The opener reaches the postseason! Diego Castillo opened Game 5, and despite his questionable stats as an opener this season (vs his amazing stats as a reliever), he got the job done. After Castillo gave up a lead off hit to George Springer (who had previously been 0 for 13 this series), he shut down the Astros, striking out the next three batters. Check out this dirty two seam fastball by Castillo:
A.J. Hinch adjusted the lineup tonight specifically with Rays’ bullpen day in mind. This was done by carefully placing the lefties in the lineup in an attempt to make pitching match-ups harder for Kevin Cash (didn’t seem to help much! hehe)
Austin Meadows led off for the Rays, and struck out (still waiting for his big hit…). He attempted to check swing but it was hard to tell whether or not he held up, as the camera angle really wasn’t very telling. The camera angle for the beginning of the game in general was terrible, off center to home (for only the first couple of innings), which is odd considering the Trop usually has a nice view dead center. They switched it to the center view in the third (I think), and it was much easier to see the strike zone. They should probably be more on top of that from now on, especially considering this was a prime time postseason game.
Tommy Pham followed Meadows with a home run off a change-up. The Rays have been hitting home runs like crazy these postseason games. Seems like a contrast to their typical ways of scoring this season, but I’ll take as many home runs as they want to hit! Verlander has given up 66 runs this season, and 54% of them have been home runs.
Verlander was struggling the first inning, and the Rays capitalized. He was missing his fastball up and his slider just wasn’t working too well. This was Verlander’s first time pitching on 3 days rest and he was visibly frustrated (understandably) on the mound. He ended up giving up 3 runs and the Rays left 2 stranded in the first.
The second inning went a little better for Verlander, but Tommy Pham singling on 2 outs made it a little trickier for him. Hinch was in a tough spot because you’d want Verlander to go as long as possible, especially considering how well the Rays have been doing against the Astros’ bullpen. He stayed in for the third, and was visibly frustrated the entire time, yelling at his catcher (Chirinos) and the umpires.
In the top of the fourth inning, the Rays had a HUGE play at the plate to get Altuve out. The relay throws from Kiermaier and Adames were perfect and prevented that run early in the game. It’s so much better having the positive energy on the Rays’ side, especially while we’re still in the first half of the game. And as the game progressed, it seemed like a lot of things were going the Rays’ way.
During the following at-bat, Alvarez advanced to third on a wild pitch. Travis d’Arnaud fired the ball to Joey Wendle at third, who prevented the ball from shooting up the left field line. I found this to be incredibly risky and unnecessary. No one wants a run to score there, and it’s not worth a risky throw like that when Alvarez would’ve been (and was) safe by a mile. I understand we want the out, but I think we should be more considerate of the games context and potential consequences.
In the bottom of the fourth, Willy Adames hit a BOMB off the D-ring.
The announcers commented on the fact that the rings and catwalks have been getting hit a lot more recently. Maybe cause the balls are juiced?? But that’s a conversation for another day…
Verlander ended up almost making it through 4 innings, and the Trop was electric when he was taken out. He then proceeded to pace back and forth in the dugout, and seemed very annoyed about his outing tonight.
Ji-Man Choi had some nice defensive plays and some great at-bats, walking three times. He seems to be everyone’s new favorite Ray! Apparently there were even chants for him going in the Trop parking lot before the game.
Poche made his fourth appearance of the series and, despite giving up a solo home run, has pitched incredibly well (as has the rest of the Rays pen). It was nice to hear the announcers finally acknowledge and discuss the talented Rays pitchers (instead of just casually mentioning it here and there).
BUT leave it to the Rays to provide the most terrifying final inning. During the bottom of the 8th, they showed Snell warming up in the bullpen. Snell. I figured with the lead, we wouldn’t see him until Game 5. After Pagan struggled in the 9th, Snell entered the game and, thankfully, got the final couple of outs (but not before nearly giving me a heart attack!).
2 down, 1 to go. It’s anyone’s game on Thursday. Game 5 here we come!! #StayHungry