8/29 - vs Toronto Blue Jays

[Maxbialystock]

The book on Hanley must be that he can't hit a fastball as all four pitches were 4 seam fastballs. He showed the Jays the book is wrong. We desperately needed that run as Sale may only go another inning.

I thought we might put Moreland in for Young but with 2 outs and no one on, JF decided to stand pat.

 

Agree. And I apologize for the smart ass remark about Beni stealing 2b and Nunez going home. We can disagree without one of us being a jerk.

[Jasonbay44]

Beni with the big hit for the insurance run. Davis with the assist.

[S5Dewey]

Agree. And I apologize for the smart ass remark about Beni stealing 2b and Nunez going home. We can disagree without one of us being a jerk.

 

No prob, Max. It's all good.

[BstHcpr]

Benintendi looks like he could be a 30/30 guy in the future.

[S5Dewey]

Beni with the big hit for the insurance run. Davis with the assist.

 

LOL Thanks. I had 'run it back' to look at an earlier play and forgot to catch up again. Your post reminded me!

[illinoisredsox]

I'm starting to wonder what kind of base runner Nunez is. He easily could have been retired 3 times on the bases tonight. I know the contact play was on but he didn't exactly try and stay in that rundown to let Betts get to second.

[S5Dewey]

Benintendi looks like he could be a 30/30 guy in the future.

 

I agree. He squares up on the ball well. I like our OF going forward.

[Jasonbay44]

I'm starting to wonder what kind of base runner Nunez is. He easily could have been retired 3 times on the bases tonight. I know the contact play was on but he didn't exactly try and stay in that rundown to let Betts get to second.

 

Not really much he could've done, Benintendi was standing on 3rd, so either way all the catcher had to do was run him back and tag him. Not sure Mookie would've made 2nd on that play no matter what Nunez did.

[oldtimer]

I agree. He squares up on the ball well. I like our OF going forward.

 

I know we don't talk clutch on this site, but what Beni did was come through when we needed it. Lots of aggressive base running tonight, using our speed to advaqntage. Too bad Betts couldn't hit a ball to the outfield nor could Bogey come through. Extra runs are always a help.

[a700hitter]

Let's see how Reed does with inherited runners

[OH FOY]

Only ones that talk Clutch is the ballplayers, what the hell do they know.

[Jasonbay44]

Good job Addison Reed

[a700hitter]

Only ones that talk Clutch is the ballplayers, what the hell do they know.

we need a like button.

[a700hitter]

Good job Addison Reed

Excellent job by Reed inheriting 2 runners with no outs. Edited August 30, 2017 by a700hitter

[S5Dewey]

Only ones that talk Clutch is the ballplayers, what the hell do they know.

 

Well. the players and the announcers - the guys who've played the game all their lives.

 

I believe in clutch and I'm not going to be intimidated into not talking about it just because some studies have said it's "not a repeatable skill".

 

Very few things in baseball are a repeatable skill.

Swinging a bat is a repeatable skill. Hitting a baseball with it isn't.

Throwing a baseball is a repeatable skill. Throwing it for strikes isn't.

[oldtimer]

Good job Addison Reed

 

I thought JF did the right job at the right time to take Sale out with 107 pitches after a fairly long sitdown where the Sox were up for a while. Reed came in with two men on and none out and got two strikeouts and finally got a tough hitter in Pearse. I was surprised that he threw him 8 straight 4 seam FBs. Wonder why he didn't trust his slider? Anyway, he got him.

[S5Dewey]

It looks like Kimbrel is going to come in with a 3 run lead again. Let's hope we don't have the drama tonight that we had last night!

[Maxbialystock]

So far a lovely game, especially the 8 inning shutout. The Jays catcher is so intimidated he's stopping throwing to 2b on SB attempts. 5 sb's by the Sox says a ton about that catcher. Big hits by HanRam and Beni. Great comeback start by Sale--exactly what he and the team needed.

[S5Dewey]

Here's a thought....

 

Has it occurred to anyone that with these mini-shifts it's harder to get hits now than it used to be? There was a time in my demented childhood that infielders seldom played more than a step or two in one direction or another, but now it's not uncommon at all to see a SS or a 2B playing almost in back of the bag. And often a ball that's hit up the middle that was a hit 30 years ago is now an out.

[SoxHop]

Here's a thought....

 

Has it occurred to anyone that with these mini-shifts it's harder to get hits now than it used to be? There was a time in my demented childhood that infielders seldom played more than a step or two in one direction or another, but now it's not uncommon at all to see a SS or a 2B playing almost in back of the bag. And often a ball that's hit up the middle that was a hit 30 years ago is now an out.

 

I don't remember the exact figures. This year I haven't followed it, but it's a good amount of runs that defenses prevent uses the shift. Stat people will give you a good look at this.

 

Wasn't it Otiz that just hated the shift and said that it took like 30 hits away from him a year?

[mvp 78]

Nice game.

[Maxbialystock]

Yanks and Guardians rained out. I win gets us back to 4 up on the Yankees and even with the Guardians. Porcello tomorrow night, then 4 at Yankee Stadium. Porcello finally needs to man up because another win tomorrow sets us up well for NYC.

 

Kimbrel needed 22 pitches tonight. Can't see him going tomorrow night, probably not Reed either.

 

Sure would be nice to some real offense tomorrow night.

[S5Dewey]

I don't remember the exact figures. This year I haven't followed it, but it's a good amount of runs that defenses prevent uses the shift. Stat people will give you a good look at this.

 

Wasn't it Otiz that just hated the shift and said that it took like 30 hits away from him a year?

 

Ya. It was Ortiz. And I wasn't even talking about the '3 infielders on one side of the diamond' shifts like Papi faced. I was talking more about sliding the SS or 2B over in back of the bag, and how many hits that takes away.

 

BTW, good to have you back posting. Aren't you somewhere near all that water?

[oldtimer]

Nice game.

 

Great pitching thoughout. Timely hitting by a few and aggressive base running. Good win and with the Yankees going against Cleveland in a DH tomorrow, weather permitting, I;ll bet they lose at least one. We are back to a 4 game divisional lead.

[S5Dewey]

Yanks and Guardians rained out. I win gets us back to 4 up on the Yankees and even with the Guardians. Porcello tomorrow night, then 4 at Yankee Stadium. Porcello finally needs to man up because another win tomorrow sets us up well for NYC.

 

Kimbrel needed 22 pitches tonight. Can't see him going tomorrow night, probably not Reed either.

 

Sure would be nice to some real offense tomorrow night.

 

I agree. It's too bad we can't use those guys every night. But using them was the right thing. "Don't save a pitcher for tomorrow. It might rain tomorrow".

Otherwise known as, "If you've got a win within your grasp then go get it. You may not need those guys tomorrow, and even if you wish you had them you'll have those two wins behind you."

[S5Dewey]

Great pitching thoughout. Timely hitting by a few and aggressive base running. Good win and with the Yankees going against Cleveland in a DH tomorrow, weather permitting, I;ll bet they lose at least one. We are back to a 4 game divisional lead.

 

Not to minimize the Sox effort, but we also got some help from a bad defensive team too.

 

But.. as I've always told the kids I was coaching and the people I was playing with, "If you don't score you won't win. I guarantee it."

[SoxHop]

Ya. It was Ortiz. And I wasn't even talking about the '3 infielders on one side of the diamond' shifts like Papi faced. I was talking more about sliding the SS or 2B over in back of the bag, and how many hits that takes away.

 

BTW, good to have you back posting. Aren't you somewhere near all that water?

 

Oh yea.... you mentioned mini-shift and not the full blown shift. I'd be interested in see some stats on how that one hits that takes away.

 

I'm in Austin, Houston is about 3 hours away. We didn't get hit anything like Houston did. At worst I can complain about having to pick up fallen tree debris for a couple of days.

 

Moon is the one deep in the middle of the serious part of it.

 

I know many people that had friend and family in Houston, most of them say their friends and family wished they got out when they could.

[SoxHop]

I dug all the steals we had tonight......

[Maxbialystock]

Here's a thought....

 

Has it occurred to anyone that with these mini-shifts it's harder to get hits now than it used to be? There was a time in my demented childhood that infielders seldom played more than a step or two in one direction or another, but now it's not uncommon at all to see a SS or a 2B playing almost in back of the bag. And often a ball that's hit up the middle that was a hit 30 years ago is now an out.

 

It's occurred to a lot of people and shifts in my opinion are hurting the game. Just one more technological advancement that tells the manager what is the statistically best place to put those infielders. If MLB works it right and spends the money, every manager can also get a little specialty computer to immediately tell him the best strategy at any given point in the game given the situation. The bench coach's job is to keep feeding the new game data into the computer. I mean, heck, let's take judgment out of the game because who needs it? It's slow and sometimes faulty. ''

 

The fix on shifts is to mandate the number of infielders on each side of 2b--2 and 2.

[Maxbialystock]

Not to minimize the Sox effort, but we also got some help from a bad defensive team too.

 

But.. as I've always told the kids I was coaching and the people I was playing with, "If you don't score you won't win. I guarantee it."

 

We sure did, but on the other side we also hit the ball hard several times straight to Jays fielders. Plus nobody was helping Sale pitch that 7 inning gutsy gem--aided by a great job by Reed. The pitching success was definitely earned.