ALDS Game Two: Rays v. Astros---Live Thread

[EasyAce]

Gerrit Cole starting for the Astros, Blake Snell for the Rays.

The Astros bag leadoff man Yandy Diaz with a great play at first by Yuli Gurriel stretching to take an off balance throw from short . . . Cole strikes out Austin Meadows . . . Tommy Pham lines a base hit to right . . . then Cole struck out Ji-Man Choi . . . no score, middle of the first, and we are under way!

[EasyAce]

Blake Snell gets through the bottom of the first quick enough on back-to-back foul outs to first (George Springer, Jose Altuve) and a sharp ground out to the shortstop ranging to the middle . . . no score after one full inning.

[EasyAce]

Except for ball one to Travis d'Arnaud, Gerrit Cole would have had an immaculate inning. And get this---three punchouts, all three of which went swinging strike, foul off, swinging strike.

No score, middle of the second . . .

[EasyAce]

Two line singles (Yordan Alvarez, Yuli Gurriel) threaten but the Astros don't score.

No score after two.

[EasyAce]

Two strikeouts and a ground out and the Rays stay overmateched against Cole.

No score, middle third . . .

[EasyAce]

The Astros threaten when Jose Altuve lines a two-out double down the left field line, but they can't close the deal in the bottom of the third.

No score after three.

[Bigun]

Pitchers duel thus far but that will end soon.

[EasyAce]

Three and three for the Rays, Cole all but on cruise control now.

No score, middle fourth.

[EasyAce]

Gonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnne, goodbye! Alex Bregman to the back row of the Crawfords on a full count. The Astros get on the board 1-0, bottom of the fourth and nobody out . . .

[DCPatriot]

Gonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnne, goodbye! Alex Bregman to the back row of the Crawfords on a full count. The Astros get on the board 1-0, bottom of the fourth and nobody out . . .

@EasyAce

OT question, sir:   Did the 'Florida' Marlins play in Miami?   

[EasyAce]

@EasyAce

OT question, sir:   Did the 'Florida' Marlins play in Miami?

@DCPatriot
Yes they did. In the former Joe Robbie Stadium.

[EasyAce]

The Rays go to the pen and bring in Diego Castillo, he gets the last two outs but the 'Stros are on the board thanks to Bregman.

1-0, Astros after four.

[EasyAce]

Just a line single by Travis d'Arnaud disrupts Cole striking out the side and reaching ten punchouts in the game.

1-0, Astros, middle of the fifth.

[DCPatriot]

@DCPatriot
Yes they did. In the former Joe Robbie Stadium.

Thank you!   

[EasyAce]

The Rays escape disaster with an inning-ending step-and-throw double play grounder by Altuve . . . but it's still 1-0, Astros after five.

[EasyAce]

Thank you!   

@DCPatriot

 

[EasyAce]

I'll just give you my notes for the inning here:

Willy Adames: swinging strike; foul bouncer; soft liner to the middle and past Correa diving, leadoff hit. Yandy Diaz: 2-1 to him; fouls one off, popped into the seats near first; ball three, just off the outside edge; swung on ball four and missed, throw up to second by Maldonado, strike-em-out/throw-em-out double play!! Bad execution by the Rays there. Austin Meadows: two swinging strikes on an unusual Cole changeup; foul squibber off his foot; fouls one off, foul tipped a piece when Cole was starting to walk off the mound; popup, not too deep left, Brantley has it, side retired.

1-0, Astros, mid-sixth.

[EasyAce]

Plate umpire Bruce Dreckman (now, there's a name for an ump!) gives the Rays a huge break calling Alex Bregman out on a pitch that missed the low outside corner clearly enough on replays, the ninth pitch of a rather epic at-bat.

Still 1-0, Astros after six . . .

[EasyAce]

Three and three in the seventh, seven innings, thirteen punchouts, Gerrit Cole is looking like Bob Gibson tonight.

1-0, Astros, middle seventh.

[EasyAce]

A critical leadoff throwing error by Rays shortstop Willy Adames . . . a double down the left field line (Carlos Correa) . . . and a dying quail into left center to push home Yuli Gurriel . . . and the Astros get a second run on the board.

2-0 Astros after seven, Gerrit Cole going back out to pitch the eighth . . .

[EasyAce]

After fifteen punchouts and one walk all game, the one walk pushes Gerrit Cole out of the game in the top of the eighth with first and second and two out for the Rays, Astros still leading 2-0 with Roberto Osuna being asked for a four-out save and Yandy Diaz coming up to hit . . .

Cole earned that deafening standing O as he left the game. He pitched a masterpiece tonight until he finally ran out of petrol in the eighth . . . here we go . . .

[EasyAce]

. . . and Osuna strikes out Diaz on three pitches to retire the side!

2-0, Astros, middle of the eighth . . .

[EasyAce]

Carlos Correa singles home Alex Bregman to tack on another run, it's 3-0 Astros after eight.

[EasyAce]

Osuna not sharp in the ninth . . . loads the bases twice . . . a bobble by Alex Bregman trying for a DP gets the runner on second but a Rays run comes in as they can't turn the double play . . . 3-1, Astros, ducks on the pond and one out, and Will Smith coming in from the pen to try to keep the Rays from getting friskier in the ninth . . .

[EasyAce]

And after re-loading the ducks on the pond Harris gets a big strikeout and a ground out to first, and the Astros win it 3-1 after hanging on for their lives in the top of the ninth.

3-1 your final from Minute Maid Park, the Astros one game away from sweeping their way to the American League Championship Series.

[catfish1957]

And after re-loading the ducks on the pond Harris gets a big strikeout and a ground out to first, and the Astros win it 3-1 after hanging on for their lives in the top of the ninth.

3-1 your final from Minute Maid Park, the Astros one game away from sweeping their way to the American League Championship Series.

Thanks for settting up the GDT.  Since Sling has discontinued Fox Sports, I have to watch at my Wing Joint. 

Speaking of FSN, shame on you for the dozen or so  camera shots at differnt angles of the poor Ball Boy who failed to move his chair on the Maldonaldo liner over the left field line. (5th inning)

Yes, it cost us a run, and I am thankful it didn't impact the final result of the game.  I am sure the child felt bad enough without rubbing it in.  We aren't Chicago, and this isn't Bartman,  but at least show a little compassion.

[Bigun]

And after re-loading the ducks on the pond Harris gets a big strikeout and a ground out to first, and the Astros win it 3-1 after hanging on for their lives in the top of the ninth.

3-1 your final from Minute Maid Park, the Astros one game away from sweeping their way to the American League Championship Series.

WAY too much drama in the top of the ninth for me and Osuna has done that SEVERAL times when Cole is the pitcher of record.  Don't know if there is any bad blood there or not but I've seen it with my own two eyes more than once.

[DCPatriot]

@DCPatriot

 

@EasyAce   

Reason I asked...

Was discussing the lack of fan support for major league baseball teams in Florida.  And here, the Tampa Bay teams reach the playoffs in both baseball (Rays)and hockey (Lightening)

My contention is that the overall population is too old to spend 6 hours @day traveling/attending a game in that heat.

That's when Adam asked me, "Did the Marlins always play in Miami?"   I couldn't recall if they moved down to Miami from another city.

[EasyAce]

@EasyAce   

Reason I asked...

Was discussing the lack of fan support for major league baseball teams in Florida.  And here, the Tampa Bay teams reach the playoffs in both baseball (Rays)and hockey (Lightening)

My contention is that the overall population is too old to spend 6 hours @day traveling/attending a game in that heat.

That's when Adam asked me, "Did the Marlins always play in Miami?"   I couldn't recall if they moved down to Miami from another city.

@DCPatriot
The Marlins joined the NL when it expanded for 1993, the expansion that also created the Rockies.

I suspect the shenanigans of original Marlins owner Wayne Huizenga---he built and bought a World Series winner (1997) and then dismantled the team almost entirely and immediately---plus his successor owner Jeffrey Loria (doing likewise re their 2003 Series winner) helped destroy fan interest in their region. You know---fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, you-know-what.

The Rays probably began with two hands tied behind their backs as it was: they were saddled with a horror of a stadium that wasn't even built for them; the Tampa Bay regional fathers built the big pot in the first place quite awhile earlier, when they thought the White Sox might move to Tampa/St. Pete, a move that proved nothing more than threats through which they got their own new ballpark. So Tampa Bay was stuck with the slop known as the Trop long before the Rays were created. The fans in that region would probably support the Rays---especially since (what do you know) they figured out ways to run on a shoestring and stay minimally competitive without outright tanking---if they liked the stadium better.

[DCPatriot]

@DCPatriot
The Marlins joined the NL when it expanded for 1993, the expansion that also created the Rockies.

I suspect the shenanigans of original Marlins owner Wayne Huizenga---he built and bought a World Series winner (1997) and then dismantled the team almost entirely and immediately---plus his successor owner Jeffrey Loria (doing likewise re their 2003 Series winner) helped destroy fan interest in their region. You know---fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, you-know-what.

The Rays probably began with two hands tied behind their backs as it was: they were saddled with a horror of a stadium that wasn't even built for them; the Tampa Bay regional fathers built the big pot in the first place quite awhile earlier, when they thought the White Sox might move to Tampa/St. Pete, a move that proved nothing more than threats through which they got their own new ballpark. So Tampa Bay was stuck with the slop known as the Trop long before the Rays were created. The fans in that region would probably support the Rays---especially since (what do you know) they figured out ways to run on a shoestring and stay minimally competitive without outright tanking---if they liked the stadium better.

@EasyAce

See?

I'm having trouble here because IMO, it's not the stadium.

You indicated earlier..both owners immediately dismantled championship teams, and "Fool me once....".

Evidently, it's a philosophy from the top.  Use Money Ball analytics put together a group of kids that like one another.

But SCREW paying any one position player 'Top-Ten' $$$ when with hard work and a little luck...see Juan Soto.

The older I get, the more I agree with that philosophy.   Harper's 2019 salary covered the entire Nats' infield.

[EasyAce]

@EasyAce

See?

I'm having trouble here because IMO, it's not the stadium.

@DCPatriot
With the Marlins it wasn't the stadium, though Joe Robbie Stadium wasn't exactly ideal for baseball. With the Rays, it's been the stadium from the word go.

You indicated earlier..both owners immediately dismantled championship teams, and "Fool me once....".

Evidently, it's a philosophy from the top.  Use Money Ball analytics put together a group of kids that like one another.

Using analytics is one thing (the Huizenga Marlins didn't; neither, really, did the Loria Fish), but unless you have the talent all the analytics in the world won't help. Those who consider Casey Stengel an inadvertent forebear of analytics will cite often, as I do, his saying, Baseball is percentage plus execution. (Think, too, of Branch Rickey: it only begins with, Luck is the residue of design.)

Look at the Astros. They're six fathoms deep in analytics, and their players are one and all on board with it, even Justin Verlander who embraced it the moment he became an Astro.

And it wouldn't mean a thing if they didn't or couldn't execute.

Percentage plus execution is the Astros, to name one. Percentage minus execution is bountiful, alas.

But SCREW paying any one position player 'Top-Ten' $$$ when with hard work and a little luck...see Juan Soto.

Soto is an outsize talent whom the Nats were sharp enough to draft. And he's going to get his money soon enough: he becomes arbitration eligible in 2022 and a free agent for the first time in 2025. Unless something unforeseen happens, he won't stay cheap very long.

There's the other drawback: not all teams draft smart, whether rich or poor teams. The Nats drafted smart with Soto. And you don't even need the number one pick to draft smart. Reference, among others:

Mike Piazza---drafted in the 62nd round; Hall of Famer.
Albert Pujols---402nd pick overall; future Hall of Famer. (Even his injury-compromised Angels tenure won't keep him out of Cooperstown.)
Ryne Sandberg---20th round, 511th pick overall; Hall of Famer.
Keith Hernandez---785th overall; round 42nd round; arguable greatest defensive first baseman ever. (Only first baseman to win more than nine Gold Gloves, too.) Might have been a Hall of Famer if injuries didn't start grinding him down in 1986-87.
John Smoltz---22nd round; 574th overall; Hall of Famer.
Mike Trout---25th pick overall (people still wonder how he lasted that long in his draft); Hall of Famer in the making. (If his career somehow ended after next year, he'd go into Cooperstown in a walk five years later.)

[AllThatJazzZ]

Plate umpire Bruce Dreckman (now, there's a name for an ump!) gives the Rays a huge break calling Alex Bregman out on a pitch that missed the low outside corner clearly enough on replays, the ninth pitch of a rather epic at-bat.

Still 1-0, Astros after six . . .

Warning to all the purists who argue for the "human element" when calling balls and strikes, I'm never going to stop complaining about lousy and inconsistent calls at the plate. This can be remedied by technology, so the faster they get that implemented, the happier I (and my friends) will be.