2017 ALCS - New York Yankees vs Houston Astros

Is Joe Buck calling these? No way i will keep the TV audio on.

I'll say HOU in 6.

go baby bombers

i don't hate this yankees team but i'm rooting 'stros and picked them to win in 6

NY in 7

Agree about Joe Buck, he's one annoying fuck.

I never listen with the commentary anyway. Good time to catch up on music and podcasts.

Rooting for Houston sweep, voted for Houston sweep.

Houston in 5 or 6, but it feels ominous to me that New York beat Cleveland. I don't know how this team matches up to the '96 Yankees, the Series winner that started their last run of dominance, but their seasonal records are almost identical. If anything, the '96 team over-performed by a few games, while this year's differential was much better than their record.

Or Houston could score 8 runs a game and kill them.

I think Houston's got a bit more depth than the Yankees but the Astros will need to get better starts as the NY bullpen is better. I would not be surprised if a couple games break into some softball game scores as both teams have good lineups. I took Houston in six.

Astros till the end now.

buck's not that bad

would still probably prefer joe davis, the teenager who does dodgers/a few fs1 games now

I don't know how this team matches up to the '96 Yankees, the Series winner that started their last run of dominance, but their seasonal records are almost identical.

The comparison ends there, those teams are nothing alike.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

2 more votes for NY than in the Divisional poll. Out yourselves bros!

real fans don't wave hankies

Three scoreless innings? What sport is this?

The comparison ends there, those teams are nothing alike.

One thing that seems potentially similar is that both teams have/had a core group of young players that may be there for a while: Jeter/Rivera/Williams/Posada, Judge/Gregorius/Sanchez/Bird. Longshot, but I can that in broad outline. The '96 team was definitely more in the rent-a-star mold.

That '96 Yankees team had a deep bench of renowned veteran players: Boggs, Strawberry, Mariano Duncan, Charlie Hayes, Cecil Fielder and Tim Raines.

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22past+a+diving+gregorius

Imagine the renown Altuve might earn once these games move to a channel people have.

someone tell Bucksuck even the Productive Out purveyors don't use it when it's the second out.

gurriels a good hitter imo

infield of correa / altuve / yuli / bregman is v sick offensively

Houston looks impressive but their fans look like douchebags

Bucksuck

...

They're not going to overturn that.

not Bronxdouchey

too bad the Baby Bombers didn't capitalize dere

Keuchel killing it.

we still have a shot at time of game ~3:00

:0

Is Greg Bird's number a nod to Larry's?

80% of astros fans prob prioritize hs football text updates over this game but w/e

CC looks very comfortable in the post season judging from the cuts to him laughing and palling around

thanks for the update

u r so mad lol

"CC smiles in dugout" would be a great daily news cover to be sure

can't imagine anyone i'd want to have up less than fucking ellsbury right now

yeah was going to say it was game over when Ellsbury came up, could see it in Giles' body language.

i'm taking classes about body language in my mba so now i know about these things.

Giles threw a lot of pitches to get just four outs.

this'll be the first ever soft toss world series

Make that five outs. Point stands though!

I rewatched Marwin Gonzalez's throw a bunch of times this morning -- such an insanely great play that only gets better each time I see it.

HOUSTON JEFFREY MAIER

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 14, 2017

2h20 to play seven innings? It's a playoff miracle!

Verlander's got the good stuff tonight

fortunate to have verlander dealing tonight after giles goes so long last night

Imagine how good he'd be if he had been receptive to Jack Morris' advice!

hinch is dustying

More Verlander ...

He's anti-dustying. Dusty would bring in his 5th best reliever, then his 4th best, etc. unless it's a save situation. Hinch trusts only his closer.

93 strikes?

Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In play strikes:
Verlander 25-25-25-18

fuck him up tuves

why isn't he in the HOF yet idgi

terrible send!

gotta love chapman shitting the bed (now that he isn't a a cub)

Great ending!

yeah that was a bad send, sanchez absolutely has to make that play. inexcusable

Sending Altuve was a bit insane but considering the game situation it's a good gamble even if he makes it about 20% of the time (I'm sure the usual sites will calculate this).

that's the legend of future hall of famer jose altuve

did you notice how he quickly swooped dusty baker's small child out of the way before completing his slide

Not pictured: José Altuve #ALCS pic.twitter.com/TOKLY6kacD

— The Ringer (@ringer) October 14, 2017

AND he craned his neck to look at the damn ball after he rounded the bag.

Sending Altuve was a bit insane but considering the game situation it's a good gamble even if he makes it about 20% of the time (I'm sure the usual sites will calculate this).

― NoTimeBeforeTime, Saturday, October 14, 2017 7:23 PM (twelve minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah i would be very interested in seeing the math for this, if you come across a breakdown please link

it's a good gamble even if he makes it about 20% of the time

Is it? Runner on 3rd with 1 out in a tie game is a pretty good situation, isn't it?

OK, I did a quick calculation using the run expectation data here and came up with 18 percent. That's assuming that each team has equal chances of winning if it goes to extras (which isn't really true -- the home team would have a slight advantage) and not taking into account the pitchers (e.g. the difficulty of scoring off Chapman in the 9th compared to what the run expectation table would tell you).

i'm not sure how you got that from that table? but then again, i'm not sure what was meant by "it's a good gamble even if he makes it about 20% of the time" either, heh

that table does show, though, that the probability of scoring at least one run when runners are at second and third with one out is about 69%, nice. so if altuve would have held up at third, as he should have, they still would have had a 69% nice chance of scoring and winning the game.

After visiting Theodore Roosevelt's birthplace site, I saw the last 2 innings at a gay sports bar and yelled quite loudly at the end, annoying the Stankee rooters.

I see now that I read a number wrong from that table. But you're right, with x23 and one out there's a 69% chance of winning the game in the ninth, and a 31% chance that the game goes to extras (and I gave them a 50% chance of winning in extras). With a similar calculation for sending the runner (if he makes it you win, if he doesn't you have x2x and two outs and can win in the ninth or in extras) and now the calculation gives 59%! So yeah, it's a terrible gamble because you have to be safe more than 59% of the time for it to pay off.

If there had been two outs, it's a simpler calculation and the break even point is 28%.

lol jesus, i knew the outcome before i watched the final play but i thought while seeing it, "oh dammit they got him..."

i'd be curious to see the play from a different angle, maybe sanchez was a little bit far up and altuve could have sneaked past him anyway?

i'm not sure how you got that from that table? but then again, i'm not sure what was meant by "it's a good gamble even if he makes it about 20% of the time" either, heh

he's saying that statistically there is some inflection point where the risk of giving up an out by being thrown out is outweighed by the potential benefit of scoring immediately

i'd be curious to see the play from a different angle, maybe sanchez was a little bit far up and altuve could have sneaked past him anyway?

― nomar, Saturday, October 14, 2017 9:07 PM (two minutes ago)

ha no he'd have to have jumped over him i think, he was beat by so much

If Sanchez caught it cleay he’d have enough time to get an early start on taxes before Altuve arrives. And Sanchez’s tax situation is complicated

cleanly

on live view i didnt see Sanchez's drop and thought Altuve had eluded the tag

yeah i just re-watched it, Sanchez could have caught the ball, turned around, sucker-punched Gonzalez, served a suspension, then returned in time to tag him.

Didn't take long for Posnanski to get his complete game.

The Verlander Game: Astros' New Ace Delivers Dominance While Embracing Team's Analytical Approach (Verducci)

https://www.si.com/mlb/2017/10/15/justin-verlander-astros-yankees-alcs

One day three years ago, in the middle of a down year in which he would post a 4.54 ERA for the Tigers, Verlander was called into the office of manager Brad Ausmus.

“I don’t see you throwing with conviction behind your pitches,” Ausmus said.

A surprised Verlander snapped back at him.

“I guarantee you can pick any pitch that I’ve thrown and I can tell you exactly what I was trying to do with it,” Verlander said.

The two men began to talk, and as they did, Ausmus figured out what truly was missing in his ace’s game: Verlander still was relying only on his instincts and observations to get people out, when an entire world of data was out there to help him. The conversation opened Verlander’s eyes and mind. He began seeking out pitch data, keeping his own hand-written statistics and notes, and visiting a pitching guru of modern data-based mechanics to learn about spin rates, release points and arm health.

When the Tigers traded Verlander to Houston Aug. 31, another world opened for Verlander. The Astros are one of the most forward-thinking, resourceful teams when it comes to analytics, and Verlander not only embraced it all, he also asked for more. The joke among the quants in the organization was that Verlander was the first guy to actually ask for more than the reams of information they already were crunching.

pic.twitter.com/oDONCsDFat

— Tangotiger (@tangotiger) October 15, 2017

Hey, I actually got it right! I see now that I didn't need to take in to account what would have happened in extra innings (irrelevant when considering this particular play, because the game ends if he scores, so you don't need to consider anything that would happen afterward).

The true break even point is certainly lower, because the chances of scoring a run off Chapman is lower than what's given in the standard table (much higher risk of a strikeout). So the break even point is probably between 40-50%, which is still a bad send.

tom uses comic sans nice

https://i.imgur.com/PSJkBhy.jpg

judge currently at 19 K in 37 PA

Pos pointed out that Judge is one short of the Yankees all-time record for 3K postseason games. The current record holder is Derek Jeter with 6.

he was 1-for-20 with four walks and 16 strikeouts in the five games against cleveland, which is frankly incredible

I'm sure it was the pitching, but NY just seems to swing at balls and take strikes

https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2017/10/16/16483202/aaron-judge-new-york-yankees-struggles-alcs

i just watched this and wow

that was some big-boy pitching

which is frankly incredible

I was going to post about that right after the series ended, calling it embarrassing, but Judge is a good guy, and everybody likes him, and he had an historic season, so I didn't think that would have gone over so well.

yeah I'm rooting for him pretty hard but I'd be surprised if he has a great career - his plate approach just seems so exploitable to me. hopefully he'll adjust some in the offseason.

they don't make commemorative bats for disappointments

I guess he's more of a bobble bead kind of player

http://www.vintagecardprices.com/pics/1814/168387.jpg

20 strikeouts for Judge

it appears he has no idea what he's doing at the plate

good fundies there Didi

Evan Gattis very Merlin Olsen

good eye, Grizzly

bronx bunters!

First bludd

wind-aided cheapass crap

(it's finally autumnish in NY tonight)

i'd like to visit this Replay Fortress on 19th Street

they take forfuckingever

my main question coming in was whether former pirates great charlie morton would get out of the third

imagine this team *without* verlander

Oracle database administrator Carsten Sabathia

Jon Sciambi (sp?) on radio pointing out what a shitty framer Sanchez is.

yeah it's interesting, he looks really bad by the eye test but the numbers say he's actually pretty good

goddammit, Correa

Verlander is obv a big postseason asset, when frontline pitching gets more work, but Astros did Ok w/out him for 90 games or so.

Morton's been decent aside from the discount HR

SO WAHT

damn altuve showing some defensive skills tonight

Verlander and Keuchel and pray to St Michael

Romine catching Gray. https://t.co/YmKc5seQwN

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) October 17, 2017

TROUBLE

yuli

Not sure why Gurriel thought it was so important to advance to third on that play, but I guess the damage was already done.

it seems conceivable that he was trying to draw a throw -- i thought there might be a close play at the plate -- but i'm guessing he was just over-aggressive. and third is a nicer place to be with one out

The Astros completely blew the rundown there.

I'm still not sure why Devenski was pulled so quickly -- do the Astros have any middle relievers who are better?

giles sux fam

BROTHERS GONNA WORK IT OUT

I'd say it's a stunning collapse, but considering the state of the Houston bullpen, it's not all that surprising.

:)

glad i missed most o' that shit

do the Astros have any middle relievers who are better?

They haven't used Peacock in relief yet

Hinch saving him for Game 8

can't believe i'm gonna be rooting for the team with the biggest payroll in MLB to beat the yankees

almost like your reasons for hating the yankees are kind of arbitrary!!

lol

their history of evil is a given, kev

a Cubs-Yanks WS would be Hillary-Trump all over again

i'd rather root for the cubs but i'd have much less confidence in them

the yankees winning the pennant at all this year is just disgusting to think about

i do not & will never want the yankees to win anything but this team is likeable to me i see it

qualx, shame on you for giving up on this series already, you must be one of those Momentum clowns!

btw before he redeemed himself with the batting heroics, Judge nearly making 3 outs on the basepaths in one inning was LOL.

if the astros ended up winning the series...

last time two 100-game winners faced each other in the world series was...1970? reds vs o's?

it's kind of crazy to see how often, in the last 20 years, 100-game winners have been eliminated before reaching the WS:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_100_win_seasons

that's baseball, etc etc

Scrolled through, and you're right--1970. A number of times one side was one or two wins short. Tried searching most-total-wins for a Series, but you need the right search term or you just get the Yankees for most total Series wins.

w/out looking it up i know that the year before, the Mets had 100 and the Orioles... 107? (looksup; 109)

I also remember that I was wearing a junior-size Mets jacket in 1970 and a nun in my parish who was from Baltimore japed at me, "You better get a jacket with the Orioles on it."

excellent and true jape

it's been weird listening to the astro's radio feed of these games and hearing ads for churches

btw I really hate hearing from raspy white journeymen like Todd Frazier after postseason wins every year. "The Yankee gods must've been watching over us." May his decline phase come soon.

saw someone touting him for the mets next year -- if only to give player-manager david wright an occasional day off

plz no

I remember Astro pitching coach Brent Strom as a Mets rookie in '72

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4325/35973930825_82bff7eb1c_c.jpg

fuck fox's homer Yankee kru

happily i watched 3 innings last night in a gay bar w/ bad music on

Astros' 2nd shows a PRODUCTIVE OUT sometimes doesn't produce.

can't stand the hyping of the yankee stadium crowd by the announcers , as if it were more special than any other baseball crowd.

also not a huge fan of the 2-3-2 home/away format, game 3 and 5 are pretty key and they get to be in the ballpark of the team with less reg. season wins.

they're all pretty key

xp agreed but I also like having a minimum # of travel days. don't much like the idea of a 3-man rotation or a dominant reliever pitching six games in a series

imo the biggest downside is that the team w/ more wins can lose 4-1 and only get 2 home games

trying to rationalise my hatred for the current score.

Need 2-3 quick runs vs Tanaka; pray when the relief starts.

fuck the yankees now and forever

https://i.imgur.com/9mOa2Nh.jpg

btw in my i.v. chair today i caught Steven Schirripa, who played Bobby "Bacala" Baccalieri on The Sopranos, on some AM radio show (hyping his role in the new Woody Allen film). He and the hosts were ripping Puig, Cespedes, Cano, and Beltran for hot-dogging instead of running. Some of the Sopranos actors were good at playing racist dickheads for a reason...

is frazier really a better fielder than headley? if you're gonna play both and have one DH i'd have thought it would be the other way around

frazier is definitely a better fielder than headley

i guess the home team is winning every game in this one

yanks are driving the ball when they pull, which is something they've never done against keuchel in history

gasp

they've scored more runs against him today than they have in all his starts against the yanks since 2015

you better keep your gasping shoes on

I'd still be fairly confident going back to Houston that the Astros can win, but I won't say I'm not surprised at the way this is going--what I meant in the earlier post that the Cleveland series felt ominous to me. That wasn't supposed to happen at all.

AND HERE COMES BRAD PEACOCK

astros should've taken a cue from the dodgers and taken their slump in september

Nothing in the PS is supposed to happen except the Twins losing the WC game.

If Verlander is 'money' again Friday, there is the question of who pitches G7 (besides, inevitably, Keuchel in relief)

...i suppose they have to hope McCullers strikes twice?

I heard Morton

(Might have just been radio speculation though)

they'd be silly to start morton, gotta think they go with verlander in a must-win G6

We were talking about a G7!

ah got it--they kind of have to roll with mccullers, i think, considering how well he pitched for 6 yesterday

Is it more than the Yankee pitching?

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/whats-wrong-with-houstons-offense/

The Yankees are well constructed for their ballpark. Teams are, of course, generally better at home. This year, for example, clubs posted a 101 wRC+ mark at home this season and a 92 wRC+ on the road. The Yankees’ results were even more dramatic, though: they posted a 115 wRC+ at home this season (and 140 home runs) versus a 101 wRC+ on the road (101 home runs). The Yankees’ home wRC+ trailed only the Astros’ (121) in the regular season. Their home home-run total led baseball.

Home-field advantage is a real thing and is largely tied to umpire bias on borderline ball-strike calls, which the Yankee fans might be influencing according to Austin Romine....

But the Yankees’ edge goes beyond that in how their bats play in one of the more favorable offensive parks in baseball. It helped the Yankees to an AL-best home record and made up for a sub-.500 mark (40-41) on the road.

The Yankees are making quality contact like no other playoff team (although the Dodgers’ are doing OK for themselves). While that’s a small sample, there’s reason to believe it’s sustainable: in the regular reason, only the Astros were a better offensive team at home. The Yankees have continued that trend in October. While the Yankees will not enjoy home-field advantage in terms of number of games should they advance to the World Series, none of the remaining clubs is enjoying their home field more than the Yankees.

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-yankees-air-ball-and-home-field-advantages/

love those flyball cheap HRs in da Bronx

Ted
Is there any particular strategy (or strategies) the Yankees should look to employ against Verlander tonight? He looked downright invincible last time out

Jeff Sullivan
Last night, the Dodgers came out very aggressive against Jose Quintana, knowing that he loves to strike early and get ahead
With Verlander, as you'd expect, he's pretty fastball-heavy early in counts. He goes to the slider when he's out ahead. He made terrific use of that slider earlier in the series. There's not much for the Yankees to do to prepare, but they should at least think about going after more first-pitch fastballs

The Canadian station had someone on-field before the last game interviewing Reggie Jackson. I loved Reggie then, and still do. I don't think I've ever seen anyone so brilliant--so shameless, and with such style--at the splendor-of me. (The two Jesus & Mary Chain guys had a good 15 minutes when Psychocandy came out.) Asked who Aaron Judge most reminded him of, Reggie took half-a-second to think about it and humbly offered himself, and then went on to catalogue all the amazing things Judge could do.

REGGIE: I have an IQ of 170.

MICKEY RIVERS: Out of what? A thousand?

the longer the 0's go up, the more it feels like the Astros are never gonna hit

3 innings in 0:51

47 pitches in 4 innings for JV, so he's geared to go ten.

Verlander has had some filthy stuff, even if they make contact it's usually going nowhere.

Ha, that change to Frazier was gnarly! Frazier tried so hard to hit the breaks but he was about a 1/2 mile out front when he realized it was off speed.

yea astro bats cmon wtf

Is Beltran likely to retire after this season? Wondering if we could be witnessing his final game.

robo umps now

jeezus, McCann of all people

wonder if gattis would've made it if it didn't go in the stands

Eh...I kinda looks like Gattis has a body by Budweiser type speed.

damn they need 2 more runs b4 those relievers come in

I'm kinda surprised the Yanks are not being a bit more aggro with the bullpen here.

goddammit Reddneck

TUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUVES

LET'S FUCKING GO

PastALeapingFrazier!

He laced that one. Heck of a reply showing how close Frazier was to knocking it down or catching it.

KM, yes i think. He's been very busy the last couple weeks w/ Puerto Rican relief efforts.

mvp

3-0 slider!

With Yankee rookie Aaron Judge's sixth inning strikeout against the Astros Justin Verlander, Judge has tied a major league record for the most Ks in one postseason. His 26 strikeouts are the same as Alfonso Soriano had in 2003.

shit

oof

Double play ball is what is needed.

Big K

hoooooooooooooooooooooooooo

what a catch

Ah wow...

Springer coming up clutch!

YES

I hadda RESTART MY HEART after that Springer catch

That was an intense inning.

LET'S FUCKING GO

One more for Verlander; then i think they hafta roll the dice w/ Giles, unless it's a 6-pitch 8th

tuned in. midterms' timing are terrible this year. really happy to see the score.

I dunno, I think JV's done.

Maybe throw him out there for the first batter

i think you're right, Peacock; V is gettin hugs

Hopefully no Lidge/Pujols in the ninth. I don't think that ball has still come down.

When you've done something as hitter that warrants comparison to Dal Maxvill, you're in a very bad place.

cheeezit

xp

Ha, yeah I thought the same re: maxville

why Peacock why

ok we figured that might happen

solo is the best kind of HR to give up

Brent Strom is telling him what Seaver and Matlack woulda done in '72

lol Buck with the hit and walk comparaisons that leads to nowhere logical.

nice comeback after the HR tho

hoo hoo

brillant stuff.

Hopefully no Peacock/Judge in the ninth. I don't think that ball has still come down.

TUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUVES

future hall of famer José Altuve

👌

LET’S GO

future hall of famer Carlos Correa

establishing the mortality of the NY bullpen seems helpful for tomorrow night.

future hall of famer Carlos Correa

― Van Horn Street, Friday, October 20, 2017 11:03 PM (forty-eight seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

whoa now let's not get ahead of ourselves

maybe save giles now?

future hall of famer Alex Bregman

yep xp

what happened to all that Bronx Momentum? And the PLUCK?

and where are calstars and kevin k?

what happened to the blue collar never give up values?

Looks like Sanchez can't deal with throws that have the runner dead to rights, he did that the other night too.

both kinda crappy throws

Sabathia tomw right?

i don't get people calling this houston team unlikable, outside of mccann. tbh i could hate all 24 other players and i'd still root for the tuvester

fans aren't great but how many fans are

well everyone wondered where the bats were for 5 games, and they found 'em.

Reddick's gonna get 2 hits tomorrow, write it down.

I don't get people calling this houston team unlikable

who says that? yankees fans? this is a very exciting team to watch.

i think using Giles here is dumb. what if he throws 30 pitches?

i'll give Hinch the benefit of the doubt.

Giles is definitely heading towards 30 pitches now.

who says that? yankees fans? this is a very exciting team to watch.

― Van Horn Street, Friday, October 20, 2017 11:24 PM (four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

people were saying it here! maybe it was the yankees doofs i don't remember

Baseball players are the most nervous looking people I’ve ever had to watch on teevee in my life

Literally giving the Yankees a free shot at some 25- or 30-pitch outing that screws you for Game 7.

— Joe Sheehan (@joe_sheehan) October 21, 2017

Thank morbius for my completely unnecessary appearance on this thread btw

why would you, VHS?? IT MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE.

so, so stupid. Managers and their goddamn closer obsession.

good thing headley sped things along there

Well I’ve learned everything to know about postseason baseball

Ken Giles pitched on back-to-back days 13 times this year. The most pitches he ever threw on Day 1 was 22. 23 tonight.

— Joe Sheehan (@joe_sheehan) October 21, 2017

Back to Star Wars and video games, sorry for the bother

who knows maybe it was good to get him in there for the inning. 23 pitches so what

everyone's riding on adrenaline tomorrow anyhow

the game will probably have 15 pitching changes

First time I've ever heard Altuve interviewed. "I literally love Justin Verlander"--great!

I did actually watch that btw. Verlander 4-0! Something special. So much dudes, very white. Much hair, wow.

I hope Houston wins bcz Irma. The winning city gets millions in infrastructure and housing, right?

so, so stupid. Managers and their goddamn closer obsession.

― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Friday, October 20, 2017 11:32 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

perhaps it is, all in all I agree, we discussed many times how it cost managers in the past, I get it. but at the same time, all i know is that Hinch knows the situation more than I do. especially with this organisation, they must be aware how the culture of closer obsession is somewhat ridiculous. My uniformed hunch is that it matters first and foremost to Giles, and that confidence goes a long in way in a game 7.

if verlander is not in a full suit like his last press conference i will be upset

future hall of famer Justin Verlander btw

future hall of fame spouse kate upton

Present Hall of Fame spouse Kate Upton.

you are sullying the future of the institution that only one man truly deserves

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/y9Y7359R1IM/maxresdefault.jpg

Giles better perform tomorrow for AJ's sake

Tomorrow could he hilarious. Hinch appears to trust no one, and will absolutely need to use at least four pitchers. #astros

— Joe Sheehan (@joe_sheehan) October 21, 2017

One percent. Literally one percent of the time that batted ball (93 mph / 24 deg) from Altuve is a home run. pic.twitter.com/yEZ3ue1JnJ

— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) October 21, 2017

Verlander-Sabathia would have been a perfect Game 7 match, but that's okay.

I always liked CC and really don't have a preference in game 7, but I kinda lean to want to see Verlander vs. Kershaw more than the historical Yanks/Dodgers replay.

I've been hoping for that too: only starting-pitcher MVPs of the past 30 or so years.

(always the awards)

Hinch on Giles usage: "These guys will be on an adrenaline high..."

they're all actually talk-radio hosts

he also said "I'll use every guy on the staff if i have to"

go bionic, JV

at the very least hinch understands that eliminating the yankees is way more important than winning a single game against the dodgers so that's a positive

He endangered his chances of winning tomorrow. He didn't trust any other pitcher to protect a 6-run lead for 3 outs.

Anyway, thx guys, you kept me wired and this was the first night game i saw in its entirety.

Houston's bullpen is pretty crap, so I kinda get why he went that way, but he had a six run lead too. I guess the lead got big before he could switch 'maybe'. They are going to need 6-9 outs at least in game 7.

I still kinda think the Yanks match up better against the Dodgers. Even if Verlander would get 2 of 3 against Kershaw, they got to win two other games and I think LA's got the pitching depth against them.

it'd be cute to have a NYY/LAD series for nostalgia's sake in theory, but now that we're close to it actually happening fuck the yankees forever

an Astros/Dodgers World Series would still have me doing a mental double take, I'm nowhere near 100% awareness at every moment of Houston being an AL team.

I grew up a Reds fan hating the Dodgers from the old NL west days. I'll always hate them for '81 and really would not mind them having another 30 years of failure. One of my roommates in college was also an obnoxious Dodger fan too.

it's all just laundry tho

These Dodgers don't have anything to do with the '88 team that sunk the Mets...

Yeah, it's more you hate their fans. I get that is a big reason why the Yanks are so hated.

my best friend is a Yankee fan

but he never goes to games cuz he hates the fans

smdh

From a history standpoint, even diehard Yankee haters can appreciate a Dodgers vs Yankees World Series. But in reality, I know the TV coverage would be dominated by so many nauseating puff pieces that it's enough to put me off of the idea forever.

Cameron with a Hinch game plan

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/mapping-out-27-outs-for-a-j-hinch/

Reddick's first two AB tonight crucial::

Maxvill (1968) - 0-22, 3 BB
Reddick (2017) - 0-21, 1 BB

You have to adjust for era, so Maxvill's '68 much more impressive.

That Todd Frazier swing last night was something to behold.

http://www.mlb.com/images/4/6/0/259224460/102017_hounyy_verlander_k_frazier.gif

Pretty sure he began his swing ("swing") after the ball had reached the catcher's glove. It's a humbling game.

reddick dropped to 9th

springer & marwin are both struggling nearly as bad this series, quite an OF

i finally caught up with game 6. what a game if you're an astros fan.

it was me who said the astros kind seem like villains but keep in mind i was in the throes of the division series. and tbf it's really just reddick who, come on, is a supervillain. but no i love keuchel now, have always loved tuves and big jv, coming around on correa and springer, gurriel is adorbs, bregman is.. well he kinda looks like an internal affairs officer who's poking into your expense claims and flexing his jaw as he spots suspicious entries

and what a goddamned catch. that whole inning was sensational. was there a single ball hit all night that wasn't absolutely laced?

morton bringing that gas

stuck listening to Suck & Schmutz as NY ESPNRadio is carrying the Knicks tonight

wow that catch.. hard to imagine his wrist isnt fucked up

judge so boring smh

and yeah his wrist...

c'mon kk, no one ever called him a boring player

Hopefully that padding is softer than it looks.

Dungeon Master:
Morton seems like the poster boy for the starting pitcher of the future, velo, good breaker, amazing through 4 or 5 and goes no further

Dave Cameron;
Yup.

I bet Evan Gaddis owns a whole lot of cammo clothes.

"He's not doing a good job of blending into his environment now!" -- Joe Buck voice

The power of deer jerky...activate!

oso blanco

bring cc back

BOID

"little league world series hero" kill me

Well done, Trot Sheriff.

what a risky play, holy eff

wow both components of that throw/catch were unreal

yasssss

that play was the opposite of altuve in game 2

Morton's done, right?

http://mlb.mlb.com/assets/images/4/8/4/216662484/cuts/parenttrap_b9ywju5l_v5rr2osj.jpg

I'd figure if they are going to a starter out of the pen you would start on a clean inning.

TUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUVES

it's happening!!

mvp

"He may be little, but he plays big." Jesus.

such a groaner

Judge ain't 12 feet tall, eh

i don't want a good game i want a blowout

"he may not be a judge, but he rules at the plate AND on the field"

mccann !

awoooo

kahnle was pitching p well but was walking a tightrope idk joe mayve wanted a lefty v mccann~

"Here comes the man," sez closed captioning.

will the Guardians of Protocol find Altuve's delayed bat flip acceptable?

WHO WILL BE THIS YEARS TACO HERO

There is a while to go. Houston's got a playoff rep for pulling defeat out of the jaws of victory.

no stolen bases means no tacos

"500!"

fuck the yankees

just wanted to get that out

McCullers looked good in his start and looks good tonight.

I'm somehow picture Mike Scott or Joe Niekro slowly sauntering into the clubhouse with a nail file palmed to give to the current Astros pitching staff.

@Feinsand
Reminder: The Yankees are paying $5.5 million of McCann's $17 million salary this season.

these commercial breaks are so fucking long

TURN BACK YOU POXY RUHLE

"You've gotta execute." -- John Smoltz

at this point i'm starting to suspect Judge enjoys striking out.

What was it? 14 curveballs in a row? last two sings were identical. McCullers must be pinching himself.

No player would benefit from switching to the Astros and their hitting approach more than Judge.

McCullers has literally thrown nothing but curves for the past two innings?

YYEESSS!!

FUCK OFF YANKEES

my guess is altuve and JV could be co-MVPs

GO HOOOOOOOOOOME

This was certainly one way to get around the problem of having a crappy bullpen. Congrats Astros!

super impressive by morton/mcullers

McCullers said "Everyone wrote us off"?!

must be first franchise to win both league's pennants?

Larry Mullen Jr is a god

"We have no problems, Houston." JESUS.

i completely 100% always forget that the astros won the pennant in 2005

i can only ever think of the pujols HR so my brain keeps thinking the cards won

and i have a very clear memory of the white sox winning but not vs houston, it's weird to even imagine them in the WS before now

if you'd sat through the 18 inning ALDS Astros-Braves game you'd remember

oh wait, they were still in the national league then

Lance McCullers finished the game by throwing 24 consecutive curveballs. That is absurd.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 22, 2017

what a performance by former pirate great charlie morton

I did sit through that game! my brain also remembered it being vs the cards and not the braves lol

A-Rod: "How do you say his name, Gur--"
Burkhardt: "Oh, uh, Gattis?"

This is the first matchup of 100-win teams in the World Series since 1970, when the 108-win Orioles beat the 102-win Reds.

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 22, 2017

https://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.14523003.1508342305!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_640/image.png

the Cards loomed large in the mid-2000s era of Astros baseball

mostly I remember Julian Tavarez breaking his hand punching the phone box in the bullpen

i remember julian tavarez!

must be first franchise to win both league's pennants?

― Van Horn Street, Saturday, October 21, 2017 11:26 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

cards dodgers reds apparently

wait nvm i was thinking of willy taveras

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/nribztwbrq3jilw5qbmm.jpg

The great Astros playoff series I remember is their big match up against the Mets in 86. They played arguably the best extra inning playoff game ever in that series and it was the beginning of the legend of Billy Hatcher, who again in 1990 was a huge playoff hero for the Reds.

what a performance by former pirate great braves castoff charlie morton

― mookieproof, Sunday, 22 October 2017 03:44 (one hour ago) Permalink

Between the two of them, Morton and McCullers—two delicate arms whom many teams might not have trusted with postseason starts, or in Morton’s case, a multiyear contract—threw 65 curves in 108 pitches on Saturday, which was easily the highest-ever curveball usage rate (60.2 percent) in a single game. (According to Pitch Info data provided by David Appelman of FanGraphs, the highest previous single-game team curveball percentage in the pitch-tracking era was 52.5 percent, by the Dodgers on May 23, 2015, and no pitcher has ever relied on the curve as heavily in an outing of 50 or more pitches as McCullers did in Game 7.)

https://www.theringer.com/2017/10/22/16515788/houston-astros-beat-new-york-yankees-in-alcs-game-7

Man, I dunno, but watching McCullers throw 19 curveballs in a row makes you wonder whether everybody been doing this wrong for 150 (!) years

— Sam Miller (@SamMillerBB) October 22, 2017

just catching up on this game..... holy shit @ the bregman throw to mccann in the 5th

the courage, the trust, the execution whoeeee

and loooool at springer jumping over marwin for that catch! and marwin just leaning himself against the fence, like sheeeeeeeit

love Houston now. <3 <3 springer catching that last pop-up, holding his glove up with one hand and pointing with the other and shouting "LET'S GO!!"

https://d26dzxoao6i3hh.cloudfront.net/items/0o2i3a3s193R3Y2v311l/IMG_7286.jpg

http://www.mlb.com/images/3/6/0/259282360/102117_springer_gonzalez_med.gif

still can't believe 28 curveballs to finish the game

yikes, hope they can make it work pic.twitter.com/pKi0lJx02m

— Meg Rowley (@megrowler) October 22, 2017

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HmGPaIbuHXWTqX7sqhkRREcIHBE=/1000x0/filters:no_upscale%28%29/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9510335/Screen_Shot_2017_10_21_at_10.03.15_PM.jpg

my guess is altuve and JV could be co-MVPs

― Michael F Gill

That would have been my pick too. I know they did that for the '81 Dodgers in the World Series (three guys, I think)--maybe they don't do it for the LCS.