David Price found his change and shook his reputation in series

HOUSTON – The changes are misleading. Launch, ideally, with the same arm action and the same point of release as a fast ball, but strangled by the hand to reduce velocity, the pitch, when it is executed, gives the impression to the hunters that they get a heater in the hitting area and that they realize the opposite when it fails to arrive at the time and away from their bats. mouse. You think it's one thing, but it's another. That's why it's called a change.

David Price entered the fifth game of the ALCS with a life of 6.16 in 11 playoff games. For the first time since 2008, he started a resting match for three days. He was called to start just one day after spending part of the eighth and ninth in warm-up in the bullpen for a potential appearance in the fourth game on Wednesday. . And he was facing Justin Verlander, one of Cy Young's top contenders, who had a well-deserved reputation for his huge contests.

Then Price pitched six scoreless innings with nine strikeouts, no walks, and just three hits, easily surpassing Verlander in the Red Sox 4-1 win.

You were expecting one thing. You have another one. Price dramatically changed on Thursday, and he did – you may guess now – by creating a radical change.

Price took advantage of a 22.2% change in his regular season shots, but mostly resisted this defeat during his poor performance in the second game of the ALCS – only throwing him out nine times on 80 throws and generating only one decisive blow. . In Thursday night's fifth game, he used it for 39 of his 93 shots – 41.9 percent – and got 12 hot flashes, a peak in the season.

"Today, it was a more-over throw," said Carlos Correa, the Astros' spoils, who scored in both runs against Price. "He pushed us to miss and miss that, he made us roll a lot. It was an excellent field for him, he knew it and we could not adapt to it. "

"The price was unmanageable tonight," said George Springer. "You have seen what happened, so there is no need to talk about it. He was good."

After the win, Price, soaked in champagne, said he thought the work done in the archives on Wednesday helped him tweak some aspects of his game before the start of Thursday. And he felt good about his evolution even before the game started.

"It was good," he said. "It was good in the office, the warm up has improved over the course of the game. I think she made some adjustments after the fourth inning and it was huge. "

Despite the short interval between outings, Price rode at 93.7 mph on average with a fastball and 95.6 mph at the exit – a speed higher than the one he showed from the middle of summer. To hear from Astros director, A.J. Hinch, is the rapidity of the fastball that helped make the change so effective.

"It's as hard as we've seen it run against us, I remember very well," Hinch said. "And change is about that. When you cast 94, 95, his change is over. His change was difficult. Our guys came back saying, everything was a little fast. "

Price's effort not only led the Red Sox to a place in the World Series. It also made them look like a much stronger club for the next and last round of the playoffs. The long list of successes of the left in the regular season earned him the confidence of manager Alex Cora despite his past in October, and Thursday's efforts offer clear evidence that Price's past struggles in the post-season have been either exaggerated, at least now. firmly behind him.