Astros ace Zack Greinke probably should've thought this one through a bit more. Greinke has shown an unprecedented level of transparency on the mound this season, at times cutting out the middle man by calling his own pitches. Remarkably, Greinke’s bold gambit has largely paid off — he had pitched to a respectable 4.03 ERA across 67 regular-season innings — but not Thursday.
In a scoreless game between the Astros and Athletics in Game 4 of their American League Division Series at Dodger Stadium (oh, the irony) on Thursday, the 36-year-old Greinke signaled for a slider with two on and one out in the second inning. Not fooled in the slightest, potty-mouthed Athletics slugger Ramon Laureano wasted no time in bashing Greinke’s 3-0 offering to high heaven.
Greinke’s ambitious stunt may have worked in the regular season, but tempting fate in a playoff setting against Laureano, who has always had his number (6-for-10 lifetime with two homers, two doubles, a triple and five RBIs), was apparently a bridge too far. It was a struggle for Greinke early on against the A's on Thursday, though the six-time All-Star gets props for gutting it out, pitching through an arm injury that some feared would shelve him for the rest of the playoffs. With Gerrit Cole in Yankee pinstripes and reigning Cy Young winner Justin Verlander recovering from recent Tommy John surgery, the Astros can ill-afford to lose Greinke, especially at this late juncture.
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