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Here's what the ALCS has taught us about home-field advantage
Oct 19, 2021, 3:20 pm
Fenway has not been kind to the Astros. Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images.
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Panic? Not yet. Concern? Well, yeah. The Astros are down 2-1 in the American League Championship Series, which isn't a math problem as much as the way the Red Sox are hitting grand slam homers like they're playing drunk Wiffle Ball in a neighbor's backyard.
The Astros pitching is hurting. The season-long reliable starting rotation has been decimated and left asunder (awesome word). Ace Lance McCullers is on the injury shelf, and starters Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia and Jose Urquidy have barely made cameo appearances. Valdez has been the workhorse, lasting 2-2/3 innings, while Garcia survived one inning and Urquidy managed to get only four Sox batters out. The Astros have fallen behind 8-0 and 9-0 in their two losses. They need to stop doing that.
Zack Greinke, who the Astros said wouldn't start in the ALCS, will start crucial Game 4 tonight. Greinke has thrown only 12-1/3 innings in the last month while still surrendering five runs. He needs to stop doing that, too.
More troubling, if that's even possible, Astros pitching coach Brent Stromm is suggesting that Astros hurlers are tipping their pitches. Imagine how much an advantage a Red Sox batter would have if he knew what pitch was coming. Oprah's Book Club would see this as literary irony. You remember 2017, right? The Red Sox certainly do.
Astros fans didn't see lopsided scores coming, and here's another development they may not have expected.
Red Sox fans in Fenway Park have been respectful, even kind and friendly toward Astros supporters who traveled up to Boston.
Famed restaurateur Matthew George, like a hurricane chaser, has spent the 2021 season following the Astros into danger: Yankee Stadium, Dodger Stadium and Fenway Park. In biblical times, George would have cheered for Daniel in the lion's den.
"The fans in Boston have been terrific toward us. They engage with us, ask about the Astros players, what kind of season we've had. I haven't seen any trouble or heard any threats or anything over the line before, during or after the games," George said.
That surprised George. This surprised me. George said he bought his World Series ticket from the team's official website. The games in Boston were not sold out in advance by season ticket holders.
"I got online the minute tickets went on sale to the public. I bought my field box seat for Game 3, seven rows behind the Astros on deck circle for $320," he said.
George's first impression of Fenway: "it's small. The stadium shakes, you can feel your seat vibrating, when the Red Sox hit a home run. When Kyle Schwarber hit his grand slam Monday night, you really felt Fenway rock."
George said that some Astros fans hung out after the game to watch Astros players board their bus. A small group of Red Sox fans started yelling at the Astros fans but police chased the rowdies away.
George said it was a different story when he attended games at Dodger Stadium and Yankee Stadium. Fans there were rude and unruly. Of course it might have helped if George weren't wearing an Astros jersey behind enemy lines. George was the target of invective and middle finger salutes at Yankee Stadium and hot dog shrapnel at Dodger Stadium. Household hint: to remove mustard stains, pre-soak the garment with detergent and hot water, wash, let dry in sunlight.
"There's no mistaking who the fans at Fenway are rooting for, but you can tell these are true baseball fans who really know and appreciate the game. They're not there just to be seen. They clearly want the Red Sox to win, but it's cool if you're an Astros fan. I've always heard about the amazing Fenway experience and it's lived up to everything."
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Josh Allen has never said a bad word about Stefon Diggs. As the Buffalo Bills prepare to face their former star receiver in a visit to Houston on Sunday, he insists the two went their separate ways on good terms.
And the quarterback wasn’t changing his stance a week ago, not wanting to ruffle any feathers when asked about the early season success the Bills have enjoyed with their spread-the-ball motto on offense.
He later explained that he spoke out after reading comments on social media in which people were attempting to twist the “everybody eats” motto into something being directed at Diggs.
Allen understands why Buffalo facing Diggs for the first time since a blockbuster trade sent him to Houston this offseason is a big deal. He raved about his former teammate.
“I’ve got a lot of love for him. I still do,” Allen said. “The things that he did for me in my career, and the things that he did in a Buffalo Bill uniform won’t be forgotten anytime soon, especially from me … (but) going into Year 7, I understand the business, and the aspect of what this league is, and again, I’m just trying to focus on what we got going on in this building.”
Diggs, a four-time Pro Bowler, is second on the Texans with 25 receptions for 233 yards. He has two receiving touchdowns and had the first rushing score of his career last week against the Jaguars. He spent the last four seasons in Buffalo, where he had more than 1,100 yards receiving each year, highlighted by an NFL-leading and career-high 1,535 yards in 2020.
He didn’t address Allen directly this week when talking about his time in Buffalo. Diggs did say his tenure with the Bills was “amazing” but that he’s solely focused on his future now and not interested in rehashing the past.
“A lot of other people are going to feel a way or have a lot to say about X, Y, Z, and I’m not mad at it,” he said Wednesday. “Football is a very emotional sport. I go in there and wear my heart on my sleeve, and I won’t stop, but for me, I block out the noise.”
“Nobody is going to run the routes but me,” he continued. “Nobody is going to watch the tape but me. I try not to get back into the back and forth about the opinions or how people feel. I’ve got a job to do; I try to get it done.”
Diggs has helped the Texans to a 3-1 start and Allen hasn’t missed a beat without him. The Bills also are 3-1, though they’re looking to bounce back after a 35-10 loss to the Ravens last week.
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans certainly knew how talented Diggs was when he arrived in Houston but said he has been pleasantly surprised to see his passion for the game.
“He loves football … you see it in the way he practices, the way he plays the game,” Ryans said. “He loves ball, he plays with effort and that is all you want.”
The blame game
Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady was still kicking himself for calling a trick play that backfired, squelching any chance of a Buffalo rally in the loss to Baltimore.
After opening the second half with a TD to cut the deficit to 21-10, the Bills faced second-and-7 at the Baltimore 44, when receiver Curtis Samuel took a direct snap and pitched the ball to Allen. The Ravens weren’t fooled and forced a fumble, which led to a TD six plays later.
“I probably can’t say it on Zoom,” Brady said when asked to sum up the call in one word. “There’s no excuses. I can give the justification of why it was on the call sheet, but at the end of the day, the timing was not what it should’ve been and it was costly.”
Nico’s start
While much of the focus this week has been on Diggs facing his former team, the star of Houston’s offense so far this season has been another receiver. Nico Collins had a career-high 12 catches for 151 yards and a touchdown against the Jaguars for his third 100-yard game this season. He leads the NFL with 489 yards receiving and is the first player in franchise history with more than 450 yards receiving though the first four games.
“He’s a strong, physical, fast, and big receiver,” Ryans said. “That’s an easy target for C.J. (Stroud) and Nico has showed up every time that we needed him.”
Feeding Samuel
In the Bills’ “everybody eats” motto on offense, Samuel has had difficulty finding a regular place at the table. The eighth-year player who enjoyed his best season in Carolina under Brady as the Panthers coordinator in 2020 has been limited to eight catches for 48 yards. More curious is Samuel has been on the field for only 68 of a total of 230 offensive snaps.
“We’d love to get him going and whether or not Khalil is in or out this week,” Allen said, referring to receiver Khalil Shakir, who is nursing a right ankle injury. “So we’re going to be calling on his number, and he is going to have to step up, make some plays, which we’ve got no doubt in his ability.”
Update: Shakir has been ruled out (ankle) for Sunday's game.