2017 ALDS: Boston Red Sox vs. Houston Astros

HOU in 4

Really want the Astros to win.

Vegas odds slightly favour the Red Sox, but I think it's a mismatch on paper in favour of the Astros. Houston's offense vs Boston's starting pitching? Sale is gassed and Price will be in the bullpen.

i think/hope this is going to be a good series, no idea how this will play out, two v good teams

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Houston Astros in 4

Vegas odds slightly favour the Red Sox, but I think it's a mismatch on paper in favour of the Astros.

― NoTimeBeforeTime, Tuesday, October 3, 2017 5:59 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

do they? I agree w you def

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oh god i just realized i'm down to 1 team in the AL i could stomach winning the pennant

teams i'm rooting for
Houston
DIAMONDBACKS
Rockies

teams i could stomach
dodgers (i know)
cubs (i know)

fuck em
boston
yankees
cleveland
nats

It's too bad about the Cleveland racist mascots not having another non-racist mascot, I like their players more than any other team aside from the cubs.

yeah they've got a lot of lovable guys klubes most of all. but fuck em

Voted Houston, and rooting for them to go all the way. Kinda don't care who moves through in the NL.

Schoenfeld, espn.com:

A couple curious -- and risky -- roster decisions for the ALDS from the Red Sox. Matt Barnes, who had a solid season while leading the team in appearances, was left off while September call-up Austin Maddox and just-back-from injury Carson Smith made it. Those two combined for 24 major league innings and as good as Maddox looked, he also averaged 4.7 walks per nine in the minors. Lefty relievers Fernando Abad and Robby Scott were also left off, with David Price and perhaps Eduardo Rodriguez the southpaw options in the pen.

No major surprises for the Astros with their ALDS roster, although Lance McCullers made it over Collin McHugh and will likely be a bullpen option. McHugh had a 2.61 ERA over his final eight starts after missing much of the season, while McCullers hasn't found his first-half level of success after spending some time on the DL. Francisco Liriano is the only lefty in the pen.

Scott Lauber
ESPN Staff Writer

Eduardo Nunez is carried off the field. He was wearing a brace on his knee that the Red Sox hoped would diminish the impact on that ligament when he twisted to swing a bat and broke out of the batter's box. That was only Nunez's third at-bat since Sept. 9.

ALTUVE

Sale has historically been not quite as good in the second half...

Rookie mistake, Dustin.

i think mookie just did "salt bae" after that double

Chris Berman and Rick Sutcliffe are calling Red Sox-Astros on ESPN Radio. The entire series. Just letting you know.

— Ken Fang (@fangsbites) October 5, 2017

Verlander’s lucky Pedroia went after that neck-high 2-0 pitch.

yep

i'm listening to the astros feed over the pictures and it has a sort of semi-pro college cheeriness that i find immensely comforting. they notice stuff too, like when benintendi chokes up, or that mookie stands well off the plate.

josé altuve greatest player

sale's been great except when he hasn't

verlander's been good, but not elite

sox's problem is that it's their slowest guys getting on base

who is broadcasting this in the states? the video feed on MLB.tv is "MLB Network" with contentless commentary from costas and kaat

i'll admit i love not having the strike zone graphic on-screen

How could they let Sale start the 6th?

no fuckin idea

Altuve = mini Babe Ruth

whoa

Another game I'm not able to watch, but wow--not sure if Joe Morgan even hit two in a post-season game. (Bowing down to Altuve, not a knock on Morgan.)

been a red sox fan as long as i can remember but goddamn i want to see altuve in the world series

FUTURE HOFER JOSE ALTUVE

playoff game scores:

gray 26
sale 26
severino 30
e. santana 32
greinke 33
verlander 53

the video feed on MLB.tv is "MLB Network"

that's who 'broadcast' it

I got to say, I do quite like the current Astros uniforms both home and road. It's one of their best looks.

devers benched

i think it's just that marrero has been really good against leftys

devers has looked somewhat.... overmatched lately, particularly against lefties

well that ball was crushed

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DLeaG7yV4AA9xYb.jpg

48 and 38 pitches thru 2 ... how unusual

wow altuve is killing the red sox

Angel Hernandez is killing everyone.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DLeoIz9WAAAeXBZ.jpg:small

ESPN trying to create the legend of david price here:

It might not save the series (or even the game) for Red Sox, but David Price gets two HUGE popups to leave the bases loaded and keep it a three-run game. Shades of 2008 when, as a rookie with the Rays, Price struck out J.D. Drew in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the ALCS against the Red Sox.

i blame the stupid grey shoes

As Keuchel leaves with two out in the 6th, Red Sox cling to a 15-14 total bases load over Jose Altuve for the series

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) October 6, 2017

They're still trailing Altuve 4-3 in runs scored though.

nice assist

how do these guys get such wet hair

it is unpleasantly humid, tbf

Credit to Boston for hanging in this game when it looked like it would be over by the second inning.

In the seventh they had a soft hit against the shift to load the bases, a two run bloop single off a great changeup six inches of the plate, and a three run homer at the Pesky pole off the fielders' glove. Contact!

quite a game for hanle y

the weei guys are saying the last time a red sock got 4 hits in the playoffs was..... spike owen

devers needs to calm tf down, be smart guy

Cameron thinks Sale should start today

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-case-for-starting-chris-sale-in-game-four/

rick porcello is

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/it/5/5d/StevenontheEdge.png

as is charlie morton

Ok, I give up. I'm in on the pitch clock. Three innings, 96 minutes and the radar...

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) October 9, 2017

what a terrible send

Red Sox's brain trust are reading fangraphs. Sale on the mound.

Porcello’s 2 runs in 3 innings lowered the Sox rotation’s ERA from 15.12 (worst of all time) to 12.71 (5th worst).

— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) October 9, 2017

Sale will be lucky to go 2 before a multi hour rain delay

the sooner his offseason starts the sooner he can get back to work on his go fund me for drake laroche

cameron was definitely not calling for sale to come on in relief today...

well if you squinted real hard you could read the last sentence that way

what's a start and what's relief in this post season anyway who knows

Managers in regular season: "I believe in all 12 pitchers." Managers after three playoff games: "I really only trust like three of them."

— David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield) October 9, 2017

well that did not work.

:D

Alex 'cries and whispers' Bregman!

Man.

i guess you can't blame this one on farrell?

just tuning in, why Farrell tossed?

i'm sure he's calling the shots from his watch.

he intervened as pedroia was trying to get himself thrown out for arguing a third strike call

They play "Telstar" at Fenway?

ruh roh Redsox

the bell tolls...

sale/kimbrel blowing it is enjoyable

what an at-bat from carlos . . . beltraahhn

and the at-bat from reddick was monumental

You can use all the pitchers some of the time, and you can use some of the pitchers all the time, but you can't use all the pitchers all the time.

— W.M. Akers (@ouijum) October 9, 2017

what a game

hahaha, I still want HOU to win, but that was great

man, what a stupid old ballpark

yea this game has been fun

Rafael Devers: first #RedSox postseason inside-the-park HR since Larry Gardner 10/11/1916

— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) October 9, 2017

Did Reddick not move until Springer hit the ground?

i guess all the fun postseason games in this era are going to be hideously sloppy.

bradley has been awful this series, and most of last month iirc (?)

Dombrowski pout!

yeah i don't know what reddick was doing there

now you can put yr Patriots stuff on, kids

Great game, I really thought that Boston had swung the series when Verlander gave up the HR and Sale continued dealing. God only knows who would have been the game five starters after that.

sale shouldn't have started the 8th

two great games, i won't complain

i love altuve and verlander but the rest of the astros kind of seem like villains

and yea that includes ol' squinty, mccann

well, yeah, but Josh Reddick is a villain w/ a fabulous ass.

Hinch:

“You can lose playing conservatively, too. It’s very easy to go to the bullpen and leave Justin Verlander out of it, but our job is to try to win, it’s not to try not to lose. And we had an opportunity to do that. When it doesn’t work out, as long as I’m prepared, as long as I feel like I did the right thing by what our plan was, then I can live with the result. Doesn’t make you feel any better when Benintendi is running around the bases. That’s a pretty low moment for a manager.”