SAN DIEGO — In search of sorely needed length from their starting pitchers, the Astros will turn to Jose Urquidy in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series against the Rays.
Manager Dusty Baker said Zack Greinke is “slated” to go in Game 4, but the decision is not official yet. Greinke battled arm soreness throughout the American League Division Series, but was healthy enough to throw 4 2/3 innings during a Game 4 win against the A’s.
Baker said on Monday that Greinke continues to get “better and better every day.” Neither Greinke nor Urquidy has pitched more than five innings during this postseason. A similar fate during this seven-game series — with no off days — could be brutal.
“This is going to be a long series, seven games,” Urquidy said. “We’ve got a lot of good pitchers, a good bullpen and a good starting rotation, so we’re going to fight.”
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Urquidy lasted just 4 2/3 innings during his start Game 3 of the American League Division Series against the A’s. Oakland hit four solo home runs against him. Three came in two-strike counts and another on a first-pitch fastball.
Urquidy threw 62 of his 79 pitches for strikes, but seemed unable to finish hitters with his breaking pitches. Two of his four home runs came on two-strike sliders.
“I feel very good physically with my arm, everything is good,” Urquidy said. “I’m trying to see hitters and follow my catcher. I think the last game was too hard for me, but it’s part of baseball and I think I have another chance to pitch tomorrow and another chance to demonstrate my position as a starter.”
Baker declined to discuss Urquidy’s outing against the A’s in detail on Monday. The skipper lectured a reporter who asked about Urquidy’s inability to put hitters away for being “too negative.” Baker encouraged the reporter to study a French philosopher named Albert Camus, whom Baker called “the most negative philosopher around.”
“It happens, man,” Baker said. “These guys are human. What happened in the four starts he had before that? You can’t take all this negative into this one. Most of the hits he gave up were 0-2 hits. I don’t deal on the negative. I deal on the positive.”
Including his two postseason starts, Urquidy has a 3.74 ERA across his last four outings.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/texas-sports-nation/astros/article/Astros-go-with-Jose-Urquidy-in-Game-3-but-unsure-15640125.php
2020-10-12 18:21:00Z
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