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Two games. Two 6-run winners. Boxcars.
Houston has put the bull in bullpen and because of that the Yankees think they have all the momentum. They don’t, they just have a lot of it. The balance of the mo still lay in the hands of Keuchel and Verlander. The Yanksters still have to win the hard way.
(But, still, I have to wonder whether the Houston Astros have caught a case of that same Texas Poop-step that the Rangers choked on when their window finally opened?)
Meanwhile...
Chicago? Not enough fire. Winning out might be interesting, but doing that against these re-heated Dodgers is not the smart bet. Stay on the pass line, Cubs fans.
It’s Day Sixteen of Playoff-Links:
A Little Bit of Angels News
Mike Scioscia wants more choices for his 6th-inning reliever..........(Although, to be honest, LAA news is so sparse right now that everything is about yet another priority to be filled.)..........
ESPN Insider Alert: Keith Law goes into the AFL scouting report...........
Matt Thaiss is having a respectable AFL............
LAA job opening. Strike Force Squad. You know you want to...........
October Baseball
Ken Giles faced the Angels 10 times this season, facing 39 batters. ERA? 0.90. Joe Musgrove we saw in 5 games, 40 batters faced. 7.00 ERA, but that was primarily on the back of a 5-run outing in 5.1 innings of work way back in April. After that it was 2 earned runs over 4 innings of work in relief across 4 games. So one would expect that a little justice in the world would mean those guys would also do damage against the Yankees and hold on to a 2-run lead with 8 outs to go before putting the MFY down 3 games to 1. Nope. 4 runs surrendered before even 4 outs recorded, and the Yankees win 6-4. Series even, 2 games apiece, and we can all blame the Astros for making Aaron Judge The Face Of Baseball..........
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Here is an interesting diversion for those so equipped. Using Chrome, go to the Crawfish Boxes Game Thread for that ALCS Game 4 yesterday. Then scroll down to open up all the comments. CTRL+F to launch find, and type in the f-bomb. You should see at least 113 hits. But look at the slider bar on the right, indicating where all those hits are in the thread. Lot’s of bombs early as the Astros were not scoring and the fan base was frustrated, then a lot of chill while the Astros had the lead, finishing up with a tom of bombs at he end as the Astros’ bullpen choked up the game and fans were calling for the firing of their manager. Playoff baseball in a microcosm, right there..........
In Chicago, the Dodgers steamroller keeps leveling new pavement. A 6-1 win puts them up 3 games to none, with only 4 left for the Cubs to find a way to win 4. And the Dodgers don’t even look like they are trying all that hard. And that newfound Cubbie hubris is already coming to a thunderous end...........
Enjoy the coming winter, ChiCubs fans. There is an open spot on this couch over by the trash cans..........
Yeah, if you think regular season games are getting long, the playoffs merely magnify that..........
Oh, man, that kid who got caught up in the near-controversy of the Astros’ home run earlier in the ALCS is part of a much deeper story............
The Cubs showing that they have their fans’ backs. Because that’s where their fans keep their wallets..........
Because in ESPN’s world, the Yankees ALWAYS get 4 outs per inning..........
Hmmm. This Cody Bellinger must be the same Cody Bellinger as this Cody Bellinger...........
Yeppers. TBS is still juco sports television............
Everywhere In Baseball
The Chicago Cubs intervened on that Championship ring auction. The owner is stuck with it. I wonder if when he dies does that $1 contract transfer to his beneficiaries?..........
Remember my link to this story, where the Oakland A’s are signing up to restore one young fan’s collection lost in the Northern California fires? Well, the Salt Lake Bees are chipping in some swag, as well. Hell, it looks like everybody EXCEPT the Angels (even Dan Haren!). So it occurred to me, what better way to steal away an entire family of fans from the A’s top the Angels than for the LAA marketing department to send over some really cool Mike Trout gear, autographed personally to young Loren Jade Smith?? I’m thinking a bat, jersey and baseball glove would do it............
The Twins have hired staff away from BaseballAmerica to work in their scouting department. Why they didn’t hire Lyle Spencer or Mark Whicker first must be a sore spot for those two. And, as for me, Arte is on notice that I retire in 4 years and his window of opportunity for me to fix his in-stadium promo and ticketing fiascos is rapidly closing........
Managerial Merry-go-round: Brad Ausmus doesn’t want to be stuck with the Mets, either..........But the Mets have added a fresh name to their search, Joe McEwing. I know. Who’s he??...........Ron Gardenhire is now interviewing with the Tigers, back in the AL Central..........
The Duffle Bag
Baseball is a very weird game. I would hate to think about how to explain this to a newbie. But credit Girardi for the clever steal attempt. If Judge had beaten the throw, the appeal would have been nullified..........People [in Seattle] are the worst..........Ladies of Southern California be on alert, Mike Napoli is about to become a permanent free agent..........I didn’t know that FanGraphs had groovy shirts, much less that they ran out of them..........Social media needs to evaporate from the timeline of history. But until then, it’s fun to watch sports franchises duke it out..........Oops. Nice job, Chicago Transit Authority. Maybe next year you might try giving out free turkeys from helicopters on Thanksgiving.........
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