We've seen guys that have to win pitch out of their minds. Mike Minor winning Game 2 for Atlanta, Sonny Gray shutting out one of the best offenses in baseball in his Game 2 for the A's, Garrett Cole in another Game 2 for the Pirates!
The Dodgers pitching otherwise owned the Braves. Medlen started out well in Game 1, but the Dodger offense shut him down behind Clayton Kershaw. The Braves lineup just isn't good at all; no real solid .300, .310 hitters. Tim Hudson going down in July really killed their pitching.
Now I'll comment on a couple controversial decisions. First, before Game 4 in LA, everyone was divided over Kershaw starting on three days rest. It actually hurt the team in the long run, because they can't start Kershaw Game 1 in St. Louis, plus he gave up two runs anyway. The real bad decision was not putting Kimbrel in the game. Carpenter was devastated after that game, and I was listening to a little of the press conference on TBS. I didn't hear any of the soft Atlanta media ask Gonzalez why the hell he didn't put Kimbrel in. Your back's against the wall, you put your stud out there!
At least Leyland got that, but at first, putting Scherzer in relief looked like the dumbest move in the world in Game 4, giving up a run almost right away, but Oakland did this to themselves. They had the Tigers and Miguel Cabrera against the fence and they couldn't get it done. I knew they wouldn't recover after that fan interference call.
Now, a lot of people including Mad Dog totally disagreed with the decision to put Sonny Gray on the mound last night. Listen, if I'm Melvin, of course I'm gonna pick a guy who shut out the Tigers rather than a vet who's had an iffy career at best. Let's put Colon in perspective; who cares if he's 40, if he's pitched for 15 years. Yeah he won a Cy Young, but he's no Verlander. He gave up a three-spot right away in Game 1!
Aces: Verlander came on and pitched like a man; A's had no answer. Good effort from the Pirates, in the most dramatic of the four series. Game 4 couldn't have had a better script; McCutchen as the series-winning run in the bottom of the ninth with two down. But the Pirates had to win Game 4. Clint Hurdle made a terrible decision not keeping Cole in the game. He pinch-hit while his starter was pitching a gem, sans a bad pitch to Freese. The bullpen isn't as good as advertised, and maybe those couple of lucky hops in the seventh tie the game at two, instead of being down 3-1.
Oh yeah, I forgot. Red Sox: SPEED IT UP PLEASE! I cannot stand that team in the playoffs because they are literally slower than whatever analogy you wanna use: my grandma, molasses, a snail, take your pick. The Rays didn't keep it interesting at all, even if they won a home game. Hats off to Tampa though for braving that two-game road trip just to get to the playoffs!
'Till Next Time!
Neil Dwyer
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)