The Houston Astros tied the World Series 1-1 on Saturday night against the Philadelphia Phillies, and Astros manager Dusty Baker was undoubtedly proud.
The Houston Astros fell victim to the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of the World Series, but they redeemed themselves in Game 2, driving in a 5-2 win. The Phillies have been much more difficult to take down than many anticipated, so the bounce back from Houston in Game 2 was impressive. Manager Dusty Baker was certainly proud, as he should be.
Baker spoke about the team’s priorities and how the pitching needed to be impeccable to get through Bryce Harper in particular. Baker told Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com:
"“You think about who [are] the matchups for the guys that are coming up that inning. We were hoping that [Montero] would get through Harper. He’s always on your radar when he’s going to be up next. … We thought about [a fresh arm], but we just thought about who might be better in that situation than who we had in there already, as long as he wasn’t tired or started throwing balls and stuff.”"
He shared that he expected starting pitcher Framber Valdez to do well, but “you don’t know” what could happen. This was evident since in Game 1 Justin Verlander, the most reliable pitcher in Houston during the regular season, put up an ERA of 9.0.
Of course, he shared his positive thoughts on Jose Altuve as well, stating that “his track record speaks for itself,” and that “he’ll be hitting forever.” It’s hard to not respect Altuve looking purely at his statistics.
He also spoke about the importance of winning Game 2 and how it was nearly a “must-win,” especially since the first two games were at home. He stated, “People went home happy and we like to have a positive attitude throughout the city.”
Baker discussed the three-straight doubles in the beginning of the game, and he shared that he was “pulling for a fourth” to try to score as many runs as possible.
Through a disappointing Game 1 loss, the Astros persevered and came one win closer to winning the World Series.
The Astros pulled off a Game 2 win after an upsetting Game 1 loss
It would’ve been far too easy for Houston to lose hope after losing Game 1 with their best regular-season pitcher. Though Valdez is a good pitcher and started Game 2 beautifully, his regular season stats suggested he should’ve struggled against the Phillies more than Verlander did.
Over the regular season, Valdez produced an ERA of 2.82, a batting average against of .223 and WHIP of 1.16. These are good numbers, but Verlander was on a completely different level this season with Cy Young-worthy performance.
He choked in his World Series appearance, but he does have a history of underperforming in the postseason, so it should’ve been predictable. Regardless, it was disappointing. Valdez, however, set a new tone of hope for the team with a better-than-usual performance.
Valdez was so good he was even accused of using a banned substance because of how often he wiped sweat off of his forehead. He only allowed one run in six innings and struck out nine. He held the team down and Rafael Montero closed out the game with a victory.
Baker realized how important the rotation and the bullpen is in taking down Philadelphia’s incredible offense, and his strategic efforts to utilize his talent are paying off.