Saved our best Pokemon for last. I'm glad it's Greinke!

Silent For Too Long said:

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Nuke LaLoosh said:

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AggiEE said:

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JV hasn't been an ace, but he hasn't been terrible.

He only gave up 3 runs tonight

He still put us in a position to win.

I'll give Harris a pass tonight since he's a huge part of our wins, but you gotta wonder if he's been shown a little too much

Going to be a hard decision if it comes down to pitching Harris/Smith or Urquidy/Cole

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He gave up 3 runs in FIVE innings. Don't leave that part out. He was garbage.

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He was not garbage. This is a terrible take. But its Nuke, so this is probably satire.

3 runs over 5 would have been good enough for a W in any of the games in DC. Strasburg was just fantastic.

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Great take here. You are correct, 3 runs over 5 is "good enough" if your team scores a lot more than 3 runs.

Sage wisdom.

AggiEE said:

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Big Al 1992 said:

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Lots of disappointments tonight but leaving Devo in after a 2B and then a HPB with no one warming up was bad. Yes we were down 5-2 but had Yuli, Alvarez and Correa up. 5-2 is easier to catch up to than 7-2.

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Agreed. Got Hinched there

At least go with Rondon before ****ing Devo in a semi-close game

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Are you a texags edit person with inability to think?

Question. Do you try and get a couple of innings out of Cole tomorrow night if the situation dictates? It's do or die, right? He's on the verge of making tens of millions. Do you even think about asking him to risk his arm and that contract after throwing 117 pitches three days ago. How do you think Hinch comes down on that decision??

Philip J Fry said:

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So I'll be doom and gloom here. I don't like our chances tomorrow at all. Greinke has never shown the ability to go deep into a post season game. Our chance was with game 1 and we blew it.

I cannot believe Cole/Verlander went 1/4.

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Yet we won game 3. And after Greinke, Urquiddy, Cole for a bit, were good.

AggiEE said:

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Pro tip for Correa

Swing at one of the first two strikes because you aren't going to get anything better to hit for Strike 3

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I think his home run in Game 5 came with two strikes.

Sorry for the interruption... you guys can get back to bleeding now.

I think Hinch will ask Cole if he feels like he could give them a couple of innings or three. Hinch is usually pretty good about communicating with his players and giving them a say-so in such situations. Didn't he do something like this with Morton in 2017? I think you gotta pull out all the stops. It's game 7 of the freaking World Series. You can rest that arm for a lengthy time after tomorrow, IMO.

agcat said:

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Question. Do you try and get a couple of innings out of Cole tomorrow night if the situation dictates? It's do or die, right? He's on the verge of making tens of millions. Do you even think about asking him to risk his arm and that contract after throwing 117 pitches three days ago. How do you think Hinch comes down on that decision??

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It only happens if we're leading. Kitty is the first arm out of the pen. I could maybe see a situation to get from in the 8th where they would use Cole.

Grienke 1-5, Smith to get out of the 5th if needed, Kitty 6-7, Harris to get out of 7th, Cole 8, Osuna 9.

I don't see any Morton recreations out of Cole.

agcat said:

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Question. Do you try and get a couple of innings out of Cole tomorrow night if the situation dictates? It's do or die, right? He's on the verge of making tens of millions. Do you even think about asking him to risk his arm and that contract after throwing 117 pitches three days ago. How do you think Hinch comes down on that decision??

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I think you put him in there in a clean inning (no high leverage) and see how he does. I pull him at the slightest hint of trouble

If he's rolling, I let him go 2 or 3 depending on pitch count

Ag12thman said:

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I think Hinch will ask Cole if he feels like he could give them a couple of innings or three. Hinch is usually pretty good about communicating with his players and giving them a say-so in such situations. Didn't he do something like this with Morton in 2017? I think you gotta pull out all the stops. It's game 7 of the freaking World Series. You can rest that arm for a lengthy time after tomorrow, IMO.

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That makes sense, but I was wondering if it's complicated by the fact that Cole is on the verge of the biggest pitching contract in history and do you worry about him blowing out his arm however remote that might be, and ask him to risk it. Again, seems remote but possibly could happen.

Bregxit said:

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My opinion on JV is that he is just worn out. I remember being concerned back in August and early September when he was running pitch counts of around 110 for many starts in a row.

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You almost have to believe this, unless you really believe that he is a choke artist. Abysmal postseason by the standards he set for himself.

What's gonna be really fun is watching the Fox guys spin an Astros win tomorrow and make it more about the "injury."

Buck Compton said:

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It's game 7 of the ****ing world series. If you're good to pitch, you pitch.

You'll be fine next year on your new team. As for this year, you're on the Astros and we're trying to win a WS when our offense has gone missing.

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This. Exactly this.

agcat said:

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Ag12thman said:

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I think Hinch will ask Cole if he feels like he could give them a couple of innings or three. Hinch is usually pretty good about communicating with his players and giving them a say-so in such situations. Didn't he do something like this with Morton in 2017? I think you gotta pull out all the stops. It's game 7 of the freaking World Series. You can rest that arm for a lengthy time after tomorrow, IMO.

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That makes sense, but I was wondering if it's complicated by the fact that Cole is on the verge of the biggest pitching contract in history and do you worry about him blowing out his arm however remote that might be, and ask him to risk it. Again, seems remote but possibly could happen.

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Not sure as I'm not a pitching expert. Others here may have a better answer for you. I just feel like he's had a couple of days off, so he could probably at least do a couple of 10 or 15 pitch innings at the very least. Greinke + Urquidy + Cole + Harris (the bomb he gave up was a big disappointment tonight) + Smith + Osuna. Do what you have to to keep them from getting runs. It's gonna take a well-managed game from Hinch, too. Will not be easy. I wish we were playing on the road, actually.

Ag12thman said:

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Bregxit said:

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My opinion on JV is that he is just worn out. I remember being concerned back in August and early September when he was running pitch counts of around 110 for many starts in a row.

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I think that's a lot of it and his age doesn't help.

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That's definitely part of it. I didn't remember it so much at the time, but looking back his pitch count was definitely elevating faster at the end of the year. He had that 120 pitch CG Sept 1. Then he had two more 100+ games right after that. He dropped into the 90 range for two games, but only lasted 5/6 innings. Then the last game he was pulled at 80.

Then he pitched on short rest in the ALCS and he said in interviews he hurt after that. Shook it off in interviews after that, but his postseason has since floundered.

Cole basically kept every game in September at 100 pitches. Even the last one regular season start he was at 92 pitches in 5 innings. He's also fallen off on his crispness.

AggiEE said:

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agcat said:

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Ag12thman said:

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I think Hinch will ask Cole if he feels like he could give them a couple of innings or three. Hinch is usually pretty good about communicating with his players and giving them a say-so in such situations. Didn't he do something like this with Morton in 2017? I think you gotta pull out all the stops. It's game 7 of the freaking World Series. You can rest that arm for a lengthy time after tomorrow, IMO.

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That makes sense, but I was wondering if it's complicated by the fact that Cole is on the verge of the biggest pitching contract in history and do you worry about him blowing out his arm however remote that might be, and ask him to risk it. Again, seems remote but possibly could happen.

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Our team's priority is to win

Not to increase his contract value to the Angels, Padres, or Dodgers

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Oh, I agree with it being the priority. I want him out there if he can help. Was just wondering if Hinch might be reluctant to risk the guy's arm (again, remote he injures his arm I would think) and his big once in a lifetime contract. Was wondering if that would even be a consideration.

Cole will pitch if he is able and needed. Hopefully, it will be something like this:

ZG - 5 IP
JQ - 2 IP
WH/James - 1IP
Osuna - 1IP

I "hope" Max is only good for 50 pitches and we hit Corbin/Sanchez in the 4th - 7th to take the lead and close out the series

Just got home from the game. What a disappointment!

We couldn't do shoot after the first inning. Top of the call to Strasburg. He pitched well, but or guys didn't make him work. Altuve's strikeout with runners on base was painful!

JV was mediocre again, but he was still good enough to win. Harris just had some bad luck giving up the Jack to Rendon after that long review. The Soto HR was monster.

I missed the really Kates done I was in the stands. I missed her. We needed her.

**** the Nats. **** Soto.

Come back and get them Game 7.

Philip J Fry said:

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I was disgusted with our approach at the plate from the 5th inning on. No discipline. No working the count. If you are going to swing early in the count, you better make sure you're hitting it hard.

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Agree, Altuve had another AB leading off when down three, pitch way inside and he's jumping out of the way like he's in the Matrix.

Take the free base!!!!

jopatura said:

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Look on the bright side everyone. Tomorrow could have been started by Wade Miley.

I'll take my chances with Grienke.

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You have a point there!

Quote:

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I missed the really Kates done I was in the stands. I missed her. We needed her.

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Mathguy were you here tonight?

Tonight sucked. I'll be watching game 7 on tv

There are no surprises really so far. The Nats lost twice during the playoffs before the series and not once with their top two guys on the hill. Is the injury real and can we break him if he's really good to go?

Home field is completely irrelevant.