*The Boston Red Sox of Boston scored the final ten (10) runs of the game to extend the Best-of-Five series to a Game 4, which is supposed to be at Fenway at 12:08pm Central, because New York beat Cleveland. Rain isn't really projected until 2pm, which puts this game in limbo because those idiots don't know what a roof is. Faneuil Hall? Has a roof. Museum of Fine Arts Boston? Has a roof. Old North Church? Has a roof. Fenway Park? Nope. Morons.
*Hinch:
We'll bounce back out of this and come back and play hard. But this is playoff baseball. If anybody thought the Red Sox were going to lay down, probably rethink it.
*I broke down the decisions to (a) pull Brad Peacock and (b) put in Francisco Liriano. Liriano, on the pitch to Devers that put the Red Sox ahead for good:
I was trying to execute pitches and I hung a slider right down the middle and he got a pretty good swing on it. I didn't execute pitches right there.
*Jake Kaplan talked about other options available to Hinch than Liriano.
*Rather than talking about his 3-run home run (that wasn't), Reddick had to talk about Mookie Betts and then basketing the Red Sox' own 3-run home run into the right field bleachers. Correa, on Reddick's non-homer:
It was like a knock-out punch if that ball goes out.
*No, Reddick's shot is not normally a home run.
*Correa, who was 1x5 with a 2-run home run in the 1st:
We got to Fister early, but then their bullpen came in, and Price was really good today. You've got to give credit to the guy when he pitched the way he pitched today. His cutter was very sharp, and he was working off that. He did his part. You have to tip the hat.
*The Astros left ten on base and were 2x10 w/RISP.
*Yuli Gurriel saw a grand total of six pitches and went 4x4 with four singles.
*Jose Altuve was 3x4 with a walk and is hitting .727/.786/1.545 through three games.
*One decision I want to approach is the decision to leave Carlos Beltran in the game, and Evan Gattis on the bench. Beltran was 0x3 with a walk and didn't exactly hit any balls hard the whole game. Beltran has hit three home runs since the All-Star Break, going .238/.281/.348 in those 54 games. In 63 games versus LHP (127 PAs) Beltran has hit .185/.228/.227. Letting him get the start against Fister is at least defensible, but letting him face Price twice...was not. I know batting average doesn't remotely tell the whole story, but there are 229 players who got at least 100 plate appearances against LHPs. Beltran's .185 average ranked 220th.
Evan Gattis, on the other hand, sat on the bench. The whole game. All of it. He's not exactly Babe Ruth, but Gattis at least hit .241/.280/.448 against lefties. Much of the game was spent searching for the Astros to get just one big hit to stop the Red Sox momentum, which was increasing with every inning David Price stranded a runner. The Astros had either the lead or were down a run for much of that game. Evan Gattis is more likely to get that hit than Carlos Beltran. I'll forever be grateful for that 2004 postseason, and for his coming back to serve as Tio, but for the life of me I can't figure out how Hinch didn't put Gattis in once Fister exited the game.
*Charlie Morton is excited to start...whenever they play:
It's the playoffs. This is the biggest game I'll throw in all year, so I'm really excited about it. I'm excited to be here in Boston and pitch at Fenway against the Red Sox.
*Rick Porcello will start for Boston.
*Lance McCullers would be ready for a potential Game 5.
*Grant Brisbee writes that the 2017 Astros are a beautiful fit for the city of Houston. You need to read this. All of it.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
