Division Series' Day Three: Avoidable & Unavoidable

 

I've been pretty defensive of Rob Thomson. Great manager, great guy, perfect for this city. But Rob Thomson mismanaged the hell out of that game.

Here's what you do. You take Wheeler out after he breaks up the no-no, put in Hoffman then, cause he's ready and alert, rather than just sort of leaving him out to dry for two innings. Hoffman mops up, then put in Alvarado for as long as he needs to be in, he has the Braves' ass. Only take him out when it's absolutely clear that he's done. Then give Kimbrel the ninth and hopefully you've got a 4-1 win heading back to Philly.

That...did not happen. Yes, getting 10 Ks out of Wheeler was nice, but if I'm Thomson, and I know you might need a Game 5, I'd conserve as many Wheeler innings as possible. Instead, we left Wheeler in for too long, got a 2 run-homer off him from Travis D'Arnaud, who thrives in these kind of situations, then get gobsmacked by Riley late because Hoffman should have been on a half hour sooner, and then we get caught with our pants down trying to advance on Michael Harris. It was honestly embarrassing. Yes, the Braves are a better team than us, but we blew a 4-0 lead heading into 6 because of these sort of decisions.

It's not exactly a 'I want the manager's head' kind of thing like a lot of Philly fans will do at the soonest sign of weakness, but it's not great. This series is still technically winnable, but we just wasted a great Wheeler start because we got too confident. I pray it doesn't happen again. 

The D-Backs-Dodgers series was honestly bound to happen. When one side is putting up Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, and the other side is putting up an oft-injured 30something trying his best not to get injured again, and a rookie who is the next best option...offense schmoffense, the one side is stronger.

Last night was yet another showing from a Blue Jays player that got out of Toronto. Lourdes Gurriel had a great season with the D-Backs, and last night he had two RBIs, including a home run. They clearly love him in Phoenix, and he's been responsible for some great moments for them this year. You also have to thank Zac Gallen for his 5 innings of strong work, despite those 2 runs, Pham and Marte for multi-hit evenings, and Paul Sewald for not taking long at all to become a legendary closer for the D-Backs.

There is a chance the Dodgers somehow hang on, but I am looking at the D-Backs as an NLCS competitor, and they could do some huge things down the line if the momentum holds. The first step is not blowing a 2-0 lead against a team that has Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman on it.

Today, we've got a series that could find a new leverage point, and a series that could end though I really don't want it to. Good luck to everybody today.