Game Thread: ALDS Game 1

[Michael K.]

If you have a 2 run lead in the 9th, give up a HR before you give up a walk. DO NOT PUT THE TYING RUN TO BAT FOR FREE!!!! That just pissed me off to no end. Make him hit the fucking ball.

Yep, especially a kid that has only been in the majors for about a month. Walking that kid was criminal!

[Michael K.]

Here's where Sewald went wrong. It's his second batter, so you can't pull him after this AB, but obviously he has no command here. The basic Sewald playbook is fastballs up - sliders down, but you see the first pitch was a slider and he couldn't get it near the plate. Probably should have tried again, but instead Cal calls fastball, probably to make sure the count doesn't go out of control, and that seems to work. Sewald's 4-seamer is fairly high spin and moves both down and in to a right-handed batter so these fastballs in the middle of the plate aren't the end of the world exactly. But pitch number 6 is another slider and is just too far in off the plate to get a swing. Now the count is 3-2 and here comes pitch #7, a fastball middle-in that gets fouled off and then Sewald hits the rookie.

But then he got Altuve out so you've got two outs with a runner on, which is a manageable situation. In my view, since Altuve was his third batter, SS should have pulled Sewald at that point and brought in a fresh arm to pitch to Pena. I had a similar thought about Sewald's bad inning the other day vs. Toronto. It's not so much that he was terrible, but that he was just left out there too long when he was clearly struggling. The rule is 3 batters. That DOES NOT mean the reliever has to complete the inning.

If you have a 2 run lead in the 9th, give up a HR before you give up a walk. DO NOT PUT THE TYING RUN TO BAT FOR FREE!!!! That just pissed me off to no end. Make him hit the fucking ball.

Absolutely. Completely insane they went with the two guys that sucked Saturday over two totally rested guys that were lights out this season and haven't thrown a pitch this entire post season.

Current ERAs
Sewald: 2 games 40.50
Ray: 2 games 15.00
Swanson: DNP (1.68 in the reg season)
Boyd: DNP (1.35 in the reg season)

Just mind numbing stat lines.....

And if he put either of those two in, and they gave up the moon shot to lose it, you would have wanted to know why he pitched two guys that haven't pitched in a week. We first blew a lead we had in the 7th inning in August, to Cleveland. The last team in baseball to do so. So, now the guy who managed that bullpen doesn't know what the fuck he is doing because a bunch of guys on Twitter that have hindsight say so?

Fuck, it must be nice to be a major league baseball player, get praised every time something goes right, make millions of dollars, then when you stink, it's your managers fault! Jesus Christ, we blew a huge lead, the bullpen was set up and pretty much to a man shit on their shoes. But, not their fault, if the manager would have just put in a different guy to shit on his shoes it would have all been better. What bullshit.

Munoz sucked, Sewald sucked beyond believe and Ray should have NEVER thrown the second fastball. Not sure who made that decision, but that one is a Hell of a lot worse than the decision to put these guys in games. When do they multi million dollar fucking choke artists get any blame for sucking? Fucking A, the guy that has lead this team here needs to quit so this forum can manage the team. What a crock.

You make millions of dollars, yet can't protect a 4 run 7th inning lead? How the fuck is that on the Manager? Get fucking outs. Fuck, Seawald....THROW FUCKING STRIKES YOU PUNK. How this has become anything besides the "what the fuck is Sewald doing" conversation is beyond me. But for crying out loud, DT, every game you either talk about how great the pitching was or how stupid the manager was for putting that pitcher in. WTF dude. Three different guys gave up five fucking runs in two innings. This was an utter collapse of a bullpen, three guys couldn't do jack shit, but the manager should have made another move so it's all on him.

Damn it man, that's ridiculous. They had a plan coming in, followed it, and two guys that have been asked all year to protect late inning leads couldn't do it. If he had gone to Swany or Boyd you would have wanted to know why the fuck in game one of the playoffs he asked two guys to do something they hadn't done all year. Players make plays, and our bullpen FUCKING CHOKED. That isn't on the guy that asked these millionaire failures to do their job, that's on them! This wasn't third and seven and our DBs being asked to play ten yards back. This wasn't a four yard route on third and eight. This wasn't on the scheme, this was execution. This was the QB missing a wide open receiver in the endzone. These guys STUNK.

Every headline should be about how they couldn't get the job done, not about the guy that asked guys paid to do a job to do their fucking jobs.

[Juliooooo]

If you have a 2 run lead in the 9th, give up a HR before you give up a walk. DO NOT PUT THE TYING RUN TO BAT FOR FREE!!!! That just pissed me off to no end. Make him hit the fucking ball.

Yep, especially a kid that has only been in the majors for about a month. Walking that kid was criminal!

It can be Barry fucking bonds in steroids, you still make him hit the ball.

[D-train]

If you have a 2 run lead in the 9th, give up a HR before you give up a walk. DO NOT PUT THE TYING RUN TO BAT FOR FREE!!!! That just pissed me off to no end. Make him hit the fucking ball.

Absolutely. Completely insane they went with the two guys that sucked Saturday over two totally rested guys that were lights out this season and haven't thrown a pitch this entire post season.

Current ERAs
Sewald: 2 games 40.50
Ray: 2 games 15.00
Swanson: DNP (1.68 in the reg season)
Boyd: DNP (1.35 in the reg season)

Just mind numbing stat lines.....

And if he put either of those two in, and they gave up the moon shot to lose it, you would have wanted to know why he pitched two guys that haven't pitched in a week. We first blew a lead we had in the 7th inning in August, to Cleveland. The last team in baseball to do so. So, now the guy who managed that bullpen doesn't know what the fuck he is doing because a bunch of guys on Twitter that have hindsight say so?

Fuck, it must be nice to be a major league baseball player, get praised every time something goes right, make millions of dollars, then when you stink, it's your managers fault! Jesus Christ, we blew a huge lead, the bullpen was set up and pretty much to a man shit on their shoes. But, not their fault, if the manager would have just put in a different guy to shit on his shoes it would have all been better. What bullshit.

Munoz sucked, Sewald sucked beyond believe and Ray should have NEVER thrown the second fastball. Not sure who made that decision, but that one is a Hell of a lot worse than the decision to put these guys in games. When do they multi million dollar fucking choke artists get any blame for sucking? Fucking A, the guy that has lead this team here needs to quit so this forum can manage the team. What a crock.

You make millions of dollars, yet can't protect a 4 run 7th inning lead? How the fuck is that on the Manager? Get fucking outs. Fuck, Seawald....THROW FUCKING STRIKES YOU PUNK. How this has become anything besides the "what the fuck is Sewald doing" conversation is beyond me. But for crying out loud, DT, every game you either talk about how great the pitching was or how stupid the manager was for putting that pitcher in. WTF dude. Three different guys gave up five fucking runs in two innings. This was an utter collapse of a bullpen, three guys couldn't do jack shit, but the manager should have made another move so it's all on him.

Damn it man, that's ridiculous. They had a plan coming in, followed it, and two guys that have been asked all year to protect late inning leads couldn't do it. If he had gone to Swany or Boyd you would have wanted to know why the fuck in game one of the playoffs he asked two guys to do something they hadn't done all year. Players make plays, and our bullpen FUCKING CHOKED. That isn't on the guy that asked these millionaire failures to do their job, that's on them! This wasn't third and seven and our DBs being asked to play ten yards back. This wasn't a four yard route on third and eight. This wasn't on the scheme, this was execution. This was the QB missing a wide open receiver in the endzone. These guys STUNK.

Every headline should be about how they couldn't get the job done, not about the guy that asked guys paid to do a job to do their fucking jobs.

And if he put either of those two in, and they gave up the moon shot to lose it, you would have wanted to know why he pitched two guys that haven't pitched in a week.

Sorry that is complete Bullshit. I JUST said a couple days ago that I was surprised it wasn't Swanson over Kirby on Saturday.

I literally ripped all three pitchers below on the Stone thread. Just because SS handled the BP well all season doesn't mean he can't make and epic blunder in the playoffs and actually it sounds like it wasn't even him. That met before hand to hatch this strategy. Jerry probably wanted his big ticket FA to be the hero. All the splits that I have posted and Captain's post on the Stone thread show that Swanson or Boyd were FAR better options yet were completely ignored despite them saying how analytics focused they are. Literally NOTHING baseball oriented says that RR was the best option in that situation.

Munoz F-d up by falling in love with his slider.
Sewald f-d up by hitting a scrub in a two run game.
Ray f-d up by throwing 2 BP fastballs to the second best hitter in baseball.
SS f-d up by going back to two guys that got shelled Saturday vs. FAR better options in the pen.

All four are true.

[Michael K.]

So, if any of the pitchers did their job and we win, SS did a good job? Got it. Doesn't that seem pretty hypocritical? For the record, I am straight up positive that if he went to Swanson and Swanson gave up the home run, most of this board and the world of Twitter would be eviscerating him for using a guy that hasn't pitched in a while in that high leverage situation. Funny how good managers look when players do their jobs. This wasn't calling a pass on second and goal from the two, this was calling the right play, having it be wide ass open and the receiver drops the ball, or a lineman misses his block or the QB throws it into the stands. This was an utter failure by three pitchers paid a lot of money to make outs. And sorry, the fact that this entire forum isn't all over how a giant loser Sewald is is beyond me. Two rookies. Make outs you fucker!

Be critical all you want, I just think you are wrong. Guys make a lot of money to do their jobs. We had three pitchers blow a four run lead, and somehow the guy that put them in to do their job is a moron. They fucking blew the game, plain and simple.

[gil]

So, if any of the pitchers did their job and we win, SS did a good job? Got it. Doesn't that seem pretty hypocritical? For the record, I am straight up positive that if he went to Swanson and Swanson gave up the home run, most of this board and the world of Twitter would be eviscerating him for using a guy that hasn't pitched in a while in that high leverage situation. Funny how good managers look when players do their jobs. This wasn't calling a pass on second and goal from the two, this was calling the right play, having it be wide ass open and the receiver drops the ball, or a lineman misses his block or the QB throws it into the stands. This was an utter failure by three pitchers paid a lot of money to make outs. And sorry, the fact that this entire forum isn't all over how a giant loser Sewald is is beyond me. Two rookies. Make outs you fucker!

Be critical all you want, I just think you are wrong. Guys make a lot of money to do their jobs. We had three pitchers blow a four run lead, and somehow the guy that put them in to do their job is a moron. They fucking blew the game, plain and simple.

Agreed. We would have some the game with EITHER Munoz or Sewald doing his job OR Ray not giving up the long ball.

[mostonmike]

What really stinks is the Asstros cheated to win the WS and 5 years later they're still being rewarded. To have Munoz give up his first home run in quite some time, Sewald completely cave in again and then Servais creates maybe the worst pitcher-batter matchup in 2022...I mean, what the hell was he thinking there?

Hey don’t forget you are next up to start Game Thread. Good luck, we need it to return.

[Michael K.]

Agreed. We would have some the game with EITHER Munoz or Sewald doing his job OR Ray not giving up the long ball.

Yep, three straight relievers screwed the pooch, and the starter was average at best. Sorry, look no further than the pitching staff for why this game was lost. And THAT is supposed to be our strength.

[DavidGee24]

What really stinks is the Asstros cheated to win the WS and 5 years later they're still being rewarded. To have Munoz give up his first home run in quite some time, Sewald completely cave in again and then Servais creates maybe the worst pitcher-batter matchup in 2022...I mean, what the hell was he thinking there?

Hey don’t forget you are next up to start Game Thread. Good luck, we need it to return.

Oh, it is? I'm glad you told me, I would have whiffed on it. So when the Mariners win the next 11 games I'll win the jackpot. Sounds like a plan!

Actually, if they win 7 straight before losing I'll be at 15-6 .714 which will beat Darren's 22-9 .710...I think I'll make the team win 11 straight though in case Darren grabs the next guy's spot. That's how that Sneaky Pete got those 14 wins.

[D-train]

What really stinks is the Asstros cheated to win the WS and 5 years later they're still being rewarded. To have Munoz give up his first home run in quite some time, Sewald completely cave in again and then Servais creates maybe the worst pitcher-batter matchup in 2022...I mean, what the hell was he thinking there?

Hey don’t forget you are next up to start Game Thread. Good luck, we need it to return.

Oh, it is? I'm glad you told me, I would have whiffed on it. So when the Mariners win the next 11 games I'll win the jackpot. Sounds like a plan!

Actually, if they win 7 straight before losing I'll be at 15-6 .714 which will beat Darren's 22-9 .710...I think I'll make the team win 11 straight though in case Darren grabs the next guy's spot. That's how that Sneaky Pete got those 14 wins.

Prize money is all settled up already.....