Aaron Boone stayed away from his high-leverage relievers in game one, even with the game tied 1-1 in the sixth inning, and three Astros home runs led to a 4-2 loss in Houston.
Asked after the game about the decision to rely on arms like Clarke Schmidt and Frankie Montas in relief, Aaron Boone told reporters that a game five the day before left the bullpen a bit shorthanded, and he was saving them for a spot that never came.
“You’re hoping to carve out some roles for guys and we’re in a situation with what we just went through where the guys we’ve leaned on heavily are gonna be more in winning situations late tonight,” Boone said. “We knew it was gonna be a slog in those middle innings.
“Look, obviously it’s gonna take more than just a few to get through all of this. Tonight, we knew we had our guys shorter, and we’re gonna have to get to the back end to set them up.”
Many also wondered why Domingo German wasn’t an option out of the bullpen considering his success in the rotation in the regular season, but Boone said he sees the righty more as a bulk arm, though that situation hasn’t come up in the postseason, and German has yet to pitch in this year’s playoffs.
“He’s in my calculations every night, but in more of a lengthy role if I needed something early there,” Boone said. “There’s gonna come a time when he’s gonna need to be in there in an important spot in a shorter way, but didn’t feel like tonight was that.”
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