BRIAN T. SMITH ON ZACK GREINKE.
Greinke hasn’t exactly lived up to hype as Astros’ No. 3 starter in two playoff losses
Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and …
That is still the question for these Astros.
Six games into the playoffs. After the New York Yankees embarrassed the home team 7-0 in Game 1 of the American
League Championship Series. After Zack Greinke gave up seven hits, three runs, two big home runs and walked off the mound with another postseason L waiting.
Was Greinke better on Saturday night inside a tense, uneven Minute Maid Park?
Yes.
Was Greinke a brilliant piece of a three-headed monster that is going to pitch the Astros to their second world championship in three seasons?
He sure as heck hasn’t been yet.
If you think Greinke was just fine, the bar must be pretty low. Think 9-7 in a Super Bowl-winning world.
This is a team that won a franchise-record 107 games. A club that entered August as the World Series favorite. A squad that, in Verlander and Cole, possesses the only AL Cy Young favorites in 2019 and was coming off a Game 5 in the AL Division Series when the latter was absolutely brilliant again.
Here is Greinke’s combined line through two playoff games: 9⅔ innings, 12 hits, nine runs, five homers, two losses.
“In some ways it was worse, in some ways it was better,” said Greinke, comparing his start versus New York with his start against the Rays.
The Astros fell 10-3 to Tampa Bay in Game 3 of the ALDS. They were down 5-0 in the top of the seventh on Saturday night, as local Yankees fans kept screaming and the Astros’ home-field advantage was silenced. Orangeand-blue believers started streaming out. New York scored two more runs after that.
Greinke has been a No. 3 starter since October began. And I don’t exactly mean that as a baseball compliment.
The Astros haven’t had a No. 4 arm since the playoffs started, and once-trusted lefthander Wade Miley was left off the ALCS starter, which only complicates the Greinke issue.
He struggled to exit innings safely in Game 1. DJ LeMahieu ended up on second base during the fourth because of a wild pitch, then crossed home after Gleyber Torres lined an 85-mph slider to center field. In a gamealtering sixth, Torres launched a first-pitch, 90-mph fastball for a home run. Then Giancarlo Stanton smoothly lifted a two-out,
3-2, 91-mph fastball for another homer.
Greinke pitched through trouble, tried to hold on and was hit hard.
“Yes,” said Greinke, when asked if both Yankees homers were mistake pitches.
New York’s Masahiro Tanaka was October worthy: Six innings, one hit, one walk, four strikeouts and, most importantly, no runs.
Change-ups damaged Greinke in Game 3 at Tropicana Field, when he failed to finish the fourth inning in an eventual blowout. But through two playoff starts, Greinke has ultimately just been hit hard. He allowed seven Yankees hits with an exit velocity of 100 mph or more. Throw in four of those by the Rays and five total home runs in two games, and Greinke has been the near opposite of Cole as Game 2 of the ALCS awaits.
I will now say what so many Astros fans were saying by the sixth inning Saturday: The bats had to do more.
Of course. Obviously.
“We just didn’t do anything offensively,” said Alex Bregman, after his team only recorded three hits and placed one runner in scoring position.
But the Astros didn’t ship away four prospects in a stunning July 31 blockbuster trade for Greinke to just be an OK, HR-prone No. 3 starter. They dreamed of a third ace to fully back Verlander and Cole.
Remember: This is all about winning the World Series. Not falling short to a better team in the ALCS again.
In October, it’s been deceiving when Greinke has appeared sharp (both first innings) and much more telling when he pitches around the plate. When the moment is peaking and the game can swing either way, Greinke has given up long ball after long ball. The second and fourth innings against the Rays. The sixth versus New York.
Then there’s his career numbers in the playoffs. A 3-5 record with a 4.58 ERA and 12 home runs allowed in 12 starts entering Game 1. Now remember that the next time Greinke is set to start for the Astros, it is scheduled to be inside screaming Yankee Stadium.
Verlander will take the ball in Game 2, which means that this series could soon be tied at 1-1 flying up to The Bronx. Cole is scheduled to take the mound in Game 3. He hasn’t lost since May 22.
It was just one game. It’s far too early in this series to panic.
“We don’t have time for frustration,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “… They threw the first punch Game 1. We get to the next day. We can punch right back (Sunday). I don’t think they’re going to be too comfortable (Sunday), coming to the ballpark thinking they’ve got an easy game ahead of themselves.”
But the Astros are 1-3 in their last four playoff games, Greinke has dropped two of those, and his team has trailed by a combined 8-0 when he’s been pulled from the mound.
The Astros clearly must be better to beat the Yanks. The bats must wake up again.
But Greinke must be much sharper if the Astros are going to win the World Series.