To bean or not to bean? That is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fastballs to the head
Or to take arms against irresponsible Red Sox and by opposing end them.
Yesterday, Christian Walker was hit in the head by a 93.3 mile per hour fastball in the ninth inning of a 6-3 win over the Red Sox.
The HBP came on an 0-2 count after 2 pitches on the outside corner for strikes. The Astros first baseman was 3-4 with a home run on the day and the Astros had a 96.2% win probability entering the plate appearance.
Was the HBP intentional? Walker was doing the most damage to the Red Sox in the game, and the game was essentially lost at the time. This was Samaniego’s second inning of work and he hadn’t shown any issues with his fastball control in his 6 previous batters.
Still, Samaniego seemed a little startled when it struck, so it might have just gotten away from him. Your guess is as good as Walker’s.
Walker says he passed concussion tests afterwards and feels okay. He expects to play today, although the Astros might hold him out as a precaution anyways.
What should the Astros do about it? Should they do anything about it? Today will be the last time the Astros face the Red Sox in 2026. They’ve already played their series in Houston, and today is the rubber game for the series in Boston. There won’t be any postseason meeting between two AL teams with 13-20 and 13-21 records, so if the Astros intend to respond, it would have to be today.
Do you pick up the the fastball and aim down the sights? Or let cooler heads prevail in the same way Jake Marisnick defused a tense atmosphere by just letting it go?
Vote below, and share your thoughts in the comments.
Loading …The last time I ran a poll, it was whether the Astros should trade Yordan Alvarez. The response was more divided than I anticipated. 67 votes, with 23 in favor of trading, and 44 against. The poll software I used wasn’t the greatest, so here’s attempt number two. Hopefully, this poll widget works better.
For today’s deciding game, Cody Bolton will take the mound for the Astros against Venezuelan World Baseball Classic hero and left hander Ranger Suarez.
Suarez has had a decent season so far, with a 3-3 record, 3.09 ERA, and 29 K to 9 BB over 35.0 IP, with a 0.94 WHIP. His last time against the Astros, the Astros hit him pretty well, tagging him for 4 runs in 4.1 IP, in what would ultimately be an 8-1 win. Jose Altuve in particularly had a good game that day, going 2 for 2 with a walk in 3 plate appearances against Suarez, and 4 for 4 on the game. Another performance like that would be welcome for Altuve who has sturggled for results at the plate lately.
The game will be broadcast at 12:35 p.m. CT on SCHN with radio coverage on KBME 790 AM.
This post will be updated with starting lineups as they are made available.
Update: Walker is in the lineup today.
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Nah it wasnt intentional I say just let it go. Walker seems fine. That being said im also not opolposed to it
Pop Roman in the ribs. It was not intentional, yet we are also not going to keep let something slide as well. Stand on business.
Only Samaniego knows if it was intentional. It was a risk free HBP for the RedSox. I leave it to the Astros. Either way, I support them. Marisnick’s was different, he had a clear path to the home plate and chose to go after Lucroy causing injury (end of season? End of career?).
You thought Marisnick drove into Lucroy intentionally?
That’s not how I remember the Marisnick Lucroy incident. I remember it like they were heading towards each other and Jake started going to the other side but so did Lu Roy at the same time like when two people do that little dance to get out of each others way walking down the sidewalk but they keep going to the same side. Except at full speed and 200+ pounds.