Pitching turnaround key to Astros' 3-2 edge

HOUSTON -- How did the Astros so dramatically turn around their pitching performances in Games 4 and 5 of the American League Championship Series? How did they start putting up zeroes, keeping the Red Sox in the ballpark and off the bases and dominating Boston on the mound to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series?

After the Astros dropped two in a row to the Red Sox, who scored 21 runs and hit seven homers (including three grand slams) in wins over Houston in Games 2 and 3, pitching coach Brent Strom suggested his staff might be tipping pitches. It was a logical conclusion, and certainly one that was worth exploring for the Astros.

“We always are looking at our own guys and the swings they take on certain pitches that raise our suspicions,” Strom said before Game 4. “It’s all legal on their part. There’s no illegalities. We need to clean up our house a little bit.”

The Astros appeared to have done just that in Games 4 and 5, when they put the clamps on the Red Sox’s offense by holding them to eight hits (.131 opponents’ average) and three runs. Boston hit just two home runs across both games.

“I have the benefit of an outstanding team behind us,” Strom said Thursday. “We look at everything possible as to cause and effect. A lot of times, the tipping can be overvalued. You start to look for things, [like] when the opposition puts a good swing on a pitch you don’t think they should. We have to realize these are professional hitters, and so it’s really tempting, and I’ve been found guilty of this myself. I look at something that may not be the real reason. We look at possible cues and then make a determination if it’s worth pursuing or not.”

Telling a pitcher he might be tipping when he’s throwing a certain pitch can play mind games with him and perhaps throw him off and cause chaos. Strom doesn’t think lefty Framber Valdez, who shook off a poor start in Game 1 by throwing eight strong innings in Game 5, had been tipping.

“It’s real easy to look at one given case and say, ‘Look, his glove is here, and now it’s here,’” Strom said. “If you look at the composite of all this, there’s no pattern to glean.”

A look inside the numbers reveals the Astros’ pitching turnaround may have revolved around getting ahead in the count more. The Astros threw first-pitch strikes to 55 percent of batters in Game 1, 50 percent in Game 2 and 58.5 percent in Game 3. In Game 4, they had a first-pitch strike percentage of 60, and in Game 5 -- behind Valdez -- it was 66.7 percent.

The Red Sox were a combined 14-for-32 after 1-0 counts in their blowout wins in Games 2 and 3 and just 5-for-21 in lopsided losses in Games 4 and 5. When the Astros threw a first-pitch strike in Games 4 and 5, Boston was 2-for-34.

“That’s as old as the game has been,” Strom said of getting ahead in the count. “By doing so, it opens up a lot of things.”

With Valdez going eight innings Wednesday and Ryne Stanek the only reliever that followed him, Houston's bullpen is in terrific shape entering Game 6. Every reliever will be available with the exception of Cristian Javier, who threw 57 pitches in Game 4.

“I can’t say enough about what the relievers have accomplished this postseason,” Strom said. “They’ve carried us. … All of them have done an exceptional job and have taken the ball. Some guys were going to have to go three days in a row [in Game 5 on Wednesday], but fortunately, they got a reprieve because of what Framber did.”