9/07 vs Houston

[TylerD]

I think the real problem is the hard FB. I refuse to believe these pitchers are throwing breaking stuff with more movement than the great spin merchants of the past. But everybody is throwing a FB as hard as they can throw it. The result is that a decent pen is no longer a luxury. Its a necessity. There are maybe 4 starters in all of baseball that will get through the 7th regularly. Most of them are done at 6 and the rest are done at 5!

Agreed with this.

 

However 9 out of 10 times if you asked me “Will the Sox win if Price goes 6 scoreless innings and they have a 3 run lead?” I would say yes. The bullpen was flat out atrocious tonight against a very good team. Other members have said it multiple times. The pen is fine against average to s*** teams but against the elite teams like Houston, New York, Cleveland etc. It won’t cut it. Need to make some changes

[Station 13]

Thornburg in, so Cora decides not to let the top order have a chance to win. Can he stop throwing games?

[jung]

Sale can be pushed to 120 pitches post season. Porcello might make it there. As we witnessed tonight Price goes to pieces in the last ten pitches of his starts. That is not unusual for him. So maybe Cora can push him to 110 pitches....MAYBE. E-rod...no way. Evo won't even be on the roster I would bet. Gotta' get outs on batted balls to go deep into games if everybody is going to throw FB's as hard as they throw them now.

[d-money]

I would have taken kelly out after he gave up the first two hits. The guy’s a f***ing bum!

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

There's 4 teams, maybe 5, in the AL that are better than the best team in the NL. IOW, the odds are which ever AL team gets to the WS will win the WS. Why not us?

[a700hitter]

I would have taken kelly out after he gave up the first two hits. The guy’s a f***ing bum!

He needs a short leash.

[d-money]

Well let’s see how this team bounces back after this disaster of a game.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Note to Price: Either pitch 7 or put your fate in the hands of your BP. Your choice.

[d-money]

Well let’s see how this team bounces back after this disaster of a game.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Playoff bound AL teams that have a better BP than the SOX; all of them.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

My 3 game winning streak has come to an end. Next person in the rotation will start the thread tomorrow. Please go seven.

[Maxbialystock]

Thornburg in, so Cora decides not to let the top order have a chance to win. Can he stop throwing games?

 

What does that mean? This game was all about pitching, not hitting. The Astros have the best pitching in MLB by a big margin and we have a pretty decent rotation. We scored 3 runs, which is in fact the Astros ERA, and they hammered our bullpen, just hammered it.

 

Houston pinch hit for their catcher and Kemp got a double and 2 rbi's. Holt pinch hit for Leon and K's and later Devers did the same thing for Vazquez. I'm pretty sure the Sox also have the worst pinch-hitting stats in MLB this year.

 

I do not see how anything we saw tonight can be blamed on Cora.

[oldtimer]

Thoughts after watching the game.

 

1. One key juncture is when Bregman got the double down past Nunez. That was followed by a walk and Price was tired and tightly taken out. That led to a three run inning. The ball past Nunez was a tough chance, but Brooks Robinson we don't have at 3rd. One other ball for a hit might have been played by a more mobile 3rd baseman.

 

2. Brazier threw a first pitch FB to Quriel (sp) and he was looking for it. Little smarter pitch and we might have gotten out of it. The hit by Kemp was just excellent hitting. Tip your hat and move on.

 

3. Kelly was a bit unlucky and also made some bad mistakes. He really has his FB and Knuckle Curve. When he gets men on through infield hits, it takes away his knuckle curve. Can't just go at Houston with a FB. he tried the knucle curve anyway and gave up a run. Then a weak curve for another hit and run.

 

4. Beni hit the ball hard 4 times, trouble is they were all slicers to left field. Would love to see him try to pull just once in a while.

 

5. Great effort by Price.

 

6. Houston has an excellent BP

 

7. I understand why Devers pinch hit so he might run into once. I would have preferred Swihart there, but Cora made a reasonable decision.

[iortiz]

This game could go to one way or another. We just weren’t lucky. We left tons of runners on base. While I want to win all the games, I really don’t care about the score, it was a great game. What I wanted to see was David Price pitching against a very good line up. He just confirmed he is ready for POs. He did a great job against Cleveland and tonight again vs Houston. If Sale is 100% healthy, we can match up any rotation. Edited September 8, 2018 by iortiz

[redsoxrules]

When its playoff time, Cora will need to let his starters go at least 7 regardless if they to throw 125 pitches. Bullpen cannot be trusted

[Kimmi]

What on earth is Kelly doing in this game? A try out to make the post season roster?

 

I'm sure part of Cora's decisions are to give these guys a try out, so to speak. Brasier has been very good, and Cora has been him into higher leverage situations. It didn't work out last night.

 

Houston is a very good team. Their offense is very Red Sox like, having the ability to mount late inning comebacks, just like the Sox can.

[Kimmi]

The problem we have is we have great SP (1-3), and 1-4 hitters but The rest sucks ass on this team. Relievers, starters, hitters.

 

Come on Station. Stop with this nonsense.

[Kimmi]

Thoughts after watching the game.

 

1. One key juncture is when Bregman got the double down past Nunez. That was followed by a walk and Price was tired and tightly taken out. That led to a three run inning. The ball past Nunez was a tough chance, but Brooks Robinson we don't have at 3rd. One other ball for a hit might have been played by a more mobile 3rd baseman.

 

2. Brazier threw a first pitch FB to Quriel (sp) and he was looking for it. Little smarter pitch and we might have gotten out of it. The hit by Kemp was just excellent hitting. Tip your hat and move on.

 

3. Kelly was a bit unlucky and also made some bad mistakes. He really has his FB and Knuckle Curve. When he gets men on through infield hits, it takes away his knuckle curve. Can't just go at Houston with a FB. he tried the knucle curve anyway and gave up a run. Then a weak curve for another hit and run.

 

4. Beni hit the ball hard 4 times, trouble is they were all slicers to left field. Would love to see him try to pull just once in a while.

 

5. Great effort by Price.

 

6. Houston has an excellent BP

 

7. I understand why Devers pinch hit so he might run into once. I would have preferred Swihart there, but Cora made a reasonable decision.

 

Good post Oldtimer.

 

The good news is, despite the outcome, Price is pitching like an ace again. I would have rather seen him pitch great and have the BP blow the game than to see Price come out and stink up the joint.

 

Cora has the luxury of 'experimenting' with the BP right now, which I think he is doing. In the postseason, he will be managing the pitchers in a very different fashion, which I think will result in better outcomes.

[Maxbialystock]

This game could go to one way or another. We just weren’t lucky. We left tons of runners on base. While I want to win all the games, I really don’t care about the score, it was a great game. What I wanted to see was David Price pitching against a very good line up. He just confirmed he is ready for POs. He did a great job against Cleveland and tonight again vs Houston. If Sale is 100% healthy, we can match up any rotation.

 

I think it was more than luck, but generally agree with your point that it was a hard fought game to a point.

 

One thing that bothered me a little was that both bullpens threw pretty good heat--Kelly and Brasier both throw in the high 90's or 100 mph--last night, but the Astros hit our fast balls and our guys for the most part swung and missed.

 

Back to your point about luck. Last night the Astros pinch hit for their catcher and Kemp doubled in 2 runs off of Brasier. Cora pinch hit twice for our catchers (Leon and Vazquez) and Holt and Devers both struck out. Season to date, however, the Astros OPS when pinch-hitting is .559, and ours is .661. The double by Kemp was opposite field down the line from a low and inside pitch on a 3-2 count.

[Maxbialystock]

About Kelly. I was pretty mad too, but I just looked at a replay of that egregious 8th inning and noted the following--

 

1. He walked no one and gave up 3 runs on 4 singles, no walks, and no extra base hits.

2. Two of the singles were grounders, one fielded by Kinsler who almost made a great play to get an out.

3. The first run scored on a bases loaded fly out to RF when Betts unwisely and mistakenly threw home where there was absolutely no play to be made and which resulted in the other two runners advancing. The smart play was to throw to 3B, not home.

4. The second run scored on a WP which Leon might have blocked but Vazquez could not.

5. Yes, Kelly did in fact give up 3 earned runs, but Brasier was the one who gave up 2 doubles that enabled the Astros to score 3 runs in the 7th.

6. About Brasier. Cora absolutely made the right move in sending him out there in the 7th because there were two on and one out in a 2-0 game and Brasier has the lowest ERA in the bullpen.

7. But Brasier promply gave up a double off the green monster by Gurriel that brought in 1 run and put men on 2d and 3d with 1 out. Then Brasier showed his mettle by getting Reddick to pop up for out #2. But Kemp got a miracle opposite field double off of a low and inside (and very good) pitch by Brasier that gave the Astros 2 runs and the lead.

[TylerD]

Well E Rod is pitching today. Not sure what difference it will make as Price was excellent. But still.

[notin]

Come on Station. Stop with this nonsense.

 

Is Station aware this team has 96 wins already. That’s really not possible if 72% of the team “sucks ass”...

[iortiz]

I think it was more than luck, but generally agree with your point that it was a hard fought game to a point.

 

One thing that bothered me a little was that both bullpens threw pretty good heat--Kelly and Brasier both throw in the high 90's or 100 mph--last night, but the Astros hit our fast balls and our guys for the most part swung and missed.

 

Back to your point about luck. Last night the Astros pinch hit for their catcher and Kemp doubled in 2 runs off of Brasier. Cora pinch hit twice for our catchers (Leon and Vazquez) and Holt and Devers both struck out. Season to date, however, the Astros OPS when pinch-hitting is .559, and ours is .661. The double by Kemp was opposite field down the line from a low and inside pitch on a 3-2 count.

There were some key situations where we could have sealed the win, but IMO the most relevant was when XB took a pitch which was clearly a ball —and it was not even close— and the ump called it strike; the count was 2-1 with bases loaded. Their pitcher was lost at that point, and that strike called brought him to alive.