ALCS Game One Reaction Podcast

Welcome back to the Over the Monster Podcast network, where we are recapping each game of the postseason immediately after they happen. (Well, mostly. We’ll be a day late for Game Two.) For this immediate reaction show after the Game One loss to Houston on Friday night, it’s Matt and Keaton taking you through the action.

This show started with a discussion of Chris Sale, who surprisingly got the start for this one. The lefty looked a bit better than his last few times out, and both the fastball and slider appeared crisper out of the hand, but the changeup was still nonexistent and while he only allowed one run he was in trouble pretty much all night. We wondered if it was a mistake giving him the Game One start, and how we’re feeling about him now. We also talked about the various pitching decisions, and more generally about Garrett Whitlock not appearing in this game.

We also talked about the offense’s inability to get anything going against Houston’s bullpen. The goal coming into this series was to knock the starter out early as much as possible, and they did that part on Friday but couldn’t accomplish the other part of that plan, which is to score runs against the Houston bullpen. A lot of our focus there went to the bizarre decision to hit Danny Santana, as well as the big day at the plate from Kiké Hernández.

Ultimately, though, there is an acknowledgement that the Red Sox are looking for one of these first two games, and while this was a winnable game, they have a solid chance with Nathan Eovaldi on the mound.

We hope you enjoyed the show, and if so please subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.