I can't say I understand the decision to pinch with Bagwell in the 7th. The announcers picked up on this, wondering why Garner sent up a rightie with switch-hitters at his disposal. But did anyone else get the sense this was just a hometown sop? Bagwell has been a disaster in this series, and his temper tantrum after the pop-up seemed to confirm he wasn't in the right mental place. Letting your aging legend pinch at home is fine when you're up 10-3, but the game was too close to give up an out like that.

Hey King,

Hope people stop whining about all the umpire-produced breaks the Sox have been getting, after last night's game. Twice the 'Stros put down bunts right in front of Pierzynski and he got there quickly, but was prevented from going for the lead runner because the 2nd base ump had set a perfect screen between home and the bag.

Is there some sort of rule regarding this situation? I was hoping that the second time AJ would just bean the idiot.

Can anyone come up with one good reason why replay should not be used to determine whether a ball was a home run or not. The umps are too far away to get the close ones correct as often as they should, be it fair or foul, or fan interference or not, or one like last night. Given this room for error and the fact that a homer is the biggest game changing play there is, there just has to be replay, if only for this call.

On the possibility of a squeeze play, McCarver actually made a good point which was that even if it fails -- which can only mean that the batter misses and the runner is nailed -- the trail runner would move up to second so you're not losing as much. It was the obvious play there, in fact the very situation the play was designed for, when one run will win you the game.

Guillen deserves a lot of credit for bringing in Buehrle in the 14th. He was his best pitcher and he knew that winning last night would put the hammer down. Garner did not use his best and he paid for it

King,

The problem with small ball is not only that 'if you play for one run, that's all you'll get.' The real problem is that you are less likely to get even that one run. This is the case, at least, when it comes to bunting a man from first to second. While I agree that a sqeeze would probably have been a risk worth taking, the Astros should be commended for not giving in to conventional wisdom and bunting runners from first to second just because the game was in extra innings. They made the right choice, but sometimes, even when the right choices are made the outcomes don't turn out the way we would like. It doesn't make the decision any less valid, however.

This seems to be the pivotal call (non-call) of the night. DW, you are wrong about worst case. Worst case, and easily possible with a rising fastball pitcher like El Duque, is the dreaded popup DP, where Garner is excoriated for giving up both Biggio and Berkman to a rookie Taveras. This is why smallball is great and wonderful in July and August but is tough mentally for a manager to fully commit to when it's all on the line. I don't question Garner's decision not to squeeze, because you have to believe your HOFer or 36HR 100RBI guy coming up next can do the job.

I really do question Garner putting what appeared to be a homeless man on the mound in the 14th (or so it seemed to this bleary-eyed viewer @ 1am) when he clearly had other arms from stable homes in the pen.

One last rant item and that is: A homerun must leave the field of play by going over a wall, fence, tree, gutter or some other fixed object. We know this from 3rd grade. NOT a yellow line drawn vertically on a WHITE wall. If you want to put flagpoles in your outfield fine, but don't mess with baseball by drawing Etch-a-Sketch lines on your outfield walls and expect the umpires to see it correctly from 150 feet away.

With all that, I was rooting for the 'Stros to win last night because I want to see the series go 6/7 for the home win and to PO my spouse with as many nights of WS as possible :)

Great point JS about that ballpark. It reminds me of when we played ball in the elementary school gym and the ball was in play off the wall. If they drew a line half way up the green monster and above it was a home run that would approximate what they have in Houston.

I still think the squeeze was the right play, but your point is well taken and that is the last time that I praise McCarver because whenever I do it comes back to haunt me.

And ditto when it comes to POing the wife

I disagree that Tavares should've squeezed in the 9th. A squeeze is a very risky play with several bad scenarios: a poor bunt that gets the runner thrown out at home; the popup DP, as JLS mentions; and missing the bunt altogether and getting the runner on third caught in a rundown. Tavares may be a good bunter, but he is also a solid hitter swinging a hot bat in the post-season. And he didn't even need a hit to drive in the run; a groundball or decent fly ball would have sufficed. Taveres almost never grounds into a double play (four all year) and his strike out rate in the regular season was a respectable 16%. Garner made the right call. Tavares just didn't execute.

If Chicago wins tonight, this will be about the most exciting sweep you'll ever see. It's been close every inning and we've seen some of the most unlikely of unlikely heroes. Terrific baseball. There's been a little of everything in the first 3 games, which is all people who aren't really rooting for either team can ask for.

I understood why Garner didn't have Taveras bunting in that situation, if he was thinking what I was---Willy has been one of Houston's hottest hitters. Give him a crack at winning it with a full swing. Maybe he smokes one up the middle. Or maybe he takes a feeble swing, hits a dribbler to 2nd, and the run scores that way. Or he hits a fly ball deep enough for a sac fly. Or even get him to bunt with 2 strikes, when the Sox are less likely to be expecting it.

However, the bunt probably was the right call. Even if the runner gets thrown out at the plate there, Berkman would come up with an ultra-speedy runner on base and they would STILL have had a chance to win it with a double by their RBI machine.