With some fundamental ball in our last 10 games?

[lasitter]

In spite of our historic swoon of late, I could be optimistic about making the playoffs with just a little bit of smart baseball in our last 10 games.

The Yankees have to play the Rays seven times and us three times in their final 10 outings, and the Rays aren't playing like goats.

We play the birds seven times, and while they've been better of late, they're still carrying one of the worst records in baseball.

The Rays control a lot of destiny vs the Yankees, and have three games with Toronto, who they've dominated as they have Boston this season.

That all said, I'd feel so much better about our chances if we had the management or small-ball smarts of either the Yankees or the Rays ...

----

Last night's game and our inability to pull off "small ball" or even smart ball demonstrates why we're so vulnerable when batting slumps hit and pitching is less than stellar.

Bottom of the 2nd and bottom of the order, Shields, who doesn't walk a lot, hands us consecutive walks with no one out on a silver platter.

We suck at small ball, but rather than having Aviles swing away we try bunting anyway and that ends in a GIDP disaster. Even if we'd hit into a conventional DP, we would at least have had the chance to see the ball sailing out of the park, as it did later. Maybe he hits it to the left side of the infield and we get 1st and 3rd with one out, and a chance for a sac fly / hit.

Having Aviles stand in the batter's box and just look mean would have been better. We'll never know now, but Shields could have loaded the bases with yet another walk.

Even if he had been out looking you'd have Ells and the top of the order up with a chance to do something. But we get nothing.

The Rays, by comparison get seven steals in the game. Jennings had Tek beat in the 3rd but Tek puts a pointless throw into center field and Jennings on 3rd, where he later scored.

We suck at a lot of the basics, and that's not how you go deep in October. Our corner outfielders suck at throwing. No accuracy. How many assists have they racked up this year?

Scooty has such a noodle that I'm beginning to think he does the (sometimes disastrous) soft toss to 2nd because he has to. I don't think he's getting a golden glove this year either.

If this team could really play the game they could slump their way into the playoffs and look good doing it!

[Spitball]

Excellent post, lasitter.

On the bunt try, I'm not sure what Francona was thinking either. Second inning and the pitcher having trouble throwing strikes is not a good time to throw away an out to move runners over.

I am guessing he felt he had to think outside the box to end the losing ways.

[SoxSport]

Yeah--the Sox now are a team much like the powerhouse teams in the late 40s , early 50s.

They win with their bats, not with their heads. Nor their pitching.

The team plays poor fundamental baseball. They rely on a bunch of expensive hitters
for the big inning. True, they stress getting on base--but as individuals, not as a team.

One ex-player announcer recently said in a TV game that the Red Sox have plenty of talent, but don't play well as a team. You can see what he meant by that. Every batter seems to be hitting for himself, without much regard to what is needed in that situation. Is forcing a walk needed? Is moving a runner needed?

Granted these things aren't as serious as their pitching problems. They not only have starting depth problems--too many starters who easily get hit--but they also have a bullpen which looks overworked and underachieving--increasingly so as the season winds down. Not a good sign for the playoffs.

[iortiz]

Agree.

At some point of the last GT I pointed this: TB is a team which seems to practice a lot baseball fundamentals and small balling since they don't have an open wallet like NY or BOS in orden to bring those elite sluggers/pitchers reason why they have to compensate that limitation with solid BB fundamentals and small balling among other like develop the farm system. They are certainly doing good things in the recent last years and God only knows what this team could achieve with a BOS/NY payroll; in other words, their management seems to be working at all levels. Some people take for granted that any MLB team should play Baseball Fundamentals since is at MLB level, and it isn't completely true. You have to keep practicing it and our team certainly isn't making the homework at this issue.

Tito loooves those 10+ Rs/game, his small balling execution are simply reduced to zero, and when he tries, he often fails in the attempt, since they don't seem to practice it.