I went to bed after 3.5 innings, I just can’t stay up very late anymore. But I figured he’d be bringing in Roark, not Scherzer, after Albers. A lot of innings ahead, bring in your rested starter as long man. Even if Scherzer had pitched a good inning, that still leaves the bullpen with four innings to cover. Can’t use your best arms the whole rest of the way. Sure, maybe Scherzer could have pitched two good innings, but it seems like this play almost relies on that outcome.
Why does MLB have its postseason games start so freaking late? Schoolkids and first shift workers in the east just can’t stay up that late. If you want to build fans of the future, how about starting the games so that kids can actually see the end?
Dusty can always point to Davey Johnson’s meltdown against the Cardinals, blowing a 6-0 lead in game 5 of the 2012 NLDS. But he certainly didn’t help his cause and likely added to the growing list of questionable decisions with different teams in different playoff series. Still, there is something to be said for getting to the post-season and it’s not like his teams have been swept by solid underdogs. The Nationals played in a much weaker division than the Cubs. The NL West was arguably the strongest division in the NL, so we’ll see how the Cubs fare against LA. But I would probably be inclined to give Dusty another year unless they know they’ve got someone like a Tony LaRussa waiting in the wings. John Ferrell is a possibility, I suppose, but he’s mostly an AL guy.
Dammit, Nats. So much for me going to a playoff game this season.
The Nationals’ 5th inning meltdown was so sad.
[ol]
[li] Top of the 5th, Nats leading 4-3.[/li][li] Max Scherzer enters the game. On 6 pitches he gets two quick outs on Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo – not an easy task.[/li][li] Scherzer works 2 strikes against Willson Contreras, who then legs out an infield single.[/li][li] Scherzer works 2 strikes against Ben Zobrist, who then bloops a single to left. Runners at 1st and 2nd, still 2 down.[/li][li] Addison Russell hits the first pitch he sees from Scherzer and lines it down the 3B line. Contreras and Zobrist score. Cubs take a 5-4 lead, Russell to 2nd.[/li][li] IBB to Jayson Heyward, runners on 1st and 2nd. Still 2 outs.[/li][li] Scherzer strikes out Javier Baez on 3 pitches! But hold on folks, the ball gets past catcher Matt Wieters. Should’ve been 3 outs, but Baez runs to 1st. Then, instead of eating the ball, Wieters tries to get Baez out at 1st but thows wide, to the 2B side of 1B Ryan Zimmerman, and also wide of 2B Daniel Murphy who was backing up the play. Russell scores, Heyward to 3rd and Baez to 2nd. Cubs lead 6-4.[/li][li] Tommy La Stella, pinch hitting for pitcher Kyle Hendricks, gets awarded 1st base on catcher interference. Bases loaded.[/li][li] Jon Jay at the plate, and Scherzer plunks him, scoring Heyward. Bases still loaded, and it’s now Cubs 7 - Nats 4.[/li][li] On his 28th pitch of the inning, Scherzer induces a pop fly out from Kris Bryant.[/li][/ol]
Dammit, indeed.
I love how everyone is piling on Dusty Baker, who’s only real impactful decision was pitching Scherzer, a decision that was one strike away from being a perfect call (before Contreras manages his infield single). Is anyone angry about Wieters managing to blow stopping the wild third strike, throwing wildly to first base, or committing catcher’s interference, all of which were the reason that the second two runs scored? Is anyone piling on the home plate umpire for NOT calling the ball dead when Baez’ bat strikes Wieters on the wild pitch/passed ball third strike? Are there any calls for the head of Jason Werth, who misses a catch on a third-out line drive, allowing a VERY useful Cub run to score in the top of the 6th?
But of course, it was all Dusty’s fault. :dubious:
But you can fire the manager, its so much harder to fire the players.
I’m not piling on Dusty, but my question still stands. Suppose Scherzer gets the third strike on Contreras, 1-2-3 inning, but tells Dusty he really doesn’t have anything left in his arm for another inning. What’s the plan then? That still leaves a lot of innings for the bullpen to cover, and not all of them can be covered by your best relievers.
You pull Max and ask Kintzler, Madson, and Doolittle to each pitch 1 1/3 innings
Random trivia: the four remaining teams in the playoffs represent the four largest cities in the US. Has that happened before?
But I don’t get your point. If he doesn’t put Scherzer in in the Fifth Inning, he has an even WORSE problem, because now he has FIVE innings to cover with that same bullpen staff. :dubious:
In baseball? Or in any sport?
In baseball, I would doubt it, given the paucity of playoff appearances by Chicago and Houston teams.
Interesting trivia. Correct, never happened before. But we have had three of the four on several occasions:
1977: Dodgers, Phillies, Yankees, and…Kansas City
1978: dodgers, Phillies, Yankees, and…yup, KC again
1983: Dodgers, Phillies, White Sox, and…Baltimore
1986: astros, Mets, Angels, and…Boston
2005: White Sox, Angels, Astros, and…St Louis
We might consider giving credit to 2015, with Cubs, Mets, Blue Jays (bigger population than Houston)…and KC.
I might’ve missed one…but I don’t think so.
Note: the years with the Angels depend on whether you consider them to be part of LA or not.
Nother note: Philadelphia was bigger than Houston till soon after the 1980 census, so we could argue about 1983 and 1986…
Well, Dusty does have a history of dubious decisions in the postseason, dating back to before he managed my beloved Cubs. And he was in the last year of his contract, IIRC. Seems like a logical question to me.
Regarding Weiters and the third strike, I saw on the MLB Network (I wasn’t able to see the second half of the game), that the umps didn’t call the ball dead because it was already past the catcher by the time the bat made contact with his mask. And the rulebook states that it’s the umpire’s discretion.
Tanner Roark. Starter. Rested. Had been ready to start the delayed Game 4 until Stras got well in a hurry.
Not in the NBA or NFL, either - in the NFL, no Houston team has ever been to the conference championship, and when Philadelphia was #4 they only had one last-4 appearance (1980 super bowl) since the AFL/NFL merger. That year, the finalists were Oakland, San Diego, Philly, and Dallas. Pre AFL/NFL merger there was only a single championship game so no final 4.
In the NBA, the Knicks are the weak link (Houston was also not great but Philadelphia teams had a lot of success in the early 80s and before). None of their 8 conference finals or better appearances since the late 1960s had more than 2 of the top 4 cities.
The NHL doesn’t have a Houston franchise, and I don’t know if it ever has. Back when Philly was #4, the LA Kings were never in the final 4. The league had the top 3 in 2014 with Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Montreal. If you count the Anaheim Ducks as an LA team, 2015 had the same three cities plus Tampa Bay.
That’s an entirely different issue than the one I’m responding to. There are multiple possible people he could have used besides Scherzer. But the point the other poster was making was that, after one inning of Scherzer, there were four innings left to cover with the bullpen staff, which is usually only covering two or three. But that’s not a valid reason not to introduce Scherzer.
As to the third-strike WP/PB, the fact that it’s in the umpire’s discretion doesn’t usually stop a debate from taking place, usually vociferous debate. 
As for Dusty Baker, what does his history of dubious decisions have to do with the simple fact that he only had one decision of import in the game? And the fact he’s in the last year of his contract has nothing to do with how he managed the game, does it?
In my opinion, dumping on Dusty for this game is just kinda going on auto-pilot. It’s the thing people are used to doing (“history of dubious decisions”), so rather than take on the actual culprits, they push the “Dusty blew it” button. 
Reports are that Corey Seager is being left off the Dodgers’ NLCS roster due to continuing back problems. Bad news for the boys in blue, although one writer is already speculating that the Dodgers will put someone else on the DL during the series to be able to pull Seager back on the roster when he’s feeling better.
Dodgers fans will be happier to learn, however, that Pedro Baez was left off the roster, as well.
I believe the umpires were just wrong on this. The Rule 6.03(a) (3) and (4) comment states:
“If a batter strikes at a ball and misses and swings so hard he carries the bat all the way around and, in the umpire’s judgment, unintentionally hits the catcher or the ball in back of him on the backswing, it shall be called a strike only (not interference).
The ball will be dead, however, and no runner shall advance on the play.”
It would appear that the umpire can judge intent, but even with no intent, the ball should be dead and no runner shall advance. In other cases “runner” includes batter once he’s entitled to run so I assume it does in this case. In particular if there are two outs and a runner on first, if he cannot advance the batter cannot either. As this exception is not covered, I think we must assume, the batter is included as a “runner”.