gave the Phillies the second chance they needed when Verlander dropped the comebacker.
– it was the Phillies bullpen that held, while the Astros didn’t.
I don’t think this was enough to destroy the 'Stros confidence. Hopefully, they’ve been woken up, and are just mad and more focused.
As for Dusty, I’ve scratched my head with some of his lineups and moves during the season, but have thought, until last night, that he has done a pretty good job in the post season.
Was this the first sign of how much Strom’s influenced last year’s post season bullpen moves? Was Dusty reliving 2002 game 6 and thinking he should trust his starter for longer tbis time? Or was this Dusty being the players’ manager and giving Verlander a chance to redeem himself? I’ll never know.
But if Dusty needs to have a brain fart during the WS, I’d rather it be Game 1 than Game 6. The Astros have the talent and the experience to get over this. And there is plenty of baseball left to be played.
1 Like
At the time I was thinking they should have
-
brought in Neris in the 5th to face Hoskins- Reamulto- Harper with 2 on and no outs.
-
Used Stanek or Brown for the 10th. Anyone but Urquidy or Garcia who give up too many HRs.
-
before HR, I was thinking bringing in Smith rather than Stanek to face L-R-L bottom of the order if runners got on but damage already done. By then getting out of it was more important than setting up 11th and 12th.
You do NOT set up the 11th and the 12th in the 10th.
3 Likes
I thought you play each game like it’s your last? Dusty didn’t do that.
1 Like
I don’t know which feels worse today, my hangover or the memories of last night’s game.
1 Like
The hangover will eventually fade.
1 Like
It’ll fade even faster if you hit a little hair of the dog.
Not sure Dusty knows what “trying to be a hero” means
Trying to be a hero would be swinging out of your shoes at bad pitches… which he did after he tried to get hit
Man, that one at bat by Mancini was the worst I’ve seen. Even worse than that one by Altuve last month. It just keeps getting played in my head over and over.
Agree, I was Slackjawed that this was a major leaguer of some reputation
No kidding. Looked like they were sitting on his deuce. Absolutely creamed a couple that broke into the zone.
They had had great swings at everything he threw.
Verlander is the guy. He is Mr. Hall of Game, Mr. Cy Young, the leader. His job was to throw a quality start and the offense took the pressure off by giving him 5 runs. He failed and put his team at a significant disadvantage - one, that at least statistically, they are unlikely to overcome.
3 Likes