[ad_1]
CHICAGO – Postponed from Monday to Tuesday due to rain before game 4 of the American League division series between Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros, Astros Manager Dusty Baker, a music buff, was listening to a blues classic. He said the remark was appropriate when asked later Sunday night by White Sox comforter Ryan Tepera about comments suggesting the Astros are still continuing their cue-stealing methods.
“I was listening to Eric Clapton this morning and he had a song, Take a look at ‘Before You Blame Me’‘ said Baker. ‘You know what I mean? That’s all I have to say.”
Baker and a few others had a little more to say about Tepera’s thoughts. On Sunday, the White Sox edged out qualifying after the Astros easily claimed the first two games of the best-of-five series. with a 12-6 win at home.
Afterwards, Tepera, who had two flawless pitching hits, implied that the Astros’ offense was behaving differently away in Game 3 than it did at Minute Maid Park in Houston, where baseball’s best offense overtook the White Sox during the regular season. with a total score of 15-5 in the first two games of the series.
Astros revealed to be cheating In the World Series award-winning 2017 season, he used illegal live video feeds to decipher the signs of rival catchers and hit a trash can near the home bunker, communicating to his teammates on the plate what the next step would be.
“They’ve got a reputation for doing some sketchy stuff up there,” Tepera said without giving details when asked to explain what she meant on Sunday night. “You could say there is a bit of a difference. You’ve seen the swings and misses tonight compared to the first two games on Minute Maid.”
In Game 3, the Astros hit 16 times after coming together so many times in Games 1 and 2.
After fraud allegations appeared In November 2019, Major League Baseball investigated the Astros and fined the organization $5 million in fines and draft selection loss. General manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch lost their jobs and were suspended. The league accelerated its work to protect against illegal sign theft.
(Players are allowed to use their own eyes and brains, not technology, to decipher their opponent’s markings, and it’s up to the teams to change their markings to avoid detection.)
MLB did not suspend the Astros players – they were given immunity in exchange for honest testimony – which angered opposing players. But since then, the remaining hitters from the 2017 squad, such as Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, and Carlos Correa, shower with boos and rude words on every occasion, including Sunday night in the Guaranteed Price Area. A cloud of doubt can always remain.
“They’re probably going to have to deal with this forever because people don’t forget,” said Baker, who took over following the sacking of Hinch, who was hired by Detroit prior to the 2021 season.
Paranoia is very common in baseball, especially postseason and when facing the Astros. It was on the minds of other White Sox pitchers, but Tepera was the first to say it publicly. There are many factors beyond sign theft that can cause a change in wealth.
Some players were frustrated with a hit zone they called inconsistent on Sunday night. Several White Sox players have noted the effect of a large, noisy crowd on their games. White Sox fighter Yasmani Grandal said his teammates did a better job with their two-hitter pitches in Game 3 compared to previous games – corroborating data showing that the swing-and-run ratios were not significantly different, but the batting ratios were significantly different. . And the White Sox pitching team had the highest hit rate in baseball during the regular season, so it had to give something up.
“Are we aware that there are some teams at second base that are better at conveying signals? Yeah, definitely,” said White Sox comforter Aaron Bummer, later adding, “We’re going to get out there, do our job, change the signs, and do what we need to do, not just with them, but with each other. We will do it with the team.”
On Monday, the Astros largely ignored questions about Tepera’s allegations. But the catcher Martin Maldonaldo wrote excitement He said it’s “always good” to get “extra motivation.”
“Whatever works, it’s all right,” Bregman said, and later added, “They have really good shooters. They made pitches and kept us up to six runs.”
Baker correctly noted that the Astros have hit pretty much the same at home as they have on the road this season. (Their strike rates were also basically the same.) He noted that the White Sox actually did better at home than they did away. Although he called Tepera’s comments “grave accusations”, Baker said his opponent could say whatever he wanted.
“I’d never heard of him until I played the White Sox, so no man, I wasn’t bothered by that at all,” Baker said, later adding, “Let them talk.”
[ad_2]
Source link