9/9 Astros at Red Sox

[Maxbialystock]

Taking JD out is stupid.

 

It only won the game, that's all. The Astros leftfielder doesn't try to barehand it if slowpoke JDM is trying to scored from 2B. Lin is fast.

[oldtimer]

Nice win. We can hit against their BP.

 

That win required 3 of our guys to come through. Got to look at a lot of players tonight. Cora really needs to ponder his BP useage for the POs. Now I can go to bed without thinking whaqt might have been.

[romoboy]

Cora should take Gonzales to dinner too. That was ugly. Shouldn't have let the ball drop and shouldn't have tried to play it bare handed once he let it drop. The home plate ump deserves a free meal too.

One day I'll be a "deity" like you

[romoboy]

Monday morning will be a little easier now

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

This would be the perfect night for JDs first walk off with the sox

 

JD drove in 4 runs tonight giving POR a 5-1 lead, which he couldn't hold. I'd say that was a pretty good offensive night.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Moreland picked up Cora there. If they don’t win it there, the lineup would be very weak the rest of the game.

 

Pinch running for JD was the right move. Even if the SOX didn't score, with what was left in the BP, the game would have been over before JD would have come to bat again.

[jung]

One day I'll be a "deity" like you

 

The only play Gonzales had was the play he didn't make. His only play was to try to catch it in the air and he definitely had a very good shot at it if he took it. Once he decided to let it drop, he was toast. Better for him to see the ball just bounce out to the wall if he missed it than to play it like he did.

 

Thank God we won this one.

[romoboy]

Bottom line is this pen needs to get their s*** together or we're sunk.

[Maxbialystock]

A fascinating game thread with a lot of people climbing on the "what a dummy Cora is" bandwagon. Not me. One guy keeps insisting that sending Wright out to pitch the 7th was completely indefensible even though Wright ended up pitching two scoreless innings despite two terrible defensive plays by Philips and Bogey.

 

Sox now up 8.5 on the NYY with 18 games to go. So me, I'm kind of happy with the manager. If Cora is as dumb as you guys claim, gimme dumb every time and twice on Sundays.

 

We only took 1 of 3 games against the Astros, but they clearly have a better pitching staff and better defense, and their hitting is basically better than ours head to head because our guys have to hit against their pitchers.

 

Porcello surprised me. Well done. Bogey was 8 for 12 in this series including 4 of 4 tonight. Before tonight I was positive the Astros had JDM's number, but tonight he had 4 rbi's. He da man. And boy did Moreland come thru with two hits as a sub for Pearce.

 

Kimmi and moonslav, who have always kept the faith with this team, were also winners tonight. If Sale can get back to his new normal this year, that's two pretty good starters. Somehow among Porcello, Erod, and Wright, there ought to be two more decent ones. The bullpen is definitely scary, but I think they will come around. The hitting is still the best in MLB.

[a700hitter]

Pinch running for JD was the right move. Even if the SOX didn't score, with what was left in the BP, the game would have been over before JD would have come to bat again.

You are probably right. It was a gutsy move by Cora and it worked, so he deserves credit. I didn't get some of his PHing moves

[jung]

Hinch actually played his pen last year much like Cora has got to play it this year. Hinch had a much weaker pen last year than he has now and he left his starters in till they just could not go any further. Tried as much as he could to let his pen guys start clean innings or only have one out to get to get out of an inning. There was only one game where Hinch got the starter out early and that one was waaaaaay early. Cora has got to resign himself to that. Our pen is not going to get enough better to matter in what remains of the season.

 

The question marks are:

- is our rotation good enough to pull that off. The Astro's rotation was

- is our pen even as good as the Astros 2017 pen was

- will Cora figure it out

 

Probably Cora figures it out because he was there to watch Hinch do it in 2017. Questions 1 and 2 ..............

Edited September 10, 2018 by jung

[iortiz]

A fascinating game thread with a lot of people climbing on the "what a dummy Cora is" bandwagon. Not me. One guy keeps insisting that sending Wright out to pitch the 7th was completely indefensible even though Wright ended up pitching two scoreless innings despite two terrible defensive plays by Philips and Bogey.

 

Sox now up 8.5 on the NYY with 18 games to go. So me, I'm kind of happy with the manager. If Cora is as dumb as you guys claim, gimme dumb every time and twice on Sundays.

 

We only took 1 of 3 games against the Astros, but they clearly have a better pitching staff and better defense, and their hitting is basically better than ours head to head because our guys have to hit against their pitchers.

 

Porcello surprised me. Well done. Bogey was 8 for 12 in this series including 4 of 4 tonight. Before tonight I was positive the Astros had JDM's number, but tonight he had 4 rbi's. He da man. And boy did Moreland come thru with two hits as a sub for Pearce.

 

Kimmi and moonslav, who have always kept the faith with this team, were also winners tonight. If Sale can get back to his new normal this year, that's two pretty good starters. Somehow among Porcello, Erod, and Wright, there ought to be two more decent ones. The bullpen is definitely scary, but I think they will come around. The hitting is still the best in MLB.

 

mmm I don’t think anyone here thinks he is dumb. Managing bad —over managing— this series doesn’t make him dumb. Great managers at times s*** the bed. Cora has shown he is a great manager.

 

Said that, if he learns from these mistakes, and stays humble, he will help us to win the WS.

[iortiz]

The good. Price and Porcello.

 

The bad. 1. We lost the first game after a very solid start of Price. 2. Lack of clutch hitting in the first two games.

 

The ugly. The BP.

Edited September 10, 2018 by iortiz

[jung]

The good. Price and Porcello.

 

The bad. 1. We lost the first game after a very solid start of Price. 2. Lack of cultch hitting in the first two games.

 

The ugly. The BP.

 

With Sale back that is a solid three starters which you have to have in the post season. You also need a 4th but he does not have to be the calibre of your top 3. You just have to hope your #4 pitches a bit over his head. Post season gets tough on the rotation guys though if you have a weak pen. As good as the 2017 Astros rotation was, Hinch still got stuck using Morton on short rest (I think that was the game Hinch pulled his starter waaaay early) and Hinch also got caught in an "all starters in" game before it was over.

 

Don't think Cora will be able to show us what he has planed even up through the last series of the regular season other than setting his Division series rotation.

[moonslav59]

Nice win.

 

Bogey's throw almost blew it, but getting on base all 5 times makes it hard to be too critical.

 

Good to see Moreland get some love.

 

 

For those who didn't think it was OVAAAH, do you now?

[iortiz]

With Sale back that is a solid three starters which you have to have in the post season. You also need a 4th but he does not have to be the calibre of your top 3. You just have to hope your #4 pitches a bit over his head. Post season gets tough on the rotation guys though if you have a weak pen. As good as the 2017 Astros rotation was, Hinch still got stuck using Morton on short rest (I think that was the game Hinch pulled his starter waaaay early) and Hinch also got caught in an "all starters in" game before it was over.

 

Don't think Cora will be able to show us what he has planed even up through the last series of the regular season other than setting his Division series rotation.

I think E-Rod is a solid No. 3 despite his last start. Kimbrel the closer. Eovaldi has to go to the pen as the set up, and Brasier as the 7th arm. Your mid-inning relievers should be Wright, Pyoner, Workman, Barnes and we have to get rid of Pomeranz, Hembree and Kelly.

[Bellhorn04]

Nice win.

 

Bogey's throw almost blew it, but getting on base all 5 times makes it hard to be too critical.

 

Good to see Moreland get some love.

 

 

For those who didn't think it was OVAAAH, do you now?

 

Yeah, I'm sure a nice relaxing win like this one convinced everyone we're on cruise control LOL

 

Obviously the math for the division is looking pretty sweet.

 

But baseball is a tough grind no matter what.

[Thunder]

What a great game. I missed it because I was sick so I crashed early but then some freshman set off the fire alarm in my building at like 10:45. So I could've caught the end of it, but like I said, I was out of it.

 

We just need Sale back and we'll be fine.

[Slasher9]

Yanks have 7 more against the Rays....4 of them in Tampa.

 

hahahaha. you do try.

[Slasher9]

Oh, that was locked up on August 5th. LOL!!!

 

I said as much way back when.

 

Me too. Check that game thread.

 

you want to see something that will blow your hair back? checkout post #85 of this thread from March:

https://www.talksox.com/forum/threads/18534-Yanks-v-Sox-rivalry-renewed/page3

[a700hitter]

Yanks have 7 more against the Rays....4 of them in Tampa.

And the Yankees are likely to lose 3 of those 7 games.

[Thunder]

And the Yankees are likely to lose 3 of those 7 games.

 

How many do they have left with Baltimore? We can chalk up a few of those as losses as well.

[Maxbialystock]

I say again, that punk kid Thunder has it dead right. This was a great game. I missed the first hour because I was at an organizational meeting, but, once home, I was riveted even though I truly hate Sunday night baseball. The games can go to midnight and I gotta get up and go to work Monday and I'm a creaky 78 year old.

 

But last night I had to make an exception because so much happened--a million little stories. As much as I liked the 3 run dinger by JDM and the gamewinning rbi by Moreland, my biggie is Porcello pitching 5 solid innings when we really needed them to help get us that 5-1 lead. He got tagged with 2 more in the 6th, but a lot of the blame should go to Hembree and Johnson, the relievers. With the game tied, Cora brought in Wright, who pitched the 7th and 8th even though Sandy has trouble with that knuckler. But it worked, big time, plus in the 7th Sandy made a great tag on Altuve to save a run when Bogey's throw home was way high. I think Sandy had a great game despite going hitless (again).

[moonslav59]

I say again, that punk kid Thunder has it dead right. This was a great game. I missed the first hour because I was at an organizational meeting, but, once home, I was riveted even though I truly hate Sunday night baseball. The games can go to midnight and I gotta get up and go to work Monday and I'm a creaky 78 year old.

 

But last night I had to make an exception because so much happened--a million little stories. As much as I liked the 3 run dinger by JDM and the gamewinning rbi by Moreland, my biggie is Porcello pitching 5 solid innings when we really needed them to help get us that 5-1 lead. He got tagged with 2 more in the 6th, but a lot of the blame should go to Hembree and Johnson, the relievers. With the game tied, Cora brought in Wright, who pitched the 7th and 8th even though Sandy has trouble with that knuckler. But it worked, big time, plus in the 7th Sandy made a great tag on Altuve to save a run when Bogey's throw home was way high. I think Sandy had a great game despite going hitless (again).

 

There was also some shoddy D that played into some of the runs scored against us. We almost handed them the Altuve run, errr, I mean out at home, too.

[Maxbialystock]

There was also some shoddy D that played into some of the runs scored against us. We almost handed them the Altuve run, errr, I mean out at home, too.

 

True. Altuve was safe on the replay, but it was a close play and the umpire was in great position. I think we benefitted from some push back by the MLB guys in NY who don't like managers constantly asking for replays--nor do we fans. Bogey just made a bad throw, but you gotta love what Leon did. That plus the way he handles pitchers is why I want him to be the primary catcher in the playoffs. I'm more and more convinced that catcher is the most important defensive position on the team. I was impressed with his calls in this game but also Friday night with Price because Price got away with a ton of fastballs and cut fastballs, mixed in with just a few changeups and I don't believe any sliders or curves. But his location was good, and Leon took that into account.

[moonslav59]

True. Altuve was safe on the replay, but it was a close play and the umpire was in great position. I think we benefitted from some push back by the MLB guys in NY who don't like managers constantly asking for replays--nor do we fans. Bogey just made a bad throw, but you gotta love what Leon did. That plus the way he handles pitchers is why I want him to be the primary catcher in the playoffs. I'm more and more convinced that catcher is the most important defensive position on the team. I was impressed with his calls in this game but also Friday night with Price because Price got away with a ton of fastballs and cut fastballs, mixed in with just a few changeups and I don't believe any sliders or curves. But his location was good, and Leon took that into account.

 

Climb aboard the Leon Express!

[Maxbialystock]

Climb aboard the Leon Express!

 

Not so fast. Yes, I'm in on Leon, but I also very much enjoy discussing him, including with those who aren't so sure. Goodness knows he looks pudgy, and his hitting lately sucks. His caught stealing % is only .267. He has 11 passed balls. But his DWAR is .8, well above average, and I don't think the DWAR reflects the confidence I believe the pitchers have in him. The Germans have a word, fingerspitzengefuhl, which means finger tip feeling or great situational awareness and intuitive flair. I think Leon has that when calling pitches. But also, as we saw Sunday night, the ability to see what must happen to make a play work.

[Maxbialystock]

By the way, where the heck is the turkey tedballgame, who is supposed to get a new thread started ASAP. I already know tonight's lineup, for crying out loud.

[Kimmi]

Not so fast. Yes, I'm in on Leon, but I also very much enjoy discussing him, including with those who aren't so sure. Goodness knows he looks pudgy, and his hitting lately sucks. His caught stealing % is only .267. He has 11 passed balls. But his DWAR is .8, well above average, and I don't think the DWAR reflects the confidence I believe the pitchers have in him. The Germans have a word, fingerspitzengefuhl, which means finger tip feeling or great situational awareness and intuitive flair. I think Leon has that when calling pitches. But also, as we saw Sunday night, the ability to see what must happen to make a play work.

 

Leon ranks 4th out of all catchers in pitch framing runs above average at 9.2. He has earned the team roughly 1 Win in pitch framing skills alone. That doesn't include his 'handling of the staff', which I can't prove, but believe is among the tops in baseball.

[a700hitter]

Leon ranks 4th out of all catchers in pitch framing runs above average at 9.2. He has earned the team roughly 1 Win in pitch framing skills alone. That doesn't include his 'handling of the staff', which I can't prove, but believe is among the tops in baseball.

Earlier in the season, I was at Fenway and Price was pitching a gem. He had a shutout with 2 outs in the 9th inning. Leon, who hadn't made a mound visit for the entire game, trotted out to Price to impart his wisdom. The next pitch resulted in a long home run. Shut out gone.