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ALCS Recap – Monday, 10/18

Many baseballs were harmed in the playing of this game.

Matt Goodwin
We Love Baseball 10/19/2021

Whew, that was another wild baseball game. I have made it very clear all season that I am a Red Sox fan, so I feel torn in that anything I say here will seem like gloating or adding some sort of insult to injury. On the other hand, there is really no way to recap what happened at Fenway Park last night in a manner that is both accurate and also gentle to the Houston Astros. So I have decided to write two versions of this piece: one for Houston fans and one for everybody else.

Astros version: Boston won.

The version for everybody else: Continue reading.

 

 

Before the game started, there was the normal flurry of social media activity. Some of it aged better than other parts of it:

Here is José Altuve talking about how awesome Fenway is:

 

 

And here are the fans welcoming him to Fenway:

 

 

Here’s a hopeful Tweet from Houston:

 

 

And that one that did not age well:

 

 

Here are a few shots of the setting:

 

 

This is J.D. Martinez setting the stage:

 

 

And a walk down memory lane that proved to be a bit prophetic:

 

 

And here’s where Xander Bogaerts was at:

 

 

Finally, let’s take a trip out to the field with the star of the playoffs so far:

 

 

Houston Astros @ Boston Red Sox

 

In Game 2, the Red Sox had scored nine runs through four innings on the back of two grand slams, one in each of the first two innings. In Game 3, the Red Sox scored nine runs through the first three innings on the back of a lot of hitting and a grand slam in the second. Let’s take a look at those first three innings a bit more closely.

 

The First Three Innings

 

Eduardo Rodríguez sat down the first three hitters of the game on a flyout, a strikeout, and a ground out (with a little help from his friend) in that order.

 

 

In the bottom half, José Urquidy matched his counterpart with a fly out and two popouts. The top of the second saw Rodriguez strike out the side, including this one on Carlos Correa (followed by a fan in the stands with a call back):

 

 

It was in the bottom of the second inning that all hecking heck broke loose in a very good way for the BoSox and a very, very unfortunate way for the HoStros (I’m trying it out, let’s see if it takes).

Alex Verdugo walked to lead off the inning and then J.D. Martinez did this:

 

 

Then Hunter Renfroe walked to load the bases. Christian Vazquez singled to score the game’s first run:

 

 

Christian Arroyo hit a grounder at Altuve and he botched it, scoring another run:

 

 

That left the bases loaded for Kyle Schwarber who came to the plate and delivered:

 

 

Let’s take a moment to check on Schwarber after that bomb:

 

 

And also a quick look in at José Urquidy with this picture entitled “schadenfreude”:

 

 

In the top of the third, Yuli Gurriel lead off with a single, but Jose Siri, Martin Maldanado, and José Altuve lined out, struck out, and grounded out respectively. Enter the bottom of the third. J.D. Martinez struck out. Then Hunter Renfroe walked and got to third on a throwing error off of a stolen base (after sending a foul ball up into the booth):

 

 

Christian Vazquez singled, scoring Renfroe:

 

 

Then Christian Arroyo went yard to make it 9-0:

 

 

Jomboy was not pleased (probably for more than just this reason):

 

 

The Next Three Innings

 

In the top of the fourth, the Astros got some runs back. Michael Brantley singled, Alex Bregman popped out, Yordan Alvarez singled, and Kyle Tucker stepped to the plate. Now might be a good time to recognize that I absolutely love Kyle Tucker. He is amazing at baseball and I cannot wait to see how he grows into himself at the Major League level. This is one of the reasons the future is bright for him:

 

 

That made it 9-3, Red Sox and this member of Sox Nation was not having it:

 

 

There were no runs scored in the fifth inning. There were also no more runs scored in the top of the sixth. However, in the bottom of the sixth, with one on, J.D. Martinez did this:

 

 

The Last Three Innings

 

Well, to be fully transparent, it was really the last 2.5 innings. The Houston Astros were not destined to plate any more runs in this one, but Rafael Devers did want to put his stamp on this game:

 

 

In the top of the ninth, the Sox sealed it with a fitting end:

 

 

The final score was 12-3 with the Red Sox going up 2-1 in the series. Here are a few other things from the game.

 

A Few More Odds and Ends

 

Joe Buck and John Smoltz got bored partway through this one and started a whole shtick about Siri the player and Hey Siri the iPhone and Apple assistant software and they were the only ones amused. Here is a former Boston third-basement saying it perfectly:

 

 

There was this moment where the childhood of a Red Sox beat reporter was ruined:

 

 

There’s this incredible stat:

 

 

There’s this moment from E-Rod:

 

 

And this coaching moment from Alex Cora who won a playoff game on his birthday (and it wasn’t the first time):

 

 

Game 4 will be October 19 @ 8:08pm at Fenway Park in Boston, airing on Fox/FS1.

 

Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)

Matt Goodwin

Husband. Dad. Teacher. Writer. Podcaster. Baseball Fan. Quippy. Makes up words. FSWA. IBWAA.

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