What You Need To Know Following Boston’s Remarkable Sports Day

In today's episode of Season Ticket, The Boston Globe's Chris Gasper (@cgasper) and company wrap their heads around what happened on a Boston sports day for the ages. Leading off, the Sox debacle in Houston and what it means looking ahead. Next up, the Pats squeak by in Tampa. Then, Bruins rookie Jake DeBrusk comes up big and brings his dad to tears.

Guests

On Chris Sale's struggles in Game 1 of the ALDS

Chris Gasper: Here's my concern on Sale. There's no question he had a great season, but there clearly was a trend here, as we got to October, of Sale not pitching well. Of his performance being diminished. If you go back to August 1, including the start he made in Game 1 against the Astros, [he has] a 4.69 ERA. He's allowed 71 hits in 71 innings pitched. That's not the dominant Chris Sale we saw before. And this is a trend for him throughout his career.

Chad Finn: He led the American League in innings pitched. He led the American League in strikeouts, which means he threw a lot of pitches. And this is a guy who did have that history of pitching at this extraordinary level for the first few months and then just sort of being good the rest of the season. So, they should have known when they brought him in here that maybe [they] need to be cautious.

"You don't want a 20-year-old quarterback getting hit as much as Brady has. He's 40. At some point it's going to catch up to him."

Jim McBride, on Brady getting hit

On the Red Sox playoff roster

Chris Gasper: They had the second-best bullpen ERA in baseball behind Cleveland this year, but a lot of the guys who built that aren't on the roster for this series against the Astros. They elected to have, basically, six starters. If you had such a good bullpen, why didn't you want more of those [players]? I just think it's odd that you have this really good bullpen that was a strength of your team, and then you decide you're going to have, basically, six starting pitchers on your postseason roster.

Chad Finn: It took them a long time to announce their playoff roster. It made me wonder if they were really having significant debates.

On the Patriots offense

Chris Gasper: The takeaway for me on offense from the Patriots was, once again, Tom Brady taking some hits. This was a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that came into the game last in the NFL in sacks. They got three of them last night and were credited with six quarterback hits.

Jim McBride: I think that's a big concern going forward. You don't want a 20-year-old quarterback getting hit as much as Brady has. He's 40. At some point it's going to catch up to him.