Sway, you get a miss wag, a bit strikes out on the splitter and that is the ball game. Astros into three game skin take a Game one in Miami, winning eight to two.
Robert Ford, not Robert Hord, Robert Ford with the very.
Happy final, big shot, Bob, Robert or last night he did not.
It was.
It was our normal crew of Robert Ford and Steve Sparks. But you just heard Robert Ford give you the very happy final last night from there in South Florida as the Astros getting back on the winning track. And with that we say away we go in good morning here on the Sean Salisbury Show. And Sean I threw it out on Twitter last night and it's as simple as can be. You put the ball in play, well, good
things can happen. And the Astros in that fourth inning last night, for the five runs that they erupted for, well, when a novel concept they put the ball in play.
They did, and that was big and it was never in question after that, and that was a looked a similar to the day before the other way.
Yeah, it's just a shoe was on the other foot.
Exactly right, big inning, and sometimes those are hard to overcome, and usually they are, especially when they're that big. And then you know, they got help from a lot of people last night to play. Even though ball wasn't flying out of the park, they were getting a lot of extra bates hit clutch hits at the right time, you know, from Correa Kartini got into the act, Christian Walker got into the act, Jeremy Paine a couple times in the act. They the Diaz that's exactly right, loaded up and did
a great job. And I'm gonna tell you phenomenal performance of scoreless for what's six. I thought the pitching performance last night, considering think about the pressure they're and knowing people are coming back wondering is this my gig or isn't it?
Where am I going to be in this rotation.
And coming off And they needed it off a three game losing streak in Boston. They needed to have that performance in a beginning like that allows you to settle in. But they got everything downe and they needed to get done last night, including the win, and uh, I thought, I thought they did a hell of a job. I know, the back to back home runs for pinchhit home runs off King, but that's at the point when you have the lead, that validates, even though you never like to
see it, That validates what we're talking about. Give yourself some latitude and leeway. Can't be always being two to one, three to one, three two games where one swing of the bat one way or the other caused a problem. Two solo home runs meant what last night nothing exactly right. Could have been might as well have been two singles. Now, ego and pitching. If you're the pitcher, you don't like it as good as he's been this year King has, but they it didn't. It wasn't like a two to
one game where that's where you had the leeways. Okay, they get away with a couple of them, a couple you know, pinchhit home runs, no harm, no foul, all good, take care of your business. But it all starts with scoring quickly and jumping on them and then forcing them to chase, and then giving yourself the latitude that if you miss a pitcher two and they you still win this game.
So there you have it. It looked it looked nice, Like.
I said, it was just I don't want to say mirror image, but it looks early similar to what the what the Astros had to go through with Fromber and they couldn't get out of that. They couldn't overcome their poor inning defensively and you know as a pitcher, and they never could catch back up and never got anything done.
Same thing happened last night.
Get back into the offense in a second. But I mean you touched on him a little bit, Jason Alexander. Where I think last night we would have been fine with get to the fifth inning and then you let the bullpen go to work from there. But when you find out what today's game is a bullpen game, his six innings is even more crucial for you to be able to get.
Last night and he delivered.
Yeah, and I don't And you're right that the attitude of of get me to five. But I'd like to switch my thought process and I think he'd I screw get into five there, you get to six, not on those damn weighted balls. Yeah, get to six innings. Has our guy Rob Dibble would say, get get to six innings? Make it even less pressure. And today, with with this, like I said, yesterday kind of figured out what they didn't have. They had to announced a starter for today.
You've kind of got an idea what they were going to do. But that's how you approach this thing where you don't as a pitcher, don't say like, yeah, I got to five and a third so that's enough. I mean it start and it you know, we sit here and say, okay, baseball's gotten to the point it feels like that if you get to five and two thirds innings, we're starting to put you on our shoulders and hero worship. Right, But you go in there and you take care of that.
You go six scoreless and you take care of your business. Not only are you saving a bullpen, you're also creating confidence among the guys.
And don't think that doesn't matter.
I'm just telling those guys behind you, they want to know what's going on with you?
Would would how good are you? Under pressure?
How good are you? In quite frankly, everybody passed past Hunter Brown and fromber on the mound in truth? Are they not trying to?
Uh? Aren't they battling for their starting pitching job right now?
Easily knowing Yeah, you're bad. No matter who you are. It doesn't matter who it is Jason Alexander. It doesn't matter if it's Gordon and if everybody was healthy and ready to go. Those the front two, yes, the other three and when the colors is out there all battling for a shot to be three, four and five. Yeah, and he posted his score. But also what that does. It tells the guys behind you that he's that the guy's throwing good pitches. Get people out, working fast and
getting things done, man, and it does matter. And then a bullpen said, they're saying, oh, they just saved us twenty five pitches or whatever it could be, right, getting an extra ining. So the thought process of you know what, no, no, no five is not enough. Let me get you guys
to six and it'll all be scorreless. And so the guys behind you, and that that confidence starts to build to where if you have a six man rotation, or if you have a guy that has to spot start for you, you're not sitting there saying Jason Alexanderson over his head, he shouldn't look and I know who it is, but they've been playing pretty good baseball. He sure as hell wasn't in over his head last night and was a hell of a performance. And everybody, like when we
mentioned Sanchez got himself he what was a double. He had hit his double two. They took care of it. Dubon took care of his. I mean it was an impressive performance up and down the lineup and uh and chasing Alexander Rodoby. When I say proud, stand up and give a thumbs up. That was important last night.
No, it absolutely was. And he's able to give you that.
I mean, you touched on King giving up those couple of home runs and then also a double on that inning, but even after the home runs came back struck out the next two guys like almost kind of like all right enough, like what's it Hans Kruber and die hard enough jokes?
Oh yeah, that was.
That was Brian King in that inning of just being like, all right, hey, you got a three times.
It ain't gonna happen anymore, right, And you know what if that means that was your performance. It doesn't happen to you very often this year and it hasn't once again. Six runs gives you the latitude you go up there, you have two solo home runs when it's six to nothing. You can live with that, and I don't have to rush to the bullpen to think, oh my gosh and then you get it done and then you fight back. Kind of shows his resilience, which has been typical of
that bullpen what they've been about this year. But make no mistake given them that big inning allows Jason Alexander to pitch a little freer, even though he was pitching really well anyway. But that just gives you a little attitude and I don't think we can overestimate how important that is.
And it was. It was a really good especially coming when they needed.
It, because you don't know what's going to happen in a bullpen game like this today, You don't, you have no idea. And it was because if I'm not mistaken that I mean, I don't think the Mariners played last night, but.
Rangers took care of Yes, they did.
And in the American League, you know, you know that it's that there's five six teams that can win it and you're trying to post your score and win this division. Last night was huge, so they what they stayed. The Rangers stayed the course and now your three game games up on Seattle with a half game last night