Gresh & Fauria: Will Flemming on Red Sox / Astros

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00:00The Red Sox, I think, come in with a little extra, a little bit to prove here, Will, considering

00:06what happened the last time these two teams met. Is it fresh in the minds of these players,

00:12you think? Or is it just, damn it, we're past game 100 and I'm just trying to manage to get

00:18my way through the season if you're some of these guys? No, I think it's definitely fresh in their

00:23minds. And the other part of it is the Astros are a great team right now. So, I mean, it's

00:28kind of like you're stepping into the ring with a prize fighter right now. I mean, they are the

00:32hottest team in baseball and what they do to the Red Sox, that's not an isolated thing for the

00:38Astros these days. They won nine of their last 10 games. They're getting healthier. Verlander's

00:43scheduled to come back and maybe pitch on Wednesday. So that is the reality of this Houston

00:48series. But I think the Red Sox, every man in that clubhouse realizes, and they did this weekend

00:53in Baltimore, that it's just about every single day. It's kind of do or die now. It really is.

00:59Because the Royals are not losing any games these days. Their schedule gets harder,

01:03and that'll help the Red Sox. But look, I mean, when you got 40 games left and you're three and

01:08a half out, it doesn't matter whether it's the Astros or the White Sox or whoever it is,

01:13every game matters. And this is an enormous test these three days in Houston.

01:17So, Will, a couple months ago, if you had said enormous test, big series,

01:21Tanner Houck on the mound, I'd feel really good about it. And now, well, Tanner Houck has been

01:27what he's been over the last, I guess, month plus now. How do you feel about Tanner Houck

01:32taking the mound? I feel good about it. I mean, all these starting pitchers sort of quietly,

01:38actually. There's been a really good turn in the rotation. We all know the numbers.

01:44The swing and miss stuff for him is way down, and that is a little bit of a problem.

01:48But look, I mean, I think all these guys throughout all of baseball

01:52are running into a little bit of a wall. I mean, it's just part of the deal.

01:56And the starting pitching, though, has not been a problem for this club at all. It's the bullpen.

02:01It's got to get right. It's got to get better. They're getting healthier with Liam Hendricks

02:05and Slayton coming back, hopefully, this week because, God, do they need it. I mean,

02:09the series in Baltimore was just exhausting because you get a four-run lead, a five-run lead,

02:15and you don't feel that comfortable. It's just the strangest thing.

02:19I feel good about Tanner, though. Having said that, look, I mean, again, this Astros lineup,

02:25we saw it at Fenway. Jordan Alvarez is like the modern-day David Ortiz. He really is.

02:30And they've got so many other talented, good hitters. So it's a test for him and everybody.

02:35And again, for Tanner and for all the starters in this series, it is so important to try to

02:42find a way to go deep in the game because, I mean, it is white-knuckle time the minute

02:47that bullpen door swings open.