Sports

Posted on 11/6/22:

Philies vs. Astros, Game 6: Bump, Set, Sike!

The first six innings of last night's game were some of the best baseball I've every watched. Valdez had 8Ks through the first 5. Let me just say that Valdez is an absolute stud. The left-to-right movement on his curve, especially to a right-handed hitter, is second-to-none. To a lefty? The ball starts behind their back before coming across the plate on the outside. What a monster.

Then came the sixth inning.

Valdez gave up a solo shot to my guy Schwarber, his third of the playoffs, giving the Phillies a 1-0 lead. Valdez immediately follows up by sitting Harper down with the aforementioned curve. Bottom of the sixth, Astros get two men on, supported by the predictable consistency that Pena has for getting on base in big games. But Yordan Alvarez, the lord and savior, destroys Alvarado's hopes and dreams on the 4th pitch of his stint with a 3-run, 450-foot nuke over the tall center field wall of Minute Maid Park. That would seal the deal for the Astros and secure them their first championship since the controversial 2017 results.

All in all, it's whatever. I don't care much for the Astros, although I am a fan of Dusty Baker. I empathize with Philadelphia, however. Consistently the underdog despite making it to the World Series. My heart goes out to you, Phillies fans. Maybe next year.

Side note: I learned last night that MLB pitchers and catchers have ear pieces now?! When did that happen? I was disgusted when I saw Pressly pause the game to fix a problem with his ear piece. In my opinion, this is bad for baseball. Ear pieces will eliminate the autonomy and off-the-cuff creativity that pitchers have always had for throwing the pitches they want to pitch in big moments. Now it will be all statistics, which already plagues the MLB and ruins its entertainment value. Hopefully some changes, like the new shift rules, will help baseball reclaim its former glory.