Last night’s contests delivered high drama — one at the very outset, the other at the end. That left three of the four championship series spots claimed, with the Nationals joining the Cardinals in the NLCS and the Yankees already ticketed for the ALCS. But who’ll square off against New York’s savages? That’ll be decided tonight.
The pressure is on the Astros, who have already squandered two opportunities to clinch the series. Two of Houston’s three exceptional starters failed to close it out, so they’ll hand the ball to the final member of the trio. Gerrit Cole doesn’t have the Hall of Fame resume that his teammates do — yet, at least — but he’s at top form and is arguably the best of the group right now. The Rays have only scored runs in bunches once in this series, but their pesky and balanced group of hitters will try to scratch out some runs against the dominant Cole. If he had a soft spot this year, it was — like so many others — in the long ball department. Cole allowed 1.23 per nine on a 16.9% HR/FB rate during the regular season. Houston skipper A.J. Hinch may ultimately face some nervy decisions late in this game, but he’ll surely ride Cole as long as possible.
Tampa Bay counters with pure power of its own in the form of Tyler Glasnow. While he hasn’t come close to Cole, his former Pirates teammate, in overall output over the past two seasons, Glasnow has the ability to dominate as well. He’ll also have a chance to further extend his pitch count after throwing 76 pitches and lasting 4 1/3 frames in the first game of this series. That’s just the first step of the Rays’ strategy, which is sure to involve a parade of relievers once Glasnow exits. The club pushed several of its best arms hard in game four, but an intervening rest day should leave plenty of options at the disposal of manager Kevin Cash. He and the staff will be trying to navigate an almost laughably talented Houston run-production machine.
It’s hard not to like the battle-tested, star-studded Astros at home with Cole on the mound, but the Rays have already proven they won’t back down. Who do you think will take it tonight and book a date with the Yanks?
(Poll link for app users)
It would be crazy if the 2 best teams in baseball don’t make it out of the 1st round. A 5 game serious is tough and just shows anything can happen in a short series.
But if the Astros bats don’t wake up they have no shot.
Having 100+ wins does not automatically make you the world series champion. Just look at the 2001 Mariners. 116 – 46 regular season record….They lost to the Yankees in the playoffs….Then the Yankees lost to Arizona Diamondbacks.
I like to see the little (smaller market underdog) guy win for once….And all the MLB guys who Predicted all the contenders back in March to be dead wrong. They were wrong about the Indians winning the AL central. I believe they were wrong about who would win the NL Central. I’d like to see them wrong about who would win the World Series, Proving you should never make predictions like that in March.
@RoyalsFanAmongWolves No one asserted that a 100+ win team makes you the WS champs. That’s obvious. But the Dodgers and Astros were/are the obvious favorites. But the beauty of the game is that in a short series, anything can happen.
Never said 100 wins makes you the champ. My point is the two best teams, the Dodgers and Astros, could be taken out in the first round. It is playoff baseball. But off the top of my head I can’t think of a season the favorites were knocked out in the 1st round.
jjd002, haven’t you heard, the Yankees are in. They swept the twins… they’re already in.
Hopefully the Rays can make it four road teams winning each series…
Rays up!
Stros down! Sorry had to do it. Reminded me of that old HBO show about ladies of the night.
Hoes up, pimps down!
The Hoe Train!
Yankees?
Closed it out on the road
RAYS UP
Let’s go with a triple upset and watch Tampa win this one. The only thing that would worry me about it is that I think Tampa is less likely to beat the Yanks then Houston is. I just hope it’s not another boring WS where we have to the Yanks or cards win an umpteen billionth championship. I’m rooting for a Tampa/Washington WS. At least then we will get to see somebody new win it all for once. Who’s with me?
I’d rather face Houston than Tampa
Just out of curiosity why? The Astros are better than the Yankees and the Yankees are better than the Rays.
Nobody compares to Rays pitching. Limiting the Astros offense like this should scare anybody, let alone the strike out prone Yankees. The Astros put the ball in play a tonnnnn and the Rays are still carving them up. And the Rays allowed the fewest Hr in baseball this year which is how a lot of runs are scored by the Yanks. Regular season record aside everyone should be scared of the Rays
Wrong, the Yankees are better.
Again the Yankees pitching doesn’t compare to Tampa.
Numbers disagree with your opinion.
That’s the match up I’m pulling for, but all I really wanted was for the Dodgers to lose so I’m already good.
This could be the World Series right here. Both Houston and TB could take out NY, and I don’t think WAS or STL gets by any of those teams, although any of those match ups would make for some great baseball.
And NY could take out Houston or TB?
NY wasn’t tested at all by MN. Houston and TB have superior pitching that can shut down NY’s bats. Houston has the bats to match the Yankees, and TB is, and has been, sneaky good for a while now. I’ll say it: THE YANKEES ARE OVERRATED.
I‘ll say it: you’re a Yankee hater. Minnesota were better than the Rays and look how they did.
Minnesota has better bats, but TB has far superior pitching. What good are your bats if your pitching gives up 23 runs in 3 games (NY’s pitching isn’t TERRIBLE either)? TB would have shut down the Twins enough for their bats to string together enough runs to win. And yes, TB went 2-5 vs. MN in the regular season, but there was only a single run difference between the two. If marginal pitching shuts down MN, they probably don’t even get the 7 runs they scored vs NY in a TB/MN series.
@davengmusic
The obvious disclaimer applies. Any team can be beaten in a short series.. Interestingly, the Yanks are not overrated. How can they be when they came in as underdogs with expectations that the Astros were going to beat them?
As for the Rays, I think the Yanks respect them but they sure don’t fear them. If the series is Yanks vs Rays then the Yanks will have home field advantage at home and the road. When you watch them play in Tampa it feels and sounds like they’re more Yanks fans than Rays. And the Yanks don’t fear their pitching. They’re 12-7 against them and, on average, they’ve averaged 5 runs scored vs 3 allowed.
But either way. Should be a great series. Something about this Yankee team feels authentic.
You have to appreciate two things. The Yanks didn’t run out Happ and CC and two Severino didn’t pitch most of the season, Paxton has been awesome the last 10-12 starts and Tanaka takes his game to another level in the post-season
I predict a Rays vs Cards WS which will do two things. Provide MLB with the worse TV ratings in years and prove that anyone can win. They just have get to the playoffs.
I said like a week ago on Twitter that a cards / Rays World Series would be quite interesting. Plus I can’t stand the Astros and I would like to be able to cheer for the AL team. I don’t like the Yankees (I trained myself to never cheer for the Yankees in the WS even when I was just cheering for the American League back in the day) And I won’t watch it if it’s the Astros.
I would rather see a new champion that has NEVER won a World series championship…..So obviously Cards have won championships but the Nationals have never (Even as the Expos). The rays have been there but they lost….But if they can get past the Astros and then the Yankees….
As a baseball fan, I’d watch that series all day every day. But Manfred is DREADING a Rays/Cards WS, guaranteed.
Astros win tonight and beat New York, but lose to Washington.
Not a chance Houston loses to Washington
For sake of argument, it’s possible WAS beats Houston. The Nationals big 3 isn’t anything to laugh at, and at this point both bullpens are spotty at best (Osuna is inconsistent, only really reliable HOU pen guy is Harris). A WAS/HOU WS could be pretty intriguing.
A Hall of Fame resume clearly hasn’t helped a certain playoff pitcher so unless Cole changed his last name from Kershaw he should be fine.
Astros “fan” here – I picked the Rays. They have all of the momentum going into tonight’s game, and their players want to win more. You can see it on the Astros’ players faces. They’re playing with their backs to the wall and they don’t know how to handle it.
First time all year they’ve had pressure
Nah. Houston just doesn’t do well in TB for whatever reason. They should have started Urquidy instead of JV on 3-days rest. Cole at home gives them the edge, but it’s nowhere near as clear cut as the media thought it would be (TB or OAK were the two teams Houston or NYY didn’t want to run into, especially in a 5-game series).
Come on Astros beat the welfare bay rays
“Rays-Astros: Could Game 5 decide who fleeced Pittsburgh more?”
tampabay.com/sports/rays/2019/10/10/rays-astros-co…
Rays could very well capitalize on Hinch’s bad management.
If Astros lose, this is completely on Hinch and he should be axed.
LOL!!!!! Dude.
You have a twitter account with similar handle I believe?
Nope, never been on twitter
Really? One of the Lowest payrolls in MLB…perennially until they took on some star players in last 2 years..they are likely going to the ALCS this year, almost won it all last year…and you think he is a bad manager? You obviously haven’t watched Alex Cora….now there’s a bad manager….
You remember game 3 when Chirinos singles to lead off inning in the 8th and he wasn’t pinch ran for? Why does Springer constantly lead off? Have you seen Altuve’s numbers for leading off an inning? Why does Bregman bat 4th instead of 3rd?
There are already –what– eight manager job openings? Dave Roberts won’t be canned with his extension already signed but you can bet the front office will be calling the shots next year.
@thickiedon
At what point are the players accountable? It seems with each elimination ppl clamor for the manager to be fired. I guess you can’t fire the players but still. Players have to do their jobs.
Configure the lineup correctly and put your relief arms at the right moments and go from there
@thickiedon
Any team and mngr capable of winning 100 games should be good enough to win it all. You really think he doesn’t know how to fill out a lineup or which pitcher to bring in? Players must do their jobs!!
You’d think an MVP candidate would be batting in the top 3rd of the lineup. It’s an immensely talented team. Lineup needs an update. Hinch is true to sticking to his way often times burning the team. He finally switched Brantley with Altuve in the order. Why not lead off Altuve, bat Bregman 3 and Springer 4?
@thickiedon
Consider the fact that Hinch has led his team to 107 wins, the most of any other teams and you critique him for his lineup choice???? Players have to do their job. No way you can make me believe that they’re going into game 5 because of the managers line-up card.
You must call into the radio stations in Houston a lot. Always good laughs.
Having a lot of wins can also be the result of a good team (not necessarily great) team playing in a weak division….the NL west was not as competitive as NL East or Central this year…the Nats and Cards has to work a little harder to get where they are….IMO
The Dodgers did pad stats in the NL West, but that’s an excellent team that probably takes it to the next level if they toss out Dave Roberts this offseason.
or just shut Kershaw down Oct 1.
Agreed….Honestly I think he mismanaged them in the World Series last year in terms of batting lineup and some of the pitching choices.
You’d think an MVP candidate would be batting in the top 3rd of the lineup. It’s an immensely talented team. Lineup needs an update. Hinch is true to sticking to his way often times burning the team. He finally switched Brantley with Altuve in the order. Why not lead off Altuve, bat Bregman 3 and Springer 4?
But Hinch doesn’t mismanage lineup or pitching choices?!? Lmao… hypocritical
Anything can happen, but I like the Astros at home. The team is healthy and we have Cole on the mound. If they lose, they lose, but it’s not like they were disadvantaged in any way.
Rays are a great franchise. I love how all Astros series are built on respect. No fighting or bad blood.
No hot air,on way or another,Astros win Tonight,there not the Dodgers
I was 0-for-2 yesterday (and NEVER been happier to be so wrong!), so I might as well go ahead and curse Houston and call them as my choice…
I’m actually rooting for the Rays, but I also feel the Astros have a better chance at defeating the Yankees.
i would sau Stros, but then again i was wrong about LAD last night.
I wonder if Neal Huntington will be watching tonight? Who needs Cole or Glasnow when you have the golden arm of Chris Archer?!
I never truly appreciated how difficult it is to be a manager. If Kershaw doesn’t serve up to back to back homers then we wouldn’t have this conversation. If he had replaced Kershaw after he got out of the previous inning and the next pitcher gives up back to back then fans would be blaming Roberts screaming, “why didn’t you keep Kershaw in the game after he struck the last guy out”?
Bellinger on second, none out. Needed Beaty to get him over to 3rd. He K’ed, Seager K’ed, next guy K’ed. I believe that was the Corbin inning. They needed to score that run. As for Kershaw, it was understandable he was in at that moment.
But what does Jessica Mendoza think?