almagest

Don't pretend the walks didn't factor. We saw when they didn't walk, they didn't score.

27 runs in 4 games. That's not on LaRussa, though I 100% agree his management sucked. Get halfway decent starting pitching and this series looks different.

I like this. Next year is the start of the world series contention window. It's the revenge tour.

Shitty managing yes but they gave up 9 runs. Not like it was a 5-4 loss. Pitching staff has given up 27 runs in 4 games. You can't win that way.

That doubt will always be there but you can't just give up because they cheat. Sox had plenty of chances to win and blew it.

Lynn was a bad decision for sure, but he still sucked and didn't get through 3. Bullpen had to cover too many innings and I'm not sure if it mattered who was in there because they couldn't pitch Tepera 4 innings. Crochet was a terrible decision as well, but Giolito couldn't make it past 4. That's a lot to cover and the bullpen never stopped giving up runs. Bummer has had the same issues all year. Defensive positioning definitely an issue. Rodon was left in too long, and it probably should've been Tepera, but the bullpen again never stopped giving up runs. Kopech sucked in both appearances.

They might be, but that's a cop out right now. As far as we can tell they're just better.

We need The Baker Effect to take hold - put in that lefty from Sunday's 8th inning.

On the other side - Astros showed the Sox how far away they are from a top AL competitor. Deep lineup, work counts, force things to go your way. Good defensive positioning, make plays, don't make too many mistakes. Pitch to the other team's weaknesses. Kudos to them, minus the cheating. If this game doesn't change I think they're the AL world series team. They're going to beat on Boston's pitching the same way they did ours.

It's been the whole series. Pitching did not show up except Tepera and Hendriks. They have zero room for error.

Astros won game 1 easily with McCullers going 6 2/3. Winning game 4 with McCullers only giving up 1 in 4 innings. Giants have a 2-1 lead because their starters are shoving, and you can't tell me the Dodgers don't have a top 5 offense in the league. Same with the Braves beating the Brewers. The Sox only pulled a starter with a lead once because the other ones all gave up a ton of runs. Lucas was the only one to be halfway decent and yes LaRussa blew that one, but the entire bullpen has given up runs except Tepera and Hendricks because they've thrown a TON of innings.

Second base, right field, maybe another starter. This postseason is scaring me for the top 4 next year.

Good starting pitching would be covering a lot of these holes. The whole idea of a strong bullpen is getting to them with a lead in the 5th or 6th. We haven't done that all series - starters have given up a ton of runs before the 5th. We need good starting pitching to be successful in the postseason, period.

I feel like riding our reliever hot hands could've kept this game a lot closer. That said, this is the same scenario as game 3 last year - starter is ineffective and leaves early so you need to fill a lot of innings. We're losing this series because of starting pitching.

I get the "lol only singles" discussion but they've scored 16 runs in 11 1/3 innings against pitchers not named McCullers.

Putting runners on without getting a hit will KILL you in the postseason. Every damn time.

Slider outside x infinity right now

How many of the strikeouts were due to Hallion's zone and the Astros plate discipline, vs. how many were swinging/taking obvious strikes?

If he's tipping it might help to mix in other pitches to keep them more off balance (maybe he has an "offspeed" tip and that keeps them honest), or it might help to stop throwing the slider and rely on pitches he doesn't tip. If his slider just isn't good... stop using it.

Bummer and Tepera got some nasty swings on their sliders, and Kopech got basically none. Either he's tipping or his slider just isn't good. I also think he needs to mix in the curve and change more. If there is a tell, it might not be so apparent if there are two other offspeed pitches coming in.

Yeah. This is a rowdy as hell crowd.

Dusty's gloves keep cracking me up

POUR IT ON BABY HAHAHAHA HOW DO YOU LIKE IT TRASH CANS?!?!

Like I said, just gotta play well enough to bring the Baker Effect into games