"The Stack" 10-26-17
George Springer's two-run homerun in the bottom of the eleventh, one of eight homeruns hit in the game, helped give the Astros 7-5. They would hold on to win 7-6 to even the World Series 1-1.
The Stack is back on this Thursday and the World Series has been pretty good so far. Last night’s game was tremendous. Reaction to that and a look ahead to some football so let’s get right to “the stack” for today, Thursday, October 26th:
Astros win in extras, even series 1-1
Quite the game last night in the World Series. A record eight homeruns was hit and that is only the beginning of the story as the Houston Astros rallied to tie the game and force extras only to gain the lead in the tenth, blow that lead and then re-gain the lead in the eleventh. The Astros won this game over the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-6 in one of the more entertaining World Series games we’ve seen in recent years. Does it come close to some of the games from last year’s World Series? I can’t go that far, but it was still pretty good, especially in the later innings. Justin Verlander pitched pretty well giving up just three hits in six innings, but he did give up two homeruns as the Dodgers had a 3-1 lead when Verlander exited the game. Had the Astros lost this game they would only have themselves to blame. They left so many guys on base. Their leadoff man made it on base in nine of the eleven innings. The Astros cut the lead to 3-2 in the eighth and tied the game in the ninth when Marwin Gonzalez hit a game-tying homerun off Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen. It was the first blown save of the postseason for Jansen, one of the best closers in the game.
The Astros had the momentum and they carried that into the tenth inning when Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa hit back-to-back solo shots to give the Astros a 5-3 lead. Given that the Dodgers hadn’t been able to hit Astros pitching in this game you would have thought that those two runs would be too much to overcome. Wrong! Yasiel Puig said, “watch this” as he hit a solo homerun and then after Logan Forsythe got a single and then moved up on a wild pitch. Enrique Hernandez would drive him in and the Dodgers amazingly tied the game.
The Astros would not be phased. George Springer hit a two run homerun to give the Astros a 7-5 lead and even though they would give up a solo homerun in the bottom of the eleventh, they would go on to win 7-6. Springer had a good game. This was a good game. The Astros split the two games in Los Angeles, but with Yu Darvish on the mound in game three, the Dodgers are going to be just fine. Here’s hoping the rest of the World Series is as good as this game was.
College football weekend forecast
Last week’s marquee matchups failed. This week’s slate looks much better…on paper anyway. Four matchups featuring ranked teams against one another. It begins right away at noon ET, 11 AM CT on ABC with #11 Oklahoma State visiting Morgantown to take on #22 West Virginia. At the beginning of the season, I predicted this would be Oklahoma State’s only loss of the year. They already have one loss. Another loss and they are done. West Virginia’s offense is plenty good. Expect points a plenty. I’m going to say Oklahoma State gets it done, but it isn’t going to be easy.
The best game of the day, and also where College Gameday is going to be, is at 3:30 PM ET, 2:30 PM CT on FOX with #2 Penn State visiting Columbus to take on #6 Ohio State. Penn State walloped Michigan last week. Can they go on the road and play just as good as they did last Saturday? I doubt it. Ohio State has had two weeks to prepare for Saquon Barkley. Again, at the beginning of the year I picked Ohio State to give Penn State its only loss. I hope I’m wrong, because I would really like to see Penn State win.
Also at 3:30 PM ET, 2:30 PM CT on either ABC or ESPN2 depending on where you live, #4 TCU visits #25 Iowa State. Ames is a dangerous place for ranked teams to go and play. They tend to lose up there. Just ask Oklahoma State. Iowa State is playing really good football right now. This is a chance for TCU to prove to everyone that they should be taken very seriously for a potential playoff spot.
As if the 3:30 PM ET, 2:30 PM CT time slot couldn’t be more jam-packed, #14 NC State makes their first ever visit to South Bend to take on #9 Notre Dame. What a year for Notre Dame to have North Carolina State scheduled. Notre Dame is expected to win this game. They should win this game. People aren’t taking North Carolina State all that seriously yet. A win against Notre Dame will change that. I do not see that happening.
Other bits of intrigue this week include Rutgers visiting Michigan (Noon ET, BTN). Can Rutgers lose by less than 70 points this time around? I believe the answer is yes. The Great Cocktail Party (they don’t call it that anymore though unfortunately) between #3 Georgia and Florida commences from Jacksonville at 3:30 PM ET on CBS. Florida has dominated this series lately. As good as Georgia is this year, there are plenty of people wondering if they can indeed beat Florida. I say they will. And can Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate continue his magnificent streak and lead Arizona to another victory? The dude is a running machine and he can throw to when asked to. Arizona is at home against Washington State at 9:30 PM ET on the Pac-12 Network. Not going to be easy for Washington State in this one. Should be a good week of college football. Enjoy it everyone.
Miami Dolphins @ Baltimore Ravens 8:25 PM ET CBS & NFL Network (Streaming on Amazon)
This game appears to be a dud. The Ravens offense stinks. Joe Flacco isn’t elite. The Dolphins somehow, some way, are 4-2, but needed a miracle essentially to take down the Jets last week. It helps that Matt Moore is going to start at quarterback for them this week as Jay Cutler has a couple of broken ribs. Boo-hoo. I know the Ravens are getting some guys back, but I just feel like the Dolphins have a little more going for them and can take down the Ravens.
Prediction: Dolphins 24 Ravens 16
Coming up Friday: Week 8 preview NFL preview and predictions
Listen to this week's "The Sports Block" podcast here. (Some strong language occurs)
