Framber Valdez takes on Nathan Eovaldi hoping to get back on track and eliminate the Rangers at Minute Maid Park
What drama.
Because Adolis Garcia played the victim card and convinced a world perfectly happy to be convinced that the Astros are eternal villains, MLB played to the mob and made the ridiculous decision to suspend Bryan Abreu for intentionally throwing at Garcia.
Yes, it’s all about you Adolis. The Astros wanted revenge against you so much that they were willing to lose a close playoff game by putting a runner in scoring position with no outs. Yes, you are that important.
And baseball buys it. This is not a rational calculation about the pitcher’s intent and arriving at a just outcome based on real guilt or innocence. This decision is pure politics.
The 2017 Astros weren’t punished enough, so let’s appease the 29 fanbases that still hate the Astros and punish the 2023 Astros.
It reminds me of the 2018 suspension of Jake Marisnick for colliding with a catcher at home, even though the commish admitted that Marisnick did not intend to do so. But baseball fans in LA wanted a punishment, and they got it.
Many fans around the baseball world think that Dusty Baker played brilliant 4-D chess the way he got ejected and sat in the dugout and should also be suspended. We who watch the Astros every day know that Dusty is really not competing with Spock in 4-D chess tournaments.
At the time of this writing, Abreu’s status for today’s game is unknown. He was suspended for two post-season games, but it is believed he will appeal the suspension, and it will not be implemented until after the hearing. So, he should be available to pitch today, at least.
Let’s hope for a clean game with no incidents and that Framber finds his mojo. The Rangers’ Eovaldi has had great and terrible days against the Astros. It’s Framber’s turn to be good and Eovaldi’s turn to be bad.
Let’s hope. Remember, the pressure is all on the Rangers.
Go Stros.
Here are the lineups.
