I'm never going to blame someone for not getting in front of a ball like that. I'd rather be down 0-2 than potentially 1-1 and missing one of my best players for the rest of the playoffs.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4ccUDrB_8jQ" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Huh?

Pretty self explanatory, no? Get hit by a 105 mph baseball you better hope it hits a fleshy area.

The Braves are my second favorite sporting franchise.

Have to get in front of the ball there. Season may have depended on it.

When was the last time a player missed significant time because they took a line drive (that bounced off the ground first) for the team... and it wasn't like a pitcher who had zero time to react?

Maybe it happens more than I know, but it doesn't even seem like a thing to me... sure, he could get hurt, but even then, for the series?

Or maybe I'm just too used to seeing 100mph pucks off any and every part of the body (padded or not) and hockey guys not missing a shift... as opposed to this guy supposedly not sacrificing his body.

I think the more feasible explanation is that it was a very bang-bang play and the guy is probably supremely confident he can get down and make that pick as opposed to getting in front of it.... and not that he's such a wuss that he wouldn't take one off the shin if required.

What part of the modern day hockey players body is not protected by some sort of hard plastic or padding?

Hockey player protection:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ipment_rom.jpg

VS.

Baseball infielder protection:

https://target.scene7.com/is/image/T...=488&fmt=pjpeg

Now that I think about it, Devon Travis broke his collarbone once on a groundball to 2B. Out for several months.

Still, it's the playoffs and your season may depend on blocking it. Chances of something like an injury happening are pretty minuscule as it is.

Somewhere there is a little league coach screaming GET IN FRONT OF IT. ROFL

As a viewer with no dog in the fight it was a hell of a game to watch.

Considering your example is from 2015, lol.

Yeah, Giants/Dodgers and most of Braves/Brewers were ****ing boring.... this has been far better baseball.

It's typically not a position infielders find themselves in. Everyone but the pitcher has enough distance between themselves and the plate to defend themselves from a line drive and just about everyone fielding a ball hit that hard is doing it from the side.

dodgers series is far from over.

Some of his decision making is questionable.

I don’t agree with starting Scherzer off minimal rest.

I also don’t agree with pitching Urias out of the pen.

That was an awesome slide.

Dude looked like Roberto Alomar.

Urias was pretty good out of the pen but why is he doing this? Its not game 7 and isn't Urias suppose to be starting in these games at some point?

Scherzer said his arm was dead in the 4th. I don't know if thats just to cover for his manager taking him out but... might want to think about not using the guys you want pitching 7 innings every single time you need to bring in the bullpen.

It's not like the Dodgers have a lot of options after Clayton Kershaw was lost due to an elbow injury.

Tony Gonsolin is shaky as you saw in Game 1. David Price is not on the roster.

They could have gone back to Walker Buehler on four days rest, but I'm thinking they wanted to give him extra rest after he went on three days rest in Game 4 of the NLDS. He's the pitcher with the prior Tommy John, not Scherzer.

Two bullpen games is too much stress on the bullpen.

Scherzer being the sturdy veteran, having pitched a high stress side session in Game 5 of the NLDS. To me, it wasn't too much to ask. They took him out after he made perhaps his nastiest pitch of the game on a strikeout of Orlando Arcia. Other than the flat breaking ball to Joc Pederson, I thought he was pretty solid.

The Dodgers going down 0-2 has less to do with pitching and more to do with their bats not taking advantage of scoring opportunities.

And Kyle Schwarber hits a grand slam.

This was the guy I wanted the Royals to sign for the 1B/DH position, but no.

Because, Dayton F'ing Moore.

The Red Sox' last two games makes it kind of crazy to reflect on the fact that in the Royals two full postseasons, Kendrys Morales was the only person who hit a three run home run (and no one hit a slam)

Astros might want to consider starting Greinke over some of these guys they’re throwing out there to get killed. His season numbers were fine, he has almost two decades of experience and he’s pitched in so many big games.

Seems the Dodgers are ready for the offseason to begin.

Have been since that game 5 against the Giants.

Not after that 3 run bomb

Bellinger has a pulse after all.

At least they can't get walked off this time.

MVP Cody B decided to combo break that.

I do not understand the Astros pitching management this series.

Greinke didn’t last long

Joctober was completely Joclost during that at bad... damn.

All of them were lost. Jansen got away with some meatball pitches there. Couldn't locate up and in to save his life.

Facial recognition ban on all the Dodgers fans that left in the 7th?

Jansen now with the second most postseason saves of all time (19) slightly behind Rivera (42)

Javier was lights out for the Stros. Their strategy has worked to keep them in it today.

The pitcher for Boston threw a pitch that should've been strike 3 and retired the top of the 9th. It was close but it sure looked good to me. Then the guy singles and they take the lead.

Well, bye

Now the Astros have blown it wide open. And the crowd has gone eerily silent. Time to go home and drown your sorrows in some clam chowda.

Why are the Red Sox using their ace starter in the 9th inning of game 4 in a series they are leading anyway? Just completely backfired on them and it may hurt him the next time he starts now too.

It seems to me teams almost manage these guys today like they are robots who don’t get fatigued.

When it rains it pours. Bring in the position player pitching.

Astros just Royaled the Red Sox.

Yeah. If you’re gonna commit to bringing him in I’m unsure why you don’t let him try to get through that inning.

How did the Astros score 9 runs? I didn't hear the banging of the trash cans.

He was already at like 24 pitches or some shit. Already gave up the lead and loaded the bases. Still need him to start in 3 days.

I get that, but he had electric stuff and was still getting swings and misses. Leaving him in for one more batter seems okay if he’s already been through 24 or some **** high stress pitches.

He didn't throw a single pitch in the strike zone to Altuve, the last batter he faced.

Cora basically gave the game up effectively when he took him out. But that decision conflicts with his earlier decision to pitch him. If the game was so important to you to use your ace on 2 days rest in a role he isn’t used to, I’d probably let him try to keep it a 1 run game there for one more batter.

Fair enough. I just don’t know why you’re not all in with him at that juncture after committing him.

LMAO

That stat from ARod just now. "Laz Diaz missed 21 calls tonight. MLB average is 8 or 9." Man was giving up like 6 inches off the plate on the side he was ****ing setting up on.

I'm like 99.9% sure I've seen Angel Hernandez in these playoffs. It's ****ing ridiculous these guys are umpiring the playoffs, let alone anything.

Laz is just a big believer in ushering in the new era of robo-umps.

36 years ago tonight the Royals lost - at home - game 2 of the 1985 World Series to the cardinals.
Charlie Leibrandt pitched a great game and the Royals held a 2-0 lead in the top of the 9th. Howser failed to use Quiz to close it out. The Cards blooped a couple of singles, then a soft double. Another single and then Terry Pendleton cleared it with a bloop double down the RF line.

Howser would have been crucified today for saying “it was Charlie’s game to lose”.

Also, the Astros are putting it to the Sox

Also, the Royals destroyed the Jays, 14-2 in game 3 of the ALCS on this day 6 years ago.

Escobar led off with a bunt. Zobrist homered off RA Dickey and the rout was on. And on. And on.

This may have been the game where the legend of KC Connection went to a nephews birthday party and missed the game.

KCC hasn’t been right since that day. Something died inside of him

I think he was emotionally overcome at his 3rd cousin’s niece’s Bat Mitzvah that shook him up.

The Dodgers throwing their starters out there for short relief innings between starts really seems to be working out.

Once again….**** Dave Roberts.

If the Braves blow it again I’m going to be pissed and I’m not even a Braves fan.

If only Schildt understood the concept he might still be managing rather than looking for a job.

Feel the same way about this Dodgers-Braves series as I did the Cubs WS. Dodgers are without a doubt the more talented team and there's no reason that this shouldnt make it to a game 7, but when your best hitter is all of a sudden Cody Bellinger... yikes. Dodgers need to wake the **** up.

Braves win.

Dusty Baker is going to win a WS...that's funny as ****.

Greinke

If a team’s catcher tries to frame out of zone pitches as strikes the entire game long, seems to me they have less cause to cry about borderline calls being missed.

Christian Vazquez spent the whole game moving his glove into strike zone when he caught a ball out of strike zone. The indicator that Diaz missed that strike call on Castro’s at bat was that Vazquez did not move his glove.

It was a borderline pitch that was a strike, but that’s baseball. Red Sox catcher Vazquez tries so hard to get the umpire to call out of zone borderline pitches strikes, seems like he has to live with mistakes on close pitches that go against his pitcher.

Yeah, it looks like the Dodgers might get bounced. They been very lifeless.

The Dodgers won the worst World Series of all time. It was a crackerjack title.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Brusdar Graterol, 101mph Demon Sinker (with Tail). <a href="https://t.co/QxqTFeQHp1">pic.twitter.com/QxqTFeQHp1</a></p>&mdash; Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) <a href="https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1451368912847843328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Were they really doing the wave in a playoff game?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Astros win the AL pennant.

Tucker’s HR in the 8th reminded me of Kendrys Morales’ against the Astros in 2015

25 runs in games 1-3 followed up with 3 runs in games 4-6.

Ouch.

GO STROS!

Good memories.

I couldn't do another Boston championship game. Okay with the Stros by default.

**** the Astros and the city of Houston.

And that stadium.

Hope the Dodgers can pull it out against the Braves in the last two.

Baseball NEEDS a Dodgers-Astros rematch to settle the ‘cheating’ once and for all.

If Stros win, they legitimize themselves from their previous tainted title. If Dodgers win, most baseball fans feel the cheating Stros have been given their just due, and most baseball fans will get over it and move on, including Dodgers fans.

And then there’s the whole MLB moving the All Star game out of Atlanta due to ‘politics’ that’s at play underneath the surface. Will be interested to see how the umpires call the zone in Game 6. Atlanta’s probably gonna have to really ‘earn it’ to move on to the WS.

MLB wants Houston-Los Angeles rematch. For market size and will be a ratings puller bringing in casual fans that want to see the ‘revenge series’.

Should be an interesting Game 6 tomorrow . . . . .

Just for YOU - GO STROS!

Exactly. I'm pulling for the Dodgers to get there also.

TMZMLB

I just can't do the Dodgers again.

That'd put them in what, 4 out of the last 5 World Series? I just can't watch them in the final matchup anymore - especially without Kershaw and Turner, two of the players they have I would actually root for.

I could root for the Braves, though. Fun team.

Even if the Dodgers make it…we’re a walking MASH unit right now. The Astros winning wouldn’t legitimize shit.