Garcia Jr got the ball in the top of the first inning and Kyle Schwarber swung and missed for strike three but took first on a passed ball. Kike Hernandez grounded out to second to move Schwarber to second and Kyle moved to third on the fly ball to center by Rafael Devers. Xander Bogaerts grounded out to third to end the inning. The Astros wasted no time getting to Eovaldi in the bottom of the first although Jose Altruve grounded out to second to start. Michael Brantley popped up to second before Alex Bregman poked a base hit to left. Yordan Alvarez hit a fly ball that Alex Verdugo slid and missed for a double to score Bregman. Carlos Correa flied out to left to end the inning but the game was over already with the Sox down 1-0.
JD Martinez struck out swinging to start the top of the second and Verdugo walked. Christian Arroyo and Hunter Renfroe both popped up to Altuve to end the inning. Eovaldi recovered in the bottom of the second as Kyle Tucker grounded out to short to start. Yuli Gurriel flied out to center and Verdugo made a diving catch to rob Chas McCormick of a double to end the inning.
Kevin Plawecki grounded out to third to begin the top of the third before Schwarber struck out swinging. Hernandez flied out to center to end the inning. Martin Maldonado grounded out to second to start the bottom of the third before Altuve flied out to center. Brantley flied out to right to end the inning.
Devers popped up to short to start the top of the fourth and Bogaerts grounded out to third. Martinez struck out swinging to end the inning. The Astros threatened in the bottom of the fourth as Bregman got a base hit to right to start. Alvarez doubled to left but Correa struck out swinging. Tucker struck out swinging but Gurriel was intentionally walked. McCormick struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox failed to pick up Eovaldi in the top of the fifth as Verdugo lined out to third to start. Arroyo and Renfroe both struck out swinging to end the inning. Maldonado got a base hit to left to start the bottom of the fifth but Altuve struck out swinging. All of a sudden Sox manager Alex Cora came to take the ball from Eovaldi. In a do or die game, he pulled his starter after 13 outs. Eovaldi allowed just 1 run in 4 1/3 innings off 5 hits and a walk. Josh Taylor came in and Brantley forced Maldonado at second before Bregman forced Brantley at second to end the inning.
Bye bye Eovaldi
Danny Santana pinch hit for Plawecki to start the top of the sixth and struck out swinging. Schwarber flied out to left but Hernandez hit a triple off the top of the left field wall to chase Garcia Jr. Phil Maton came in to pitch to Devers and Rafael popped up to Corea to end the inning. The Astros struck again in the bottom of the sixth with Christian Vazquez behind the plate as Alvarez tripled into the right field corner to start. Sox manager Alex Cora panicked and brought in Tanner Houck to pitch to Correa and he plunked him. Tucker grounded into a double play but Alvarez scored to ice the game. Gurriel grounded out to second to end the inning with the Astros up 2-0.
Kendall Graveman came in to pitch the top of the seventh as Bogaerts took strike three to start. Martinez walked and Verdugo got a base hit to right. Once again Sox manager Alex Cora panicked by bringing in Travis Shaw to pinch hit for Arroyo. Shaw struck out swinging and Verdugo was gunned down at second trying to steal to end the inning. The crowd exploded and it was very clear the Red Sox were done. McCormick lined out to short to start the bottom of the seventh before Maldonado struck out swinging. Altuve flied out to center to end the inning.
Defying all logic, Cora pinch hit Bobby Dalbec for Renfroe to start the top of the eighth with Ryan Stanek on the mound and he flied out to center to start. Vazquez popped up to first and Schwarber popped up to short to end the inning. The Sox had just two hits in a do or die situation, pathetic. The Astros got the exclamation point in the bottom of the eighth as Brantley got a base hit to center but Bregman popped up to first. Alvarez got a base hit to center meaning he had more hits by himself than the entire Sox team. Like everything else, Alex Cora made the wrong decision by bringing in Adam Ottavino to pitch. Correa forced Brantley at third but Tucker clobbered a three run homer to effectively end the series. Gurriel got a base hit to left and stole second, but McCormick flied out to right to end the inning with the Astros up 5-0.
Ryan Pressly came in to close out the top of the ninth and Hernandez flied out to center to start. Devers struck out swinging and Bogaerts flied out to left to end the game. The Astros had won the AL pennant with a 5-0 win.
Jackass of The Night should be Alex Cora for his AWFUL managing decisions but I'll go with Adam Ottavino. Not that the Sox bats were going to do much, but he turned a 2-0 game into 5-0 with one home run.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 1 for 2 with a walk.
The Bad:
Kyle Schwarber was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Christian Arroyo was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Travis Shaw struck out as a pinch hitter.
Hunter Renfroe was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Kevin Plawecki was 0 for 1.
Danny Santana struck out as a pinch hitter
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 1.
Josh Taylor allowed a run in 2/3 of an inning.
Tanner Houck was charged with 2 runs in 2 innings.
The Ugly:
Kike Hernandez was just 1 for 4.
JD Martinez was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Nathan Eovaldi took the loss after allowing just 1 run in 4 1/3 innings. He allowed 5 hits and a walk while striking out four.
Final Thoughts:
What a way for the season to end. I suppose its less heartbreaking to be utterly dominated in three straight games than to lose a backbreaking Game 7 like in 2003. The Red Sox as a TEAM had 7 hits in the last two games and ALCS MVP Yordan Alvarez had 7 by himself. The pitching ran out of gas and now its clear to see why. Finally, FINALLY Alex Cora pulling the starters early all season long came back to haunt them. The bullpen had nothing left and it showed in the last few games. Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck, Josh Taylor, etc had been used all season and it caught up to them. The bats totally evaporated in the final three games and they scored exactly 1 run after Bogaerts' home run off Zack Greinke in Game 4. The Astros earned this win big time, they wanted it more. So now the question becomes, how do they come back from this? Its clear they need another stud pitcher to go with Chris Sale and Nathan Eovaldi because Nick Pivetta, Tanner Houck and Martin Perez aren't going to get it done. The offense needs to find a way to keep Kyle Schwarber because he injected a lot of life into the team and sign Xander Bogaerts to an extension. The Sox had a hell of a bounce back season after finishing in last place in 2020 and have prospects for the future. To go from a laughingstock to two wins away from the world series is quite the turnaround. Hopefully 2022 will be a better end result with some good moves here and there. The only thing the Sox need to take a look at is Alex Cora's managerial style. What he did all season and in the playoffs CANNOT happen again, especially if they're in the exact same position next year. Here's to 2022 and goodbye to 2021.
No comments:
Post a Comment