By David Waldstein
New York Times
BOSTON — No one has been able to drive the 2021 Boston Red Sox into extinction, yet. The Yankees tried and failed. Tampa Bay had its chances, but could not do it, either. It almost happened much earlier, during the final weekend of the regular season in Washington, D.C., but Boston survived.
Now it is the Houston Astros’ turn. With one more win they can end Boston’s bumpy, unexpected ride across their seven-month season, as the Red Sox sit, once again, on the precipice of doom.
On Wednesday, Houston pounded the suddenly slumping and sloppy Sox, 9-1, in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series in front of a somber crowd at Fenway Park, grabbing a three-to-two advantage.
“We’ve got to win the next game, and it’s not the first time we’ve been in this situation, that is a must-win,” said Alex Cora, Boston’s manager. “We did it in 162 and we did it in the wild-card game. Instead of seeing that there’s two games, let’s take care of game one. We’ve done it before.”
Cora promised his team would be prepared to play in Game 6, but they were not prepared for Game 5, except for Chris Sale, who pitched his best game of the year, through five innings anyway.
But Boston’s offense, which had blasted three grand slams in a span of 11 innings over two games and piled up 25 runs in the first three games of the series, turned frigid beginning on Tuesday. In Game 4, the Red Sox scored only twice. In Game 5, Framber Valdez, Houston’s starting pitcher, set down the first 12 Boston batters without allowing a ball out of the infield and did not allow a run through the first six innings.
With his sinker working to near perfection, Valdez turned in the longest pitching performance of the entire postseason, going eight innings and allowing only one run, three hits and a walk while striking out five, much to the delight of his manager, Dusty Baker.
“I feel good,” Baker said. “I don’t feel great. I won’t feel great until we accomplish our goal.”
But things are looking much brighter for Baker and Houston. Before Game 4, Astros pitchers had been serving as Boston’s punching bags. But in the last two games, Houston’s starters and relievers held the Red Sox scoreless over 14 consecutive innings — from the second inning of Game 4 until a home run by third baseman Rafael Devers in the seventh inning of Game 5 on Wednesday — seizing momentum in the series.
BOSTON — No one has been able to drive the 2021 Boston Red Sox into extinction, yet. The Yankees tried and failed. Tampa Bay had its chances, but could not do it, either. It almost happened much earlier, during the final weekend of the regular season in Washington, D.C., but Boston survived.
Now it is the Houston Astros’ turn. With one more win they can end Boston’s bumpy, unexpected ride across their seven-month season, as the Red Sox sit, once again, on the precipice of doom.
On Wednesday, Houston pounded the suddenly slumping and sloppy Sox, 9-1, in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series in front of a somber crowd at Fenway Park, grabbing a three-to-two advantage.
“We’ve got to win the next game, and it’s not the first time we’ve been in this situation, that is a must-win,” said Alex Cora, Boston’s manager. “We did it in 162 and we did it in the wild-card game. Instead of seeing that there’s two games, let’s take care of game one. We’ve done it before.”
Cora promised his team would be prepared to play in Game 6, but they were not prepared for Game 5, except for Chris Sale, who pitched his best game of the year, through five innings anyway.
But Boston’s offense, which had blasted three grand slams in a span of 11 innings over two games and piled up 25 runs in the first three games of the series, turned frigid beginning on Tuesday. In Game 4, the Red Sox scored only twice. In Game 5, Framber Valdez, Houston’s starting pitcher, set down the first 12 Boston batters without allowing a ball out of the infield and did not allow a run through the first six innings.
With his sinker working to near perfection, Valdez turned in the longest pitching performance of the entire postseason, going eight innings and allowing only one run, three hits and a walk while striking out five, much to the delight of his manager, Dusty Baker.
“I feel good,” Baker said. “I don’t feel great. I won’t feel great until we accomplish our goal.”
But things are looking much brighter for Baker and Houston. Before Game 4, Astros pitchers had been serving as Boston’s punching bags. But in the last two games, Houston’s starters and relievers held the Red Sox scoreless over 14 consecutive innings — from the second inning of Game 4 until a home run by third baseman Rafael Devers in the seventh inning of Game 5 on Wednesday — seizing momentum in the series.
It is almost as if the teams changed places sometime overnight Monday. While Boston’s bats went cold and the fielders committed more errors (four) than they scored runs in the last two games, Houston has assumed the mantle of the team of destiny. It has the more potent offense and the impenetrable pitching staff, outscoring Boston by 18-3 in a 24-hour Boston nightmare.
The Red Sox went into the game looking for Sale to match Valdez and provide a strong outing to tip the balance back in their favor, and he did that. The 2021 Chris Sale has not been the same dominating pitcher he once was, struggling to regain his form since his return this year from Tommy John surgery in March 2020. He pitched fairly well in the regular season after his return in August, but in the postseason he had been an utter disappointment, until Wednesday.
For five innings it looked as if he had rediscovered his old stuff. After he struck out Kyle Tucker for the final out of the fourth inning to strand Houston runners at first and third, Sale yelled emphatically into his glove as he danced off the mound, celebrating the high, 98.5-mile-per-hour fastball that eluded Tucker’s bat.
Sale said he left his guts on the mound (using more crude language), and added, “that’s for damn sure.”
The Red Sox went into the game looking for Sale to match Valdez and provide a strong outing to tip the balance back in their favor, and he did that. The 2021 Chris Sale has not been the same dominating pitcher he once was, struggling to regain his form since his return this year from Tommy John surgery in March 2020. He pitched fairly well in the regular season after his return in August, but in the postseason he had been an utter disappointment, until Wednesday.
For five innings it looked as if he had rediscovered his old stuff. After he struck out Kyle Tucker for the final out of the fourth inning to strand Houston runners at first and third, Sale yelled emphatically into his glove as he danced off the mound, celebrating the high, 98.5-mile-per-hour fastball that eluded Tucker’s bat.
Sale said he left his guts on the mound (using more crude language), and added, “that’s for damn sure.”
5 comments:
Pocket pussies exist.
How quickly we forget how the Astros were caught cheating when they last won the World Series.
Expect alot of high 5 when Dusty wins. He invented the high 5.
October 21, 2021 at 12:44 PM
Worry about your elected officials not cheating but stealing pinche pendejo idiota
Alex Cora was just as guilty.. no comments about him?
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