Howie Kendrick burned the Houston Astros with a huge home run after a pitching change that will have fans second-guessing manager A.J. Hinch.
Zack Greinke threw a gem for the Astros in Game 7 of the World Series on Wednesday night. He had a shutout going until the seventh, when he got an out and then allowed a solo home run to Anthony Rendon and walk to Juan Soto. Hinch decided to pull Greinke with a 2-1 lead and put in Will Harris, who gave up a 2-run home run to Kendrick that gave the Nationals their first lead of the game.
HOWIE FEELING, NATS FANS?! pic.twitter.com/TTO7sHHd5j
— MLB (@MLB) October 31, 2019
Harris then allowed an Asdrubal Cabrera single and was pulled for Roberto Osuna.
Greinke had only thrown 80 pitches at that point and allowed just two hits and two walks the entire game. The home run and walk in the seventh were to two of Washington’s best hitters and somewhat understandable. In my opinion, he hadn’t shown that he was losing it to the point he should have been pulled. The guy had been great all game and you don’t give him any more leeway than that? That was a bad decision by Hinch.
The other reason I wouldn’t have pulled Greinke is because there was nobody in the bullpen I trusted at that time more than Greinke based on how well he had been pitching.
For the Nats, this is just the latest big hit for Kendrick, who delivered a grand slam knockout blow against the Dodgers and took home NLCS MVP honors.
Nats fans, they play it, you wear it: Calma was the victory song for the 2019 Washington Nationals. Get your Calma Champions 2019 T-shirt below:
