Braves are completely outplaying the Dodgers
MLB 2021
- Thread starter Turnip
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
What a sensational HR by Bellinger to tie the game
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Luke Jackson might wanna just stay in LA after that outing
Yeah fair enough really. Feck 'em both, in an ideal world. They're dishing up some exciting baseball thoughIn the words of the immortal Matt Cain:
The Dodgers
Welcome to my (now ended) post season.
Dude called a full count 3rd strike on JD Martinez that was so far outside that JD started walking across the plate thinking it was ball 4, which almost led to the base runner stealing 2nd being called out for interference.
fecking terrible. The Astros kicked our ass in Game 1 and that’s fine - that’s baseball. This game though was stupid.
Wow the Astros absolutely exploded in the 9th inning.
Woof that 9th inning 
Reading this article sheds light, for me, on why the Giants approach at the plate felt off. The actual article is behind a paywall so this is a summary of that article. This quote is insane to me and is a massive indictment on MLB:
To be clear, I don't think the umps were the reason the Giants did not progress. They were part of it, but the lack of hitting with RISP is the main reason.
SF Giants News: Giants’ offensive woes in NLDS partially explained - McCovey Chronicles
Yes. An inconsistent umpire can completely wreck your approach at the plate. It looks like the Giants went through the same problem as the Sox last night.
You could see several times last night where Red Sox hitters fouled off a pitch they felt was too close to take and then turned around to ask Laz Diaz “would you have called that a strike if I didn’t swing?” They had no clue where his strike zone was going to be last night.
And that’s backed up by the stats. He called 23 pitches strikes that should have been called a ball. He has one of, if not the worst, ball called strike rates in the MLB. Why the hell is he calling game 4 of the ALCS?
Not sure if you have seen this, but I discovered it during the Giants series and it is depressing how bad some of these guys are:
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Makes me sick. Dude shouldn't be behind the plate.
Besides that... we have the technology to know if its a ball or strike instantly. We have proof that Diaz is terrible because of this technology. Why aren't we putting this technology to use in improving the game rather than to just show how bad an umpire is!?!?
The established strike zone compared to the true strike zone seems bonkers to me.
Edit - Agree with the bad calls and hopefully we'll see more of them coming to send the 'stros through
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The cool thing with how she/he does this is that they do not use a static strike zone like TV/Gamecast does. The strike zone is calculated for each batter based on their individual profile. As a data geek I am itching to dive into the dataset when time provides. You can see how they do it here: Umpire Scorecards | FAQ (umpscorecards.com)
https://theathletic.com/2886178/202...he-twitter-bots-that-track-balls-and-strikes/
This was a great piece about it, if you have access to The Athletic.
I don't but based on the title it looks like it would be right up my alley.
Getting Chris Sale some run support would be fantastic
Feels like the Astros have had a runner on base for like 20 minutes straight.
As long as anyone gets these Red Sox out the playoffs without a pennant.
Fixed
This Gurriel chap really likes to hit the baseball
You have to make it to the ALCS to lose it.
My man!
Dodgers look exhausted. But I thought that last night too.
I guess September was a tiring month for them trying to catch the Giants.
That and Robert’s has fecked up his pitching staff. I think he bought into all the praise he got for game 5 and went all “special one” in this series. It seems to have backfired spectacularly.
Two brilliant games last night. Rosario with a total 90 performance. Astro's turning the green monster into the turquoise midget.
Let's get that Braves - 'Stros WS and par-tay!
Let's get that Braves - 'Stros WS and par-tay!
Well played, Houston.
Commiserations mate. The offence just seemed to go cold at the most inopportune time. From what I gather from other Red Sox fans, this was kind of a rebuild sort of season for you, so as much as it stings to fall at the last hurdle before the WS, it turned out to be unexpectedly brilliant season overall.
The Astros are so fecking good. Feels weird to pick a team almost at random at the start of the season, then watch them go almost all the way to the end.
Yep well done to the Sox for getting this far. Their offence on point is unbelievable but they seem like a very streaky team and that'll hurt in these postseason games.
Let's go 'Stros - Braves final!
Scherzer is out with injury so another Bullpen game for the Dodgers. Not sure they can win 2 days in a row on the road with a lot of bullpen pitching
Astros v Braves for it all, ugh. Zzzzzzz.
Buehler to start on 3 days rest.
Yep. I appreciate it. If you look at our season results between 2013’s WS win and 2018’s WS win, then 2018 to now, we seem to be another season off before really expecting to make a run at it… which is what made this one really fun for awhile. It wasn’t exactly expected.
The bats definitely turned off during and after the game with Laz Diaz behind the plate, so I’m going to do the logical thing and lay all blame directly at his feet.
@Carolina Red you were right, Jackson should have stayed for n LA.
What a relief appearance by Matzek!