JUDGE REINSTATES ELLIOTT SUSPENSION
Taxing bullpens has become more common in the postseason
Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott will miss the next six games after a judge ruled Monday to uphold the ban.
HOUSTON — Nobody needs a day off in this World Series more than those run-down relievers.
Brandon Morrow has pitched in all five games for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He had never pitched three straight days before talking himself into a wild Game 5, then allowed a tying home run on his first pitch. He left without getting an out and the Houston Astros suddenly ahead by three runs.
Morrow has given up three home runs in the postseason after not allowing any in 45 regular-season appearances.
“It’s not just the amount of games you play, but emotional investment and the incredible focus that everybody has,” he said. “It wears on you mentally, and that kind of mental focus kind of wears on you physically. So yeah, it’s a grind. Guys are fatigued, but not tired, if that makes sense.”
Houston never even used struggling closer Ken Giles in its 13-12 win in Game 5, which ended early Monday morning after each team employed seven pitchers in 10 innings over nearly 5½ hours. The loser was Kenley Jansen, the Dodgers’ All-Star closer who had already blown a save in Game 2 — matching his total during the entire year to date.
Taxing bullpens and top relievers in the postseason in certainly not a new phenomenon. Look no further than last year’s World Series. Look no further than last year’s World Series.
For the first time ever in 2016, not a single starter recorded an out after the sixth inning of any game — and that Series went the full seven games.
Chicago closer Aroldis Chapman won Game 7 against Cleveland, ending a 108-year title drought for the Cubs. But that was only after he blew the save in the 10-inning game. Indians reliever Andrew Miller had given up two runs and the lead over 2⅓ innings, his second straight World Series game allowing a run after eight consecutive scoreless playoff appearances.
The Astros took a 3-2 series lead back to Los Angeles, where they won the second game in 11 innings.
Astros manager A.J. Hinch has said Albuquerque’s Giles will get the ball again in this Series but hasn’t specified in what role after the righty with 100 mph heat was tagged for five runs over 1 2/3 innings in his two World Series appearances. Giles lost Game 4 after taking over in the ninth in a 1-1 tie that turned into a 6-2 Dodgers win.
HOMER BALL: After Dodger Yasiel Puig homered Sunday night, a woman at Minute Maid Park caught the ball, only to have it ripped from her by a man standing nearby. He then tossed it onto the field, following a baseball tradition of fans throwing back home run balls hit by opposing teams.
According to the Houston Chronicle, the man turned out to be the women’s brother-in-law. She was only upset because she wanted to throw it back herself, she told the newspaper.
TV: Houston’s 13-12 victory over the Dodgers was the second-most watched World Series Game 5 since 2003, trailing only the Cubs’ 3-2 win over Cleveland last year. Fox said Sunday’s game averaged 19.6 million on its three outlets, drawing 18,940,000 on the main Fox Network, 496,000 on Fox Deportes and 172,000 on the digital stream Fox Sports Go.
NATIONALS: The team announced that Dave Martinez agreed to a threeyear contract with an option for a fourth year. Martinez has been the bench coach for Joe Maddon with the Cubs the past three seasons and with the Rays for seven years before that.
PHILLIES: Philadelphia went outside the organization and perhaps outside the box to get a new manager. Former major league outfielder Gabe Kapler was hired Monday to be Philadelphia’s manager, completing a search that lasted one month.