Tuesday, October 19, 2021

Championship Series Day 4: Slamming Into Oblivion

 


I figured that the ALCS was going to become a case of which pitching staff committed less mistakes, but I always thought the Sox' bullpen was going to be the victim of this. Hansel Robles sitting around looking human, that's a giveaway. Adam Ottavino and Matt Barnes teetering on the brink of unreliable? This is all foreshadowing in most seasons. 

However, this has all been a pleasant surprise. Something about the Red Sox lineup absolutely obliterating Houston pitchers has been giving me life in this bland, bland postseason schematic. LOOK AT 'EM GO! J.D., Arroyo, Schwarber, Devers, Hernandez. They're all absolutely attacking this team's bullpen. Which means, if anything, that whatever cheating that the lineup did all those years ago, and may still be doing, didn't spread to the pitching.

Aw, man. Something about seeing the Astros get what they've deserved this series has made me like the Red Sox a little. Let me stress that I'm still gonna be rooting for the NL team in the WS, but the Sox somehow have a habit of feeling fun whenever they get good momentum in the postseason. It happened in 2013, it happened in 2018, and it's happening now. Lots of fun, excellent players, like Rafael Devers, Kyle Schwarber, Enrique Hernandez, Eduardo Rodriguez, and now Christian Arroyo, are getting their due. Arroyo's success comes after years of trying to make it in San Francisco, Tampa and Cleveland before FINALLY getting a shot with the Red Sox and taking it to a huge postseason moment. I'm very happy for the guy. 

We've got a few more games left til we really see the full picture here, but with a Greinke-Pivetta battle looming tonight, I'd kinda like some more offensive olympics happening on the home side. Pivetta's been sharp all postseason, Greinke's been human all year, the signs are there. Let's just bring it on home. 

It'll be interesting how the NLCS game goes as well, considering that it's Morton v. Buehler. We could very well see the Braves go to 3-0. Wouldn't that be something? 

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