A.J. Hinch Blew It

Zack Greinke was absolutely great in Game 7, and it is going to be completely lost. That is partially because he was removed from the game by A.J. Hinch with one out in the seventh.

At that time, Greinke had allowed just two hits with one of them being Anthony Rendon‘s solo homer to pull the Nationals to within a run. Now, all postseason, we’ve seen Juan Soto follow a Rendon big hit with one of his own. In fact, if you go back to the NLDS, Rendon and Soto went back-to-back against Clayton Kershaw.

Greinke being the smart pitcher he is wasn’t going to get that happen. He pitched around Soto, and with his getting squeezed a bit, he walked Soto. Instead of letting Greinke go get Howie Kendrick, Hinch pulled him.

He didn’t go to Gerrit Cole, who was arguably the best pitcher in baseball this year, to do his best Madison Bumgarner impression. No, he went to Will Harris. Now, Harris has been great all year and all postseason. However, by Hinch’s own admission, Harris has been overused, and he showed his first cracks in Game 6. Harris would give up a big two run homer giving the Nationals a 3-2 lead.

From there, Hinch played a game of not using his best pitcher in Cole which probably left even Buck Showalter shaking his head.

After Greinke departed, we saw Harris, Roberto Osuna, Ryan Pressly, Joe Smith, and Jose Urquidy. As they pitched and Cole sat, the 2-1 lead became a 6-2 deficit.

Now, that deficit was partially the result of the Astros going 1-for-8 with RISP and leaving 10 men on base. It’s something which plagued them throughout the World Series. Part of the reason why that happened tonight and in the series is the Nationals pitching.

Max Scherzer gave one of the guttiest performances in World Series history. Days after not being able to even dress himself (not hyperbole), he allowed just two runs over five. In many ways, he appeared to be set to be a very undeserving loser.

He wouldn’t be because of the rally and because Dave Martinez didn’t screw around like Hinch.

After Scherzer, he used Patrick Corbin for three scoreless innings. With the four run lead, he had his best reliever, Daniel Hudson, slam the door shut.

In the end, yes, you can pinpoint many different reasons why the Astros lost this game and series. However, when the chips were down, Hinch was at his worst, and he didn’t use his best. Ultimately, that’s why the Nationals are celebrating the World Series which the Astros should’ve won.

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