Late Thursday afternoon, Alex Cora announced Chris Sale, not Nathan Eovaldi, will start Game 1 of the ALCS on Friday night.
It certainly was a surprising move, but on Merloni & Fauria Lou Merloni gave some reasoning as to why.
“All hands on deck (in Game 1), meaning [Nick] Pivetta and [Tanner] Houck," he said. "So, Sale goes out there and gives you two (innings), if he gives you three and he’s struggling, you go to Houck, you go to Pivetta. And what that gives you is Saturday off, Sunday is an off-day, Monday’s E-Rod. So, whoever gets blown out, whoever goes five [innings], whether it’s Houck or Pivetta, all of a sudden maybe they become a Game 4 starter.”
Click below to listen to Merloni explain more just before the 20:00 mark.
Game 1 is set for 8:07 ET Friday and Game 2 Saturday at 4:20 ET.
