7/3 at A’s

[iortiz]

Oakland gave us that game on a silver platter and Cora returned the favor. Lol. Stick with workman. If he loses so be it but he did a nice job.

 

He sent Hernandez when we we were up. Then he sent Andriese? Really?

[d-money]

You can't win them all. That being said you shouldn't just give a game away either.

 

I am amazed that andriese is still on this squad but he likely will be gone soon.

[d-money]

He sent Hernandez when we we were up. Then he sent Andriese? Really?

 

I would have pitched ottavino in the 8th with a 4-2 lead . You figure out who to throw in the 9th.

[iortiz]

You don't have to apologize when you're spot on.

 

Thanks man.

 

I used to defend this team. But IMHO Cora is betting man.

[redsoxrules]

To be fair, the Athletics outhit the Red Sox 15 to 9 and stranded 17 runners to only 8 for the Red Sox.

 

The Sox were up 4-2 entering the 8th. It doesn't matter how many hits they had. The fact that you were up 4-2 late in the game makes it very winnable considering we have a good bullpen if used right

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Thanks man.

 

I used to defend this team. But IMHO Cora is betting man.

 

Isn't that why Rose got banned?

[jung]

Sox should win tomorrow and take the series. The A's simply have to work too hard to overcome their deficiencies and get a win. They simply do not have enough good players.

[d-money]

]

 

Sox should win tomorrow and take the series. The A's simply have to work too hard to overcome their deficiencies and get a win. They simply do not have enough good players.

 

You would think but they have already won a series against us this season. Hope we win tomorrow. We gave this one away after Oakland handed it to us.

[jung]

 

 

 

You would think but they have already won a series against us this season. Hope we win tomorrow. We gave this one away after Oakland handed it to us.

 

Well they have won a series from us this season. Does not change the difference in talent on these two teams. The Sox have many more weapons with which to win a game. The A's have many more ways to blow their kneecaps off.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Based on the SOX history on the west coast and especially after this game, I would be happy if the SOX finish this short trip 3-3.

[iortiz]

Isn't that why Rose got banned?

 

I’m betting man. I won’t deny it, but that’s why I’m certain; Cora bet against us tonight. It’s simply a shame.

[harmony]

Sox should win tomorrow and take the series. The A's simply have to work too hard to overcome their deficiencies and get a win. They simply do not have enough good players.

With a 9-14 record (and a -14 run differential) against AL West teams the Red Sox need to overcome their deficiencies to beat good clubs.

[Oscars]

Let us know when the Mariners are actually any good

[mvp 78]

DFAndriese

[mvp 78]

Let us know when the Mariners are actually any good

 

^^^

[jad]

I’m betting man. I won’t deny it, but that’s why I’m certain; Cora bet against us tonight. It’s simply a shame.

 

Betters always assume others think the way they do. But they don't.

[mvp 78]

I’m betting man. I won’t deny it, but that’s why I’m certain; Cora bet against us tonight. It’s simply a shame.

 

No. It’s a long season. Not every game is the 7th game of the WS. Andriese should be able to get outs. He’s on the roster for a reason. Bloom can take him off if he stinks.

[TylerD]

MVP had a hell of a run!

 

I’m not touching game thread openers for a while lmao my streak is like 2 lmao

[mvp 78]

MVP had a hell of a run!

 

I’m not touching game thread openers for a while lmao my streak is like 2 lmao

 

If it kept going I was most likely going to f*** it up and miss a Game Thread since I’m on vacation. Andriese still did the Sox dirty.

[Maxbialystock]

I have said in the past that the neat thing about game threads is that they are opportunities for venting. So, yes, I was out of line attacking everyone who got mad at the Sox, the moves Cora made, etc.

 

Nevertheless, it does rankle me that the Sox have vastly overperformed this season and that immediately prior to last night's game had won 8 straight, have the best record in the AL, a 4.5 game lead over the Rays, 7.5 over the Jays, and 9.5 over the Yankees (the preseason favorite in the AL East).

 

In addition, the overwhelming majority of contributors to talksox believe that Cora is the single biggest reason for the success of the Sox. He has been great with the bullpen, with deciding when a starter needs to be pulled, etc., and we saw that happen repeatedly in the 8 game winning streak.

 

Finally and inevitably, the streak ended last night against a team, the Oakland A's, who are currently 2d in the AL West and 1st in the wild card race. They are a competitive team and certainly not pushovers.

 

On top of that, the Sox starter, Richards, has struggled mightily recently because he is having to adjust to not doctoring up the baseball.

Backing him up was a tired bullpen which was pitching in its 12th straight game without a break going against the A's bullpen which had Thursday off. Oh, and Friday night's game went 10 innings with Whitlock, Barnes, and Ottavino--the three best Sox relievers--pitching the final 4 innings.

 

And up ahead are 7 more back to back games before the ASG break. That's 19 straight games for the Sox bullpen to carry a pretty heavy load. And let's not forget that strategically Cora likes to rest players during the season.

 

My view is that there were no easy decisions last night, other than to pull Richards in the 6th, by which point he had astonishingly gone 5, giving up just 2 runs. Also, to me it's clear the A's pitching was simply better last night, period. Had their defense not let them down, they win the game in 9 innings.

[Bellhorn04]

Somebody said there's a lot of luck involved in one-run wins and losses.

[Maxbialystock]

Somebody said there's a lot of luck involved in one-run wins and losses.

 

Kimmi said it and was quoting experts/analysts.

 

Ken Pomeroy is hands down the best college basketball stats guy in the nation. He provides 20+ spreadsheets on every one of 353 Div I basketball teams plus detailed spreadsheets (including stats on every game played) on every player on the team.

 

But what gets Pomeroy known is that he also predicts the outcomes, the actual scores, of every single game played by every one of those 353 teams, and he updates those predictions daily based on stats and algorithms he uses (he used to be a weather forecaster). He rarely gets the exact score right, thank goodness, but his stats and predictions are so good that the Las Vegas betting line for a college game almost always starts with the margin Pomeroy predicts. He's that good.

 

On one spreadsheet which ranks all 353 Div I teams, he has column entitled "luck." If it has a plus sign, it means that team has been lucky, and by lucky Pomeroy means they won the close games, which I think he says are a margin of 3 points or less.

 

The Sox have won more than their share of 1 ran games this year, so yes, I think think they have been lucky. But I also think Cora has done an excellent job of putting them in position to be lucky.

[Bellhorn04]

Nobody is crazy enough to try predicting scores of MLB games, though.

[Maxbialystock]

Nobody is crazy enough to try predicting scores of MLB games, though.

 

I never thought of that, but completely agree. Indeed, moonslav said a week or two ago that starting pitching mismatches--when a really good starter goes against a marginal one--often lead to surprises.

 

But I do believe luck is a factor in 1 run games.

[TylerD]

If it kept going I was most likely going to f*** it up and miss a Game Thread since I’m on vacation. Andriese still did the Sox dirty.

 

Why he has a spot over Valdez is sickening. It makes zero sense

[TylerD]

Somebody said there's a lot of luck involved in one-run wins and losses.

 

Then Oakland must be the luckiest team alive lmao. They know how to win dirty close games. That team could produce preschool kids and still win games. I don’t get it. Just great ownership and management. It’s amazing. Makes me want to watch moneyball lol

[moonslav59]

I have said in the past that the neat thing about game threads is that they are opportunities for venting. So, yes, I was out of line attacking everyone who got mad at the Sox, the moves Cora made, etc.

 

Nevertheless, it does rankle me that the Sox have vastly overperformed this season and that immediately prior to last night's game had won 8 straight, have the best record in the AL, a 4.5 game lead over the Rays, 7.5 over the Jays, and 9.5 over the Yankees (the preseason favorite in the AL East).

 

In addition, the overwhelming majority of contributors to talksox believe that Cora is the single biggest reason for the success of the Sox. He has been great with the bullpen, with deciding when a starter needs to be pulled, etc., and we saw that happen repeatedly in the 8 game winning streak.

 

Finally and inevitably, the streak ended last night against a team, the Oakland A's, who are currently 2d in the AL West and 1st in the wild card race. They are a competitive team and certainly not pushovers.

 

On top of that, the Sox starter, Richards, has struggled mightily recently because he is having to adjust to not doctoring up the baseball.

Backing him up was a tired bullpen which was pitching in its 12th straight game without a break going against the A's bullpen which had Thursday off. Oh, and Friday night's game went 10 innings with Whitlock, Barnes, and Ottavino--the three best Sox relievers--pitching the final 4 innings.

 

And up ahead are 7 more back to back games before the ASG break. That's 19 straight games for the Sox bullpen to carry a pretty heavy load. And let's not forget that strategically Cora likes to rest players during the season.

 

My view is that there were no easy decisions last night, other than to pull Richards in the 6th, by which point he had astonishingly gone 5, giving up just 2 runs. Also, to me it's clear the A's pitching was simply better last night, period. Had their defense not let them down, they win the game in 9 innings.

 

Well said.

 

No options looked very good, last night.

 

We nearly pulled it off, last night. I have no issues with Cora at all. He’s the reason we are where we are.

 

I get the frustration a loss can bring, but I feel like much of this is over the top.

[a700hitter]

I have said in the past that the neat thing about game threads is that they are opportunities for venting. So, yes, I was out of line attacking everyone who got mad at the Sox, the moves Cora made, etc.

 

Nevertheless, it does rankle me that the Sox have vastly overperformed this season and that immediately prior to last night's game had won 8 straight, have the best record in the AL, a 4.5 game lead over the Rays, 7.5 over the Jays, and 9.5 over the Yankees (the preseason favorite in the AL East).

 

In addition, the overwhelming majority of contributors to talksox believe that Cora is the single biggest reason for the success of the Sox. He has been great with the bullpen, with deciding when a starter needs to be pulled, etc., and we saw that happen repeatedly in the 8 game winning streak.

 

Finally and inevitably, the streak ended last night against a team, the Oakland A's, who are currently 2d in the AL West and 1st in the wild card race. They are a competitive team and certainly not pushovers.

 

On top of that, the Sox starter, Richards, has struggled mightily recently because he is having to adjust to not doctoring up the baseball.

Backing him up was a tired bullpen which was pitching in its 12th straight game without a break going against the A's bullpen which had Thursday off. Oh, and Friday night's game went 10 innings with Whitlock, Barnes, and Ottavino--the three best Sox relievers--pitching the final 4 innings.

 

And up ahead are 7 more back to back games before the ASG break. That's 19 straight games for the Sox bullpen to carry a pretty heavy load. And let's not forget that strategically Cora likes to rest players during the season.

 

My view is that there were no easy decisions last night, other than to pull Richards in the 6th, by which point he had astonishingly gone 5, giving up just 2 runs. Also, to me it's clear the A's pitching was simply better last night, period. Had their defense not let them down, they win the game in 9 innings.

On balance, Cora has made more good moves than bad. He is probably responsible for as many wins as he is for losses as with most managers. As with other managers, he pulls a rock now and again.

 

Is he the single biggest reason for this team’s success? I think he deserves a lot of credit as does Bloom and Varitek also. It’s funny that when the team sucks and people complain about the manager, pro- manager posters blame the players, but when the team is successful, people want to give the manager the credit. You can’t have both ways.

[a700hitter]

Thanks man.

 

I used to defend this team. But IMHO Cora is betting man.

I don’t know if he is a betting man, but he is a known cheater. And that speaks to his character. Cheating by a cheater is never an isolated incident. I would not have hired him knowing that, but that said, he is doing an excellent job with this team.

[Bellhorn04]

Then Oakland must be the luckiest team alive lmao. They know how to win dirty close games. That team could produce preschool kids and still win games. I don’t get it. Just great ownership and management. It’s amazing. Makes me want to watch moneyball lol

 

And in the playoffs, for some reason, they fold up like a cheap tent. Haven't been to a World Series since 1990. Not jealous.