2015 ALDS - Toronto Blue Jays Vs. Texas Rangers - PLAYOFFS!!!!!

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

To recap:

1) their best leftie in the bullpen, Cecil, is out with an injury
2) their only other leftie, Loup, is not available for the game
3) so Price is their only leftie available
4) Gibby puts Price in during the 3rd time through the order, when the lefties are due up. He leaves him in once through the order, and twice through the lefties in the middle of the order.
5) he then hands it over to Sanchez and Osuna for 4 easy outs and the W

The majority of fans on this site, twitter, and probably everywhere else, call him an idiot for the strategy.

It works. Beautifully.

Not one person says: maybe Gibby was right and I was wrong.

My concern though is not having a leftie for tomorrow if Loup isn't available.

His strategy makes much more sense if the game wasn't already 7-1.

[Jiggy_12]

@SNJeffBlair: Marco Estrada a bullpen option in Game 5; has relieved, warms up quickly.

[albertGQ]

Do we know why Loop wasn't available yesterday?

[Sainters7]

On FAN960 this morning, they said he got notified about a family emergency not long before the game.


Posted from Calgarypuck.com App for Android

[Jiggy_12]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Do we know why Loop wasn't available yesterday?

They haven't said specifically, but it sounds like it was family/personal related.

No word yet on his availability for game 5 other than Gibbons in his press conference saying he "should be good for game 5".

[SuperMatt18]

This Cubs-Cards game kind of showed exactly why Gibbons did what he did, can't take the risk in the playoffs as things escalate quickly.

2-0 lead for the Cards with 2 outs.

Couple of soft groundball hits, 1 against the shift, and the Cubs get 2 men on. Cubs pitcher is coming up so should be no issue, but nope he gets a softly hit grounder up the middle and it's 2-1 all of a sudden.

Next guy comes up and hits a 3-run shot, and all of a sudden it goes from a 2-0 lead with 2 outs to a 4-2 deficit.

[Jiggy_12]

@MStrooo6: The return shall be legendary.
9:35 AM - 12 Mar 2015

I wonder if Marcus had any idea just how accurate that statement may have been.

[Frequitude]

I'm not showing a 2:00pm game on my Telus guide. Just a 3:00 unspecified ALDS game on 905 (the main SPortsnet channel for you Shaw folks). So I recorded the two half hour shows before it as well. Am I good you think?

[bluejays]

If the last game was any indication, this game will be a dogfight. I'll actually be surprised if any team keeps their pitchers in for more than 4 innings. Both teams will be using their bullpen for matchup after matchup. Edge still goes to the Jays as it's hard to contain such a good lineup.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

I'm not showing a 2:00pm game on my Telus guide. Just a 3:00 unspecified ALDS game on 905 (the main SPortsnet channel for you Shaw folks). So I recorded the two half hour shows before it as well. Am I good you think?

Yeah I have Telus too and same thing but when I look at TSN's site and the Jays MLB site they both say 2pm MT.

[savemedrzaius]

I know only 2 teams have come back from being down 2 to win the series. But does anyone know how many teams down 2 have come back to force a game 5?

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

I'm not showing a 2:00pm game on my Telus guide. Just a 3:00 unspecified ALDS game on 905 (the main SPortsnet channel for you Shaw folks). So I recorded the two half hour shows before it as well. Am I good you think?

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

Yeah I have Telus too and same thing but when I look at TSN's site and the Jays MLB site they both say 2pm MT.

I was about to do what Frequitude did, but unfortunately I think what will happen is Telus will change the programming schedule sometime tonight or tomorrow morning and it will **** up what you recorded. I believe that happened to me before.

Best bet is to check quickly before you go to work tomorrow and hope that they've changed to the appropriate schedule and record based on that. I've said it before but TELUS is **** in so many ways, and this is one of them. They really struggle to keep up with programming changes and TBD sports broadcasts.

[Dion]

Stroman can't wait for game 5 to start

He owns teams in the Rogers Centre, and as teammate Josh Donaldson put it Tuesday: "He wants to be in the spotlight; he looks for it. "He’s good to play behind for a team like us, because he’s going to get a lot of ground balls when he’s on. The key for us will be to play good defence behind him."

Stroman bounced around the clubhouse Tuesday, saying that if he had to measure his excitement level on scale of one to 10, "I’d probably say it’s a 10 right now, and I can only imagine tomorrow." Thinking back to his long rehabilitation, Stroman remarked: "It’s a perfect situation that kind of played out in my head. And it’s happening … and I mean … I get the chills now even just thinking about being in the position I’m in now."

Price, who still maintained that he would be available in some capacity on Wednesday even though Gibbons said: "Don’t count on it." In the dugout later, Gibbons spoke quietly about the role Price had played in getting the Blue Jays to the post-season, and there was a hint that the manager was concerned about how worn down Price might be. "We don’t get here without him," Gibbons said, making clear that even though Price is not under contract for next year he didn’t feel he had carte blanche to abuse the pitcher’s arm. Gibbons smiled when it was suggested the tip-off would be whether Price elects to watch the game from the bullpen or dugout. "Yeah, that would be," he said.

Gibbons also offered another alternative out of the blue, that being Estrada, the Game 3 starter and prohibitive Game 1 starter for the AL Championship Series (should the Blue Jays make it that far). Perhaps Gibbons was simply running up a trial balloon to muck around with the mind of his counterpart with the Rangers, Jeff Banister, but Estrada has had ample experience as a reliever – he was a swingman with the Milwaukee Brewers last season, and made six relief appearances for the Blue Jays this year before moving into the rotation – and he is able to warm up quickly. Estrada threw just 89 pitches in Game 3, a 5-1 win, and has equal splits against left-handers and right-handers (an opponents average of .203 against lefties and .204 against righties this season) and might be available for a couple of outs. Estrada has had success against Choo and Prince Fielder, albeit with a relatively small sample size.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb...est-right-now/

[Hockey Fan #751]

Originally Posted by savemedrzaius

I know only 2 teams have come back from being down 2 to win the series. But does anyone know how many teams down 2 have come back to force a game 5?

I think it's only 3.

[Jiggy_12]

To nobody's surprise but to everybody's disappointment, the dome will be closed for todays game as per MLB decision. Despite adequate weather yet again.

[ClubFlames]

Originally Posted by Jiggy_12

To nobody's surprise but to everybody's disappointment, the dome will be closed for todays game as per MLB decision. Despite adequate weather yet again.

What a BS decision by MLB.

[SuperMatt18]

I would love to hear their rationale for closing the roof.

[bluejays]

Not sure about the adequate weather today here. I'm really close to the dome and it's been dreary with a few drizzles today. Plus it's only around 11 degrees. I didn't agree with MLB keeping the roof closed last game but this one seems about right. Plus I seem to recall someone saying that MLB requires the weather be 18 degrees for the roof to be open. Not sure if that's true.

[Scornfire]

#### off with the closed roof nonsense MLB

[Rjcsjc62]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I would love to hear their rationale for closing the roof.

I found this explanation this morning: http://www.theweathernetwork.com/new...-centre/58480/

"It's about roof mechanics not fans toughening it out through cold weather," Brooks tweeted on Tuesday night. "It risks shutting down and never working again. And the stadium has no drainage."

According to the Toronto Star, the MLB opts to keep the roof closed to ensure there will be no weather-related interruptions or delays.