Astros, Red Sox still jockeying for playoff position (Sep 30, 2017)
BOSTON -- Houston manager A.J. Hinch hopes to get a better idea of what to expect from Lance McCullers in the postseason when the right-hander faces the Boston Red Sox in the third game of the final regular-season series Saturday.
McCullers, who made the American League All-Star team, has been battling arm fatigue and hasn't won a game since June 24. He returned from the disabled list to start a game last week, throwing 3 1/3 innings and responding well -- and how he does Saturday, when he faces Drew Pomeranz, may well have an effect on how he's used in the postseason.
The Red Sox, facing a similar situation with David Price, sent him to the bullpen, but that won't happen with McCullers, who will either start or not be on the roster.
This regular-season finale is an unusual series, the first four of what possibly could be nine straight games between the teams.
"I know there's a lot at stake, there's a lot of familiarity that's going to happen over the next four days," says Hinch. "We don't know what's going to happen at the end of the weekend. We need to get our guys ready for the playoffs. We may play these guys, we might not. If the weekend presents itself as it's a little clearer picture for us or for them, maybe things change."
The Astros won the first two games, remaining alive in the chase for the American League's top record -- and keeping the Red Sox from clinching their second straight AL East title.
If the season had ended Friday night, these two teams would start the ALDS in Houston on Thursday. But that's not set. Had the Red Sox won, Friday, it would have all been clinched, because the Astros would have been two behind Cleveland but the Indians own the tiebreaker with a 5-1 series win over Houston.
Pomeranz, 7-2 with a 3.13 ERA since the All-Star break, likely wouldn't have pitched Saturday if the Red Sox had clinched. But he goes to the mound coming with his velocity having dipped in recent outings. He needs 3 1/3 innings Saturday to pass last year's career high of 170 2/3.
He also goes to the mound hoping to help the Red Sox get their starting pitching straight. In the first five games of this season-ending seven-game homestand, Boston pitchers have compiled a 10.59 ERA.
Still, the match is pretty simple for Boston, which is why, when asked if he has to remind himself his team is in control even after losing Friday, Mookie Betts said, "Yeah, it's just gotta go win one game. Nobody said it's gonna be easy. If it was easy, it wouldn't be fun. ... We just gotta go win one game."
The current Red Sox roster only has 43 at-bats against McCullers, with 13 hits, for a .302 average. Mookie Betts is 3-for-7 (.429) and Xander Bogaerts 3-for-9 (.333).
For the Astros, Jose Altuve is 6-for-14 (.429) and Jake Marisnick 4-for-12 (.333) with two homers off Pomeranz, who is 1-2 with a 4.09 ERA in 11 games, six starts, against the Astros lifetime. But Evan Gattis is 1-for-11 (.091), George Springer 1-for-6 (.167), Carlos Beltran 2-for-11 (.182) and Brian McCann 2-for-9 (.222) with a homer.
