The Briefing Room
General Category => Sports/Entertainment/MSM/Social Media => Topic started by: EasyAce on November 01, 2017, 12:40:27 am
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Tomorrow---hell freezes over!
Because tonight . . . no score after an inning! (I know, I'm a little shocked too, all things considered . . .)
First inning: the Astros wasted a one-out hit by Alex Bregman; the Dodgers went in order . . .
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Three up, three down for the Astros, both starting pitchers (Justin Verlander, Rick Hill) looking very
sharp tonight. No score, middle two.
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The Dodgers get a one-out single from Yasiel Puig and strand him; Verlander still sharp but
the Dodger hitters beginning to work counts on him. No score after two full . . .
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George Springer hits one the other way, high and deep to right, Puig going back, she is
gonnnnnnnnnnnne, goodbye! 1-0, Astros with two out the top of the third . . . that's
all they'll get.
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Three up, three down for the Dodgers. Verlander has thrown ten consecutive first pitch
strikes, he's sharp as a samurai sword tonight. 1-0, Astros after three . . .
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Three up, three down for the Astros, but they still lead 1-0, middle four . . .
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Three up, three down for the Dodgers, seven punchouts for Verlander so far, 1-0 Astros after four . . .
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Second and third for the Astros, top of the fifth, then Rich Hill strikes out Reddick and Verlander back-to-back
and puts Springer aboard to load the pads and set up the force . . . and Dodger manager Dave
Roberts rolls the dice, lifts Hill, and brings in Brandon Morrow . . . fasten your seat belts, kiddies . . .
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. . . and Alex Bregman grounds up the middle, Seager over to get it and throw him out,
the side retired, the Dodgers escape a second-and-third/nobody out disaster in the making!
1-0, Astros, middle five . . .
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I'll defer to your updates @EasyAce mine suck and I'm watching the same game, apparently in an alternate universe.
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Verlander's certainly living up to his reputation.
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Three up, three down for the Dodgers, still 1-0 Astros after five . . .
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The Dodgers go to the pen in a double switch with a man on and two out in the top of the sixth
. . . lefty Tony Watson to pitch to lefty swinger Brian McCann, and Chase Utley out to play second,
dubious double switch considering Logan Forsythe is hitting well in the postseason . . . I get
the idea of turning Marwin Gonzalez around to his weaker side if he comes up . . . and he will,
McCann was plunked, but this is still a questionable move by Roberts, with Morrow pitching well
so far and normally very tough on lefthanded hitters . . .
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Marwin Gonzalez hits a bullet and Chase Utley was right there near the pad to catch it for
the third out. The Dodgers play with fire again and escape unscathed for now. 1-0, Astros, middle six . . .
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I'm going to say something uncharacteristically girlie here....
Chris Taylor has very nice eyes. 888heartkitty
(But I hope he strikes out).
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Two on, nobody out on Verlander, and Chris Taylor inside-outs the ball punching it down the right
field line, base hit, Austin Barnes around to score, Chase Utley (HBP) stops at third, the game is tied
at one with nobody out in the bottom of the fifth . . .
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Corey Seager sends Josh Reddick back to the fence to catch it, Chase Utley tags
and scores, 2-1, Dodgers, Taylor to third with one out in the bottom of the fifth . . .
Joe Musgrove warming up for the Dodgers . . .
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Bellinger strikes out swinging, side retired, but it's 2-1 Dodgers after six, and with
Verlander due to hit second in the top of the seventh his night could be over . . .
he did everything he could and was sharper than a meat cleaver in his first five . . .
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Leadoff walk for the Astros and Evan Gattis pinch hits for Verlander with Kenta Maeda in the game
for the Dodgers, top of the seventh . . .
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Verlander has looked sharp all season...up to the 6th inning. He gets his pitch count up by the 5th, as opposed to the 7th a couple seasons ago.
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I'll just use my game notes here . . .
Josh Reddick---looks at a strike; two balls to him; ball three; ball four and the Astros have the leadoff runner
on. Maeda up in the pen for the third time. Kenta Maeda now in the game for the Dodgers. Evan Gattis pinch
hits for Justin Verlander---ball one to him; ball two low and away; looks at a strike on the outside corner;
Barnes and Utley to the mound to talk to Maeda; swinging strike two; and a grounder to short, not hit hard,
Seager to Utley for one at second with Reddick sliding in hard, throw to first, close but Gattis is safe, but it's
a big out for the Dodgers. George Springer---strike called, slider at the knees; ball low, fastball at 94;
grounder to the hole, off Seager's diving glove into shallow left, base hit and Gattis to second. Two on,
one out, Derek Fisher pinch runs for Evan Gattis. Alex Bregman---ball one misses low and away, bouncing
and Barnes deflected it to the dirt, Maeda is pitching on fumes now, between his workload before now
and the three warmup sessions he had before coming in. And Alex Wood is warming up in the pen. Bregman
flies out to center, Fisher tags and moves to third, Springer stays on first. Jose Altuve---AL batting champion
but 0-for-3 tonight so far---fouls one off; ball one inside to him; fouls another off, 1-2 to him; grounder to
third, Turner has it and Bellinger digs out the throw for the side, and the Dodgers escape another jam. 2-1,
Dodgers, middle seven.
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Verlander has looked sharp all season...up to the 6th inning. He gets his pitch count up by the 5th, as opposed to the 7th a couple seasons ago.
Clearly manager A.J. Hinch hoped Verlander could get him through the seventh and give that tired Astros
pen a break.
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Deep to left and she is gonnnnnnnnnnne! Joc Pederson, opposite field bomb with one out,
third bomb of the Series, this one off Joe Musgrove, and it's 3-1, Dodgers, bottom of the seventh . . .
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Andre Ethier, pinch hit flare out to left; Austin Barnes, called out on strikes, the inning over but
the Dodgers lead 3-1 after seven . . .
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Roberts rolling the dice asking Kenley Jansen for another try at a six-out save . . .
seven pitches, three outs, 3-1 Dodgers, middle seven, but the question becomes: if
Jansen finishes this game, will he be gassed if it gets to Game Seven?
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The Dodgers put two on against Luke Gregerson. Francisco Liriano makes his first World Series appearance
for the Astros. He fights Cody Bellinger to a nine-pitch at-bat and the ninth strikes Bellinger out swinging!
But it's still, 3-1 Dodgers, going to the top of the ninth . . .
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The top of the ninth, from my game notes:
Marwin Gonzalez---0-2 to him; he fouls one off running up to bunt; popped up around first,
it will be Bellinger to get it and there's one away. Josh Reddick---looks at a strike; ball one a
bit high; swing and a miss, 1-2 to Reddick; struck his ass out swinging, the Dodgers one out
away from forcing Game Seven. Jansen has thrown fourteen strikes in fifteen pitches so far.
Carlos Beltran pinch hits for Francisco Liriano---fouls one off, two strikes away; fouled down
the right field line, the Dodgers are one strike away; he fouls one off, still alive on 0-2; struck
his ass out swinging, and in the immortal words of Jack Buck---we'll see you tomorrow night!
3-1 your final from Dodger Stadium.
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"Dodgers payroll is $100 million over the league average."
Saw this written in another forum. I don't know if it's correct. A bit frustrating if so.
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"Dodgers payroll is $100 million over the league average."
Saw this written in another forum. I don't know if it's correct. A bit frustrating if so.
The league average 2017 payroll was $152,327,084.
Fourteen teams were above that average. The Dodgers were $111.1 million above the average.
The other 13 teams, in descending order:
Yankees
Red Sox
Blue Jays
Tigers
Giants
Nationals
Rangers
Orioles
Cubs
Angels
Mariners
Royals
Mets
Five of the ten postseason entrants were below the league average payroll. One of them is going to Game
Seven of the World Series. That team was a mere $3 million or so below the league average payroll.
Other than the fact that baseball is populated with plenty of high spending teams and enough low-spending
ones (don't kid yourself that the lower-spending teams are exactly poor), all the dollars in the world won't
get you a World Series ring. Three of the top ten payrolls including numbers two and three got disappeared
from the postseason and one of those was a wild card winner. I'd have to look it up, but I think in the cases
of the Yankees, the Red Sox, and the Nationals, there may be some serious enough money coming off
their books when this season expires.
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Clearly manager A.J. Hinch hoped Verlander could get him through the seventh and give that tired Astros
pen a break.
Obviously Hinch didn’t review the metrics on JV for this year and went on hope and a prayer that didn’t work out. JV has been good up to now, but is getting worn out with the number of pitches this year and last.
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Obviously Hinch didn’t review the metrics on JV for this year and went on hope and a prayer that didn’t work out. JV has been good up to now, but is getting worn out with the number of pitches this year and last.
During the 2017 regular season, between Detroit and Houston, Justin Verlander averaged about seven innings
a start. He had 22 starts in which his pitch counts hit 101 or more, and hitters actually hit only .222 against
him from pitch 101 onward. When he was between 22 and 50 pitches in a game was when Verlander was
actually most vulnerable: batters hit .244 against him between pitch 22 and pitch 50 on the year. He averaged
five hits a game before he was traded to the Astros; as an Astro, he averaged three a game. There was no
reason to believe Verlander couldn't have pitched seven innings in Game Six had the Dodgers not scratched
a 2-1 lead off him in the sixth. And, come to think of it, if the game had been played with the designated
hitter in place it's entirely possible that Hinch would not have lifted Verlander for a pinch hitter in the top
of the seventh and taken the chance on one more inning from him.