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Red Sox/Astros ALCS Game 2 Preview

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The Red Sox weren’t favored to win this series, but they were favored to win Game 1. That didn’t happen, as they fell to the Astros 7-2 last night. Today they find themselves underdogs in the series and in Game 2. Here’s a quick look at the latest lines:

  • Location: Fenway Park (Boston, Mass.)
  • First Pitch: Sunday, October 14, 7:09 PM EDT
  • TV: TBS
  • Odds (via Odds Shark): Astros -1.5 (runline) / Astros -135 (moneyline) / 8 (total)

The Red Sox will send David Price to the mound as they attempt to even the series at one game apiece. There’s been much discussion in Red Sox Nation as to whether or not Price should get the nod in Game 2. But despite his playoff woes, Price has good numbers against the ‘stros.

In his career, Price is 6-2 against Houston with a 2.94 ERA. In 70.1 innings pitched Price has struck out 85 Houston batters, walked 15 and allowed 24 runs (23 earned). The current Astros roster has hit .231 against Price in the past, collectively. In his time in Boston, Price is 3-0 against Houston with a 3.09 ERA.

As I said earlier in the week, I don’t hate this move. It will be hard for the Red Sox to win this series or the World Series without contributions from Price. If he doesn’t have it tonight, it will definitely be time to move on, but the Sox won’t be done in the series. Starting him in Game 2 is better than starting him in a potential elimination game.

The Astros will counter with Gerrit Cole, who went 15-5 with a 2.88 ERA in his first season in Houston. He’s 2-1 in four career starts against Boston, with a 4.32 ERA.

I don’t expect a blowout either way, and as a Sox fan I’m hoping for the best from Price. Still, the Astros and the over seem like the safe plays tonight.

Red Sox/Astros ALCS Game 1 Preview

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The Boston Red Sox are in the American League Championship Series for the 11th time, and for the first time since 2013. They will take on the defending champion Houston Astros, who are looking to become the first World Series champion this century to successfully defend its title. Before we go any further, here’s a quick look at where, when, and how to watch the game along with the latest lines:

  • Location: Fenway Park (Boston, Mass.)
  • First Pitch: Saturday, October 13, 8:09 PM EDT
  • TV: TBS
  • Odds (via Odds Shark): Red Sox -1.5 (runline) / Red Sox -120 (moneyline) / 7 (total)

The Red Sox went 3-4 against the Astros this season, 1-2 in Boston and 2-2 in Houston. The four-game series in Houston saw the Sox lose the first two games, but rally to win the last two and get a series split. The Sox dropped two of three in the series in Boston, but they already had 97 wins by the time Houston came to town and may have had their foot off the accelerator by that point.

Chris Sale will take the mound for the Red Sox in Game 1 after a solid ALDS against the Yankees. He faced the Astros only once in the regular season, taking a loss in Houston after allowing four runs on six hits and a walk in six innings of work. Justin Verlander will take the mound for Houston. Verlander received a no decision in his only start versus Boston in 2018. He allowed two runs on three hits and two walks in six innings of work in a game Houston eventually lost 5-4.

Even with the run total at 7, the under would be a wise play in Game 1. Red Sox hitters have a combined .211 average against Verlander in 171 at bats. Astros hitters have fared only slightly better against Sale, combing for a .237 average against him in 118 at bats. This will be a tight series between two evenly matched teams, and Game 1 could kick this series off with an old school pitchers’ duel.

Friday Morning Randomness

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Obviously the story here is Batman playing Dick Cheney, but Steve Carell playing Donald Rumsfeld should not be overlooked. Maybe that could make this movie a kinda/sorta sequel to Anchorman, as it looks like Brick actually made it into the second Bush administration…

Cough Drop K-Cups Are on the Way!

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PR Newswire – GSK Consumer Healthcare announced a new innovation for Theraflu cold & flu symptom relief with the U.S. launch of Theraflu PowerPods Severe Cold. The brand recognizes consumer’s ever-changing lifestyles and, through this expansion of the current Theraflu portfolio, is modernizing how consumers can achieve cold & flu symptom relief. Compatible with single-serve coffee machines, Theraflu PowerPods brew a cup of warm, soothing relief with the press of a button.

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Put that PowerPod down. Coffee machines are for coffee only.

Honestly, who asked for this? Has one person with the flu ever tried to run cough syrup through their Keurig machine? What marketing research indicated that there was an untapped market for Halls K-Cups?

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How could a PowerPod be anything more than a cough drop K-Cup? If that sounds disgusting, just try being the guy in the office who brews his K-Cup after Karen brews her cough drop K-Cup. The next dozen or so french vanilla K-Cups will taste like they’ve been spiked with Robitussin.

The only silver lining for Halls K-Cups is that there is no way they can be more disgusting than chicken noodle soup K-Cups. If you’ve never had to take apart your Keurig machine and wash it out with vinegar, trying to make a chicken noodle soup K-Cup will have you scrambling for your owner’s manual in no time.

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Incidentally, I bought my first and only pack of chicken noodle soup K-Cups where I expect to buy my first and only pack of cough drop K-Cups: the clearance rack at Target.

 

Red Sox Win and We’re on to Houston

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Three days ago the Red Sox looked like a team on the ropes. Today, they’re moving on to the American League Championship Series to take on the defending champion Houston Astros. What the hell happened?

The Red Sox dominated the Yankees in Yankee Stadium in Games 3 and 4. Game 3 starter Nathan Eovaldi was dazzling in his postseason debut and Game 4 starter Rick Porcello turned in the best postseason performance of his career. All the while Red Sox batters mashed Yankees starting pitchers and left Aaron Boone looking like Ron Burgundy in the opposing dugout, never able to get out the hook soon enough.

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All of that leaves me feeling good as the Red Sox move on to take on the Astros in the ALCS. A lot of credit goes to Alex Cora who had the balls to shake up the lineup for Game 3. His gamble paid off as the lineup exploded and Brock Holt hit for the first cycle in baseball playoff history. A lot of credit goes to Red Sox starters, too. If you take out David Price (a big if, I know), Red Sox starters pitched 17.1 innings and allowed just four earned runs off 14 hits and two walks. That’s good for an ERA of 2.11.

The bullpen was an adventure in Game 1, and Craig Kimbrel was a hire-wire act in Game 4, but between the other guys last night and their performances in Games 2 and 3 I’m confident Cora has enough pieces to work with. The big question is David Price.

As I mentioned earlier this week, former Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello hadn’t pitched in a postseason victory until Friday night. Prior to Game 1 of the ALDS, his teams were 0-11 in games he pitched in (though his record was just 0-3). Roger Clemens won three Cy Young Awards with the Red Sox (and an MVP award, too) but went just 1-2 with a 3.88 ERA for the Red Sox in nine postseason starts. Hall of Famer Randy Johnson went 2-6 in the playoffs with a 3.71 ERA before winning 2001 World Series MVP honors. My point is not every one is Curt Schilling in the playoffs. It takes some time for some guys to figure it out. That’s why I would give David Price the ball one more time in Game 2 of the ALCS.

If Price doesn’t bring it Sunday night, make it a bullpen game and move him to the bullpen for the rest of the playoffs. The Red Sox other starters looked strong in the ALDS, but can you expect Nathan Eovaldi to morph into the 1991 version of Jack Morris this month? Probably not. It may be possible to win a title without Price contributing but that shouldn’t be the first choice. That’s why Price should get one last chance. At least if things go haywire early, Alex Cora can find a hook quicker than some other managers…

Yankees in Driver’s Seat For Game 3

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aaron-judge-david-price-minAfter another David Price Playoff Disaster (DPPD™) in Game 2, things aren’t looking great for the Sox in the Bronx for Game 3 of their American League Division Series against the Yankees. Before we go any further, here’s a quick look at where, when, and how to watch the game along with the latest lines:

  • Location: Yankee Stadium (Bronx, NY)
  • First Pitch: Monday, October 8, 7:40 PM EDT
  • TV: TBS
  • Odds (via Odds Shark): Yankees -1.5 (runline) / Yankees -190 (moneyline) / 8.5 (total)

Red was right last week when he said that Red Sox fans didn’t seem super confident for a team that won 108 regular-season games. Today those pessimistic fans are having their worst fears realized. After Price left the Sox high and dry in Game 2, they head to New York with the series even at 1-1.

Mid-season acquisition Nathan Eovaldi will take the hill for the Sox in Game 3, while the Yankees will send their ace, Luis Severino to the hill. The Yankees were 53-28 at their home little league field this year. The Red Sox went 3-6 in the Bronx this year, taking one out of three in each of their three visits in 2018. It’s hard not to like the Yankees (and the over) in Game 3.

As I just mentioned, though, the Red Sox never got swept in the Bronx this year. The best case scenario for the Sox could be a Yankees rout tonight but a close win behind Rick Porcello in Game 4. Pretty Ricky didn’t get the win in Game 1 (he got a hold), but it was the first playoff win he had ever pitched in. Prior to Friday night, Rick’s teams were 0-11 in playoff games he appeared in. Maybe now that he’s off the schneid, he can gut out a Game 4 victory for the Sox.

Fans who have tickets to Red Sox ALDS home game number three should keep their Thursday night, and weekend open. I’m saying this series goes the distance and then some, as Thursday in Boston could be a washout. If it gives Chris Sale, and what will undoubtedly be a highly taxed bullpen, an extra day of rest, maybe the Red Sox still have a puncher’s chance in this series.

UPDATE: 2018 MLB Playoff Oddities

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From my fingertips to the Greek God of Walks’ Hops’ ears. I can’t take credit for coming up with this playoff idea,  but I think it is about to pick up steam. There are a few other issues Major League Baseball will need to deal with first, including the stadium situations in Tampa and Oakland and possible expansion, but I think reconfiguring the playoff system is not much further down the list.

Reconfiguring the playoff system could be handled at the same time as expansion. If MLB were to add two teams after resolving the stadium situations in Tampa and Oakland, it’s possible they could realign, create a more balanced schedule, and reconfigure the playoff system all at the same time. A more balanced schedule would mean teams like the Cleveland Indians couldn’t as easily beat up on a weak division to claim a playoff spot.

And realignment doesn’t need to be some crazy plan with a dozen teams switching leagues. Maybe the solution is simply to go back to how things were done for the first seven decades of the 20th century – two leagues with no divisions at all.

This won’t be resolved by this time next year, but Major League Baseball could look a whole lot different in just the next decade.

2018 MLB Playoff Oddities

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No playoff system in American sports is perfect and there will always be debates about ways to improve them. Major League Baseball has long had the smallest field of playoff teams among the North American professional sports leagues, and the most straight-forward postseason format. This October, though, could be one of the strangest MLB postseasons in memory.

Today in the National League, the teams with the four best records in the league will play two tiebreaker games. The winners will take their division’s respective crown and head to the League Division Series. The losers will square off tomorrow in the National League Wild Card game. It will mark the first time in baseball history that a loser of a tiebreaker game won’t be eliminated. The 90-win Atlanta Braves have the fewest wins of all National League playoff teams and will be the only National League team that does not have to play an extra tiebreaker and/or Wild Card game before the Division Series.

Meanwhile in the American League, the New York Yankees and Oakland A’s will face off in the American League Wild Card game Wednesday. Both teams have more wins than the AL Central Champion Cleveland Indians. The Indians will take on the Houston Astros in one American League Division Series while the winner of the Wild Card game will take on the 108-win Boston Red Sox in the other American League Division Series. The Red Sox, with the most wins in a season by a team since the Seattle Mariners won 116 games in 2001, will have to face a tougher Division Series opponent than the second-seeded Astros.

Change is slower in baseball than any other professional sports league in North America. The 2018 playoffs, no matter how they play out, likely won’t spur a change to the MLB playoff format in the near future. They will make a great case for going to a system more like the NBA, though, where the top five teams make the playoffs and get seeded by record regardless of division. Again, that probably won’t happen soon but probably in the next decade or so.

Amazon to Offer Fans More Options on Thursday Night Football Stream

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Most viewers who tune into tonight’s Thursday Night Football game between the Minnesota Vikings and the LA Rams will hear the familiar broadcast combo of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on FOX. Amazon Prime, which has streaming rights for TNF this season, will also offer the broadcast combo of Buck and Aikman. However, Amazon Prime will also offer three additional audio options for fans. Those options will include the Andrea Kremer and Hannah Storm broadcast, a Spanish-language broadcast and a United Kingdom broadcast.

This is a great move by Amazon. In addition to hiring the first all-female NFL broadcast duo, Amazon is offering fans more content and more options. It’s also part of a recent trend in sports broadcasting that deemphasizes the role of a typical play-by-play broadcaster.

In an interview with The New York Times, Storm said “if you had to, you would say that I was doing play-by-play and Andrea is doing analysis, but I don’t think that you should be thinking of this in typical terms of the way that a broadcast is done.” This concept should be familiar to Patriots fans, as the Patriots have gone a similar route for their preseason games recently. On television in 2017 and radio in 2018 Dan Roche was technically the play-by-play person, but the focus was more on the conversation about the team rather than the typical play-by-play. The concept has also been used by TNT for some of its NBA coverage on Players Only broadcasts which featured only former players and no traditional play-by-play person.

This style may not be for everyone, but it is fair to at least ask the question, “Why do we still broadcast games the way Vin Scully did them 70 years ago?” Scully may be the best of all time, but with the box score in my hand on my iPhone why do I need a traffic cop on the broadcast to tell me the score every 90 seconds?

I don’t know if Amazon’s announcement will result in a spike of Amazon Prime subscriptions before tonight’s game but, as someone who already subscribes to Amazon Prime, I will definitely check out the Kremer/Storm broadcast tonight. I will also be checking out the United Kingdom broadcast. I can’t wait to see how the Brits describe some bone-crushing hits.

 

Tough Night for Sale, but Sox Still on Track

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Chris Sale’s performance last night didn’t inspire confidence in many Red Sox fans. Against a 100-loss team playing out the string in the second game of a doubleheader, Sale couldn’t get through five innings, allowing three runs on four hits and a walk. It was his worst outing this month, and likely his last appearance before starting Game 1 of the American League Division Series at Fenway Park one week from tomorrow.  Still, it doesn’t change my outlook for this team.

Despite last night’s rough outing, his September numbers aren’t that bad. While he didn’t have a decision this month, the Sox went 3-1 in the four games he started in September. His ERA of 3.75 wasn’t great, but not a complete disaster either. He still struck out 18 and walked just one, his WHIP was 1.00 and his opponents’ batting average was .239. Not up to the usual Chris Sale standards. but again, not a complete disaster either.

Where I notice a big difference is Sale’s opponents’ batting average on balls in play. Generally speaking, a normal BABIP is around .300. Through August, Sale’s opponents’ BABIP was .276, so maybe Sale benefited from some good defense behind him. In September, though, his opponents’ BABIP was .357. I’m not sure what’s to blame for the 81-point swing, but perhaps Sale just got a little unlucky at times in September. If the Red Sox are back at full strength in October and play meaningful games for the first time in a month, maybe that BABIP for Sale’s opponents goes back to being closer to the league average.

Maybe the most disappointing September number for Sale is his number of innings pitched: 12. But he did throw 92 pitches last night. If he can touch 100 pitches again next time out, maybe we don’t see the Chris Sale who struck out 11 Yankees and allowed one hit in seven innings on June 30, but maybe we get something closer to that which will still allow the Red Sox to survive and advance.