2021 Postseason thread

[oblong]

Game 4 reminded me of game 4 of the ‘06 World Series.  Looks like the series will be tied up and then the home team scored late and makes it seem inevitable.  

[mtutiger]

14 minutes ago, oblong said:

Game 4 reminded me of game 4 of the ‘06 World Series.  Looks like the series will be tied up and then the home team scored late and makes it seem inevitable.  

Tonight is still a bullpen game for Atlanta tonight so it's hard to count Houston out. But yeah, even if Houston wins tonight, it still feels like we know where this is going.

[chasfh]

7 minutes ago, mtutiger said:

Tonight is still a bullpen game for Atlanta tonight so it's hard to count Houston out. But yeah, even if Houston wins tonight, it still feels like we know where this is going.

Which is seven games, I hope.

Despite that I hate both teams and want them to lose, the Artlanta portion of the Series has been pretty good.

[mtutiger]

6 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Which is seven games, I hope.

Despite that I hate both teams and want them to lose, the Artlanta portion of the Series has been pretty good.

It's baseball, anything can happen and all... but Atlanta has played such good baseball of late where it just seems unlikely for Houston to beat them twice in a row. Let alone three times.

But who knows... if any city fanbase knows a thing or two about frittering away a nearly insurmountable lead, it would be Atlanta's fanbase lol

[chasfh]

3 hours ago, mtutiger said:

It's baseball, anything can happen and all... but Atlanta has played such good baseball of late where it just seems unlikely for Houston to beat them twice in a row. Let alone three times.

But who knows... if any city fanbase knows a thing or two about frittering away a nearly insurmountable lead, it would be Atlanta's fanbase lol

The Braves have pitching issues at the moment. Tonight should have been a Charlie Morton start. Instead they will probably have to start Drew Smyly, and rely on him and Jesse Chavez to chew up at least six innings between them before they can go into the bullpen for Minter and maybe Chris Martin. The back three of their bullpen have worked both the last two games so they will want to keep their top arms rested for a trip back to Houston. While they may not be wholly unavailable under all circumstances, I don’t think the Braves want to go to any of those three unless they are going into the ninth with a save situation.

The best scenario I see for the Braves is to score a dozen runs today, so they can win something like 12-10 using the back of their bullpen and take the Series. The second best outcome, frankly, might be getting blown out themselves, so they can keep their best arms off the mound, and which is something I see as more likely to happen. That way Max Fried and the back of their arm barn (may I start calling it that?) can be 100% rested for Game Six.

The worst scenario I see them in is a nail-biter from the middle of the game on, because that will put decisional pressure on them to dip into their tired arms, which would jeopardize their availability for Game Six.

Edited October 31, 2021 by chasfh

[Dan Gilmore]

I would prefer that the arm barn thing is quickly put out to pasture.

[SoCalTiger]

I hope it ends tonight so we can get on with the off season and Tiger news. 

And its the Bullpen.

[chasfh]

I said “arm barn” for its comic value.

[oblong]

Even animal rights people think PETA is a joke.  

[mtutiger]

48 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I said “arm barn” for its comic value.

I am 100% in favor of using it ironically lol

[Tenacious D]

5 hours ago, SoCalTiger said:

I hope it ends tonight so we can get on with the off season and Tiger news. 

And its the Bullpen.

It’s actually Arm Barn now.  I’ve asked the admin here to make bullpen a banned word, like f*** and sh**.

And I think the labor unrest is going to push the activity to much later, unfortunately.

 

Edited October 31, 2021 by Tenacious D

[lordstanley]

[mtutiger]

Braves 5th inning: 

[chasfh]

I feel like the Braves came in prepared to lose. They were recharging for potential games in Houston. I think they felt they had no choice but to throw the front and middle of their bullpen at the Astros and hope it would be enough. If they had won, hey, they’re the champs; and if not, well, Max Fried and the back of their bullpen will be fully rested and they’ll have two more cracks in Houston. I think it’s gonna be a good game.

[mtutiger]

3 hours ago, chasfh said:

I feel like the Braves came in prepared to lose. They were recharging for potential games in Houston. I think they felt they had no choice but to throw the front and middle of their bullpen at the Astros and hope it would be enough. If they had won, hey, they’re the champs; and if not, well, Max Fried and the back of their bullpen will be fully rested and they’ll have two more cracks in Houston. I think it’s gonna be a good game.

Past the 6th inning, I'd agree, although I think if they get out of the 5th with the game tied, they play to win that game. The fact that they were even using Minter to guard their 5-4 lead that early in the game is evidence of that.

[gehringer_2]

3 hours ago, chasfh said:

I feel like the Braves came in prepared to lose. They were recharging for potential games in Houston. I think they felt they had no choice but to throw the front and middle of their bullpen at the Astros and hope it would be enough. If they had won, hey, they’re the champs; and if not, well, Max Fried and the back of their bullpen will be fully rested and they’ll have two more cracks in Houston. I think it’s gonna be a good game.

yup - Snitker was/is managing to win one out of three - which is probably the right strategy. There are no style points awarded for winning in less than 7.

[Archie]

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

yup - Snitker was/is managing to win one out of three - which is probably the right strategy. There are no style points awarded for winning in less than 7.

The easier one to win would have been last night with a 4 run lead in the first.  

[gehringer_2]

31 minutes ago, Archie said:

The easier one to win would have been last night with a 4 run lead in the first.  

I guess it depends on how Snitker evaluated the state of his BP. Or maybe he changed his mind when Minter got lit up. At least from that point he seemed to have decided that  having the rest of his top arms rested Tues was more appealing to him than using more of them last night. If Houston wins out out course it will have been the wrong move! 🤷‍♀️

[mtutiger]

5 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

I guess it depends on how Snitker evaluated the state of his BP. Or maybe he changed his mind when Minter got lit up. At least from that point he seemed to have decided that  having the rest of his top arms rested Tues was more appealing to him than using more of them last night. If Houston wins out out course it will have been the wrong move! 🤷‍♀️

He was clearly managing to win up until the 5th - I just think he made some bad choices during the 5th (namely not pulling Minter after he walked in Maldonado) which led to a Houston lead. At that point, cutting bait made sense.

[casimir]

On 10/31/2021 at 7:46 PM, lordstanley said:

I was going to say that it looks like Houston’s SP needs to be more efficient, but that isn’t necessarily the case.  They’re averaging a bit over 16 pitches per inning, which isn’t terrible.  And that includes 52 pitches over 2 innings from Valdez.

13 pitchers on a playoff series roster to cover 7 possible games in 9 days.  Two games, day off, three games, day off, two games.  Maybe I’m just being old, but 13 pitchers seems one (or even two) pitcher too much.

[chasfh]

8 hours ago, mtutiger said:

Past the 6th inning, I'd agree, although I think if they get out of the 5th with the game tied, they play to win that game. The fact that they were even using Minter to guard their 5-4 lead that early in the game is evidence of that.

They used Minter because Minter was available. He was always going to pitch either way. I do agree that had the Braves gone into the ninth with a saveable lead, Will Smith would have worked a third straight game. But even if the game were tied going through the late innings, they would have still crossed their fingers and relied on Smyly to hold the game close instead of going to Jackson or Matzek.

Edited November 2, 2021 by chasfh

[Archie]

Fried had Altuve out at first early in the game.  They didn't watch the replay long enough to figure it out.  Very bad move by Braves replay guy.

Now Braves are up 3-0.  Its still early but hope they can keep this lead and finish the series.

[IdahoBert]

I am making the wild assumption that a 7-0 lead in the top of the 9th means the Braves will win. In an alternate universe where are the Dodgers are on the verge of winning at home, I expect the stadium would be 1/3 empty by now. 

I am happy for Atlanta fans. This is one of those once in a lifetime things that means a lot to people who are deeply invested emotionally and psychologically in a team. I’m glad that somebody can find something to be happy about.

Now the Tigers can move on with spending money like a drunken sailor. Some day we’ll be happy again.

[IdahoBert]

[casimir]

9 hours ago, Archie said:

Fried had Altuve out at first early in the game.  They didn't watch the replay long enough to figure it out.  Very bad move by Braves replay guy.

Altuve?  I thought there was a close play involving Brantley.  Freeman fielded the ball, Fried raced over to cover 1B but never gave a look to Freeman to toss him the ball until too late.  Fried never touched 1B and Brantley stepped on Fried's ankle, but not 1B.  That doesn't constitute an out.  The camera never showed Fried tag or touch the base, and presumably Brantley touched it first after running through 1B and then returning to 1B to ready himself for the next batter.  So, it could very well be that the Braves' replay guy never saw a visual that Brantley (or 1B) was actually tagged by Fried.