Houston Astros: How the Red Sox remind that the postseason is different

The Houston Astros faithful thought it was over after Game 2. The Boston Red Sox would fall by the wayside in Game 3. Everything was going our way after the first inning. But we got a lesson in postseason baseball. The series is not over.

Houston Astros fans, ask yourselves a question. How many people thought the series was over after game two? I’m sure most of y’all would agree with the question. When Carlos Correa drilled the homer in the first, we were celebrating a postseason series win.

It’s human nature to think that with a 2-0 lead, you expect us to get the job done. But we should be glad that the Red Sox won Game 3 because now, we should have a fresh sense of postseason baseball.

This postseason seems to have everything that is the reality.

The Washington Nationals, who lost game one, rallied to beat the Cubs in game two to even the series.
Just when the New York Yankees would head home tied at two, the series is 2-0 in Cleveland’s favor after their comeback win.
The Houston Astros, who dominated the Red Sox in the first two games, got a brutal wakeup call in game three and find themselves up 2-1.

In a perfect world, we would’ve swept the Red Sox. But the world isn’t perfect and for 24 hours, we have to wait in agony until Game 4.

Our Feelings Now

It does suck to lose game three because it’s the best of both worlds now. We have a 2-1 lead in the series and will have one chance to clinch in Boston before we head to Houston for a possible game five. We’ll have Justin Verlander for game five at home if necessary and we know he’s a big game pitcher.

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At the same time, the Red Sox have the momentum. They were dead after game two. If they won game three, they’re still in it. I think everyone assumed David Ortiz was crazy for rallying the Red Sox since he’s retired. But who doesn’t love Big Papi even when he can’t do anything now?

So now we have to settle with Charlie Morton for Game 4. If I took a guess as to who the Red Sox will start, it wouldn’t have surprised me to see Chris Sale again. But I think they’ll save him for Game 5. However, Rick Porcello got the nod for today’s match up.

Either way, the edge should be on our side. But so too is the pressure.

What We Hope To Avoid?

What do these teams have in common?

1982 Angels
1984 Cubs
1995 Yankees
2001 Athletics
2012 Reds
2015 Rangers

These teams had a 2-0 series lead and never advanced.

I know it sounds like I’m being paranoid and I’ll admit, nerves are in myself right now. I felt like Game 3 was the game we had to end early. But after Josh Reddick had a home run robbed, I felt that it would be the turning point of the game.

We couldn’t deliver the runs in the 5th inning and the Red Sox made us pay for it. So now, we’re on the pressure cooker.

I think most of us figured the series would go at least four or five games. It’s hard for anybody to sweep a team in the playoffs. The teams mentioned above found out the hard way. But take a look at these teams.

1978 Dodgers
1995 Braves
2006 Cardinals
2011 Rangers
2014 Giants
2016 Cubs

These 2-0 teams had bumps in the road after game three. They got the message right away and woke up in game four to finish the job. So this is something we need to consider.

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At the end of the day, momentum is ours. But even if we feel confident that we’ll win the series, we should expect game four to be a battle. This game four is do-or-die. As much as I feel we feel like the edge is on our side still, I’m not taking anything for granted.

As I said, Boston is going to be a tough team. We can never count them out. This series is far from over until the last 27th out is made.

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