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What a sweet win last night. Let me count the ways.
- Come from behind.
- Astros got the momentum.
- Jose Altuve home run. That drives all the blind haters crazy.
- Carlos Correa home run. Ditto.
- Jose and Carlos both hitting homers that decided the game. Isn’t this one of the best middle-infield combinations in the history of baseball? Especially in the playoffs? (Re-Sign Correa, damn it) Is there anything that screams Astros louder than Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa teaming up to win an ALCS game?
- The bullpen continues to jell. Yimi Garcia, Cristian Javier, Phil Maton, Brooks Raley, Ryne Stanek, and Kendall Graveman were all nails after the Framber Valdez fail. This was supposed to be the team Achilles heal. So far in the playoffs, they have been a fortress.
- Soon we’ll stop calling colorful baseball quotes “yogiisms” and start calling them “Dustyisms.” How about this post-game statement from Dusty Baker commenting on how Kike Hernandez hit a homer during a brief, in-game TV interview on national TV: “I blame FOX for that. Because invariably, when you are doing it live, something usually always happens.” (“Baseball is ninety percent mental. The other half is physical.” Yogi Berra)
- The Astros now only need seven more wins.
Today it's rookie Luis Garcia going for the Astros against Boston’s best, Nathan Eovaldi. Garcia got beat up in Chicago, going 2.2 innings and allowing five runs, although two of those scored after he left the game in the only Astros loss and bullpen meltdown of the Chicago series.
He’s been more comfortable pitching at home this year, and hopefully, his experience in Chicago will be just a little road bump in his learning curve.
Eovaldi has been sharp so far in the post-season, going 10.1 innings, allowing three runs. His WHIP has only been 0.77, and BA against only .179. It’s important for the Astros to make Eovaldi throw a lot of pitches and hopefully get to Boston’s vulnerable bullpen.
Here’s the lineups.
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Media Access
Game 2: Nathan Eovaldi (RHP, 11-9, 3.75 ERA, 195 K’s**) vs Luis Garcia (RHP, 11-8, 3.48 ERA, 167 K’s**)
When: Saturday, October 16th @ 3:20 pm CDT
Listen: Red Sox - WEEI 93.7, ESPN Radio, WCCM 1490 AM/103.7 FM, WAMG 94.9/890 AM / Astros - KTRH 740 AM/99.1 FM HD-2, ESPN Radio, TUDN 93.3/KLAT 1010
Watch: FOX/FS1