Indians Offense Stalls Again in Game Two of ALDS in 3-1 Loss to Astros; Three Takeaways

2. Did Francona Make the Right Decision?

The decision that Terry Francona made in the 6th inning was one that didn’t sit well with Tribe fans, as he removed starter Carlos Carrasco after 5.1 innings with the team up 1-0 and two Astros players on base.

The call was to go to Andrew Miller, who right away gave up a double to Marwin González, allowing two runs to score and give Houston a lead they wouldn’t lose.

Fans, as they often do, lost their minds thinking it was a huge mistake to take out a pitcher who had yet to allow a run, but Francona went with the formula that won them playoff games two seasons ago, and Miller simply didn’t get the job done.

“With Gonzalez coming up and the way he swung the bat against him prior and Andrew’s history, I felt really good about it, didn’t work out obviously the way that we had planned,” Francona said after the game.

The other Astros run was a solo homer by Alex Bregman, who did the same thing on Friday. This time the homer made it a 3-1 game, which was the final score.

You can debate if the move to take Carrasco out was the right one, but it was one that Francona did often two seasons ago in the playoffs with great success.

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