8/24 Arizona @ SOX 4:10PM ET

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Gallen vs Crawford

 

 

 

Diamondbacks have been the best team in MLB since July 1st.

SOX playing at home. That's not good.

 

 

Go SOX!

[Maxbialystock]

Some good news, however. I just read there is a new category--"les incompetents"--within the injured list for players who consistently fail to deliver with RISP. Alex Cora has had the wisdom to place Devers on the IL for that very reason. That'll fix him. And maybe his shoulder too (but we never believed he had a bad shoulder).

 

Thank goodness Romy Gonzalez is available to play 3b.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Duran

Abreu

Casas

Devers

Refsnyder

Masa

Gasper

Wong

Rafaela

[Oscars]

Wong has cooled off with the bat.

He’s hitting .196 in his last last 15 games

[moonslav59]

Wong has cooled off with the bat.

He’s hitting .196 in his last last 15 games

 

OPS:

.966 after 25 games

.840 after 50 games (.714 from 26-50 gms)

.797 after 75 (.714 51-75)

.766 after 98 (.669 last 23 games)

 

.474 last 13 games

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

I believe Gasper would make a good ghost runner.

[Maxbialystock]

OPS:

.966 after 25 games

.840 after 50 games (.714 from 26-50 gms)

.797 after 75 (.714 51-75)

.766 after 98 (.669 last 23 games)

 

.474 last 13 games

 

Is 2024 not the hottest summer on record and is the catcher position not the most strenuous to play by a wide margin--except for starting pitchers (who don't go to bat)?

[Maxbialystock]

Sox are hitless and scoreless after 4. Thanks to last night's game thread, we know why. Devers is still in the lineup. Without him, the Sox could have scored 13 runs, easy-peasy, last night and won that game. When will Cora wise up?

 

Crawford showing some heart today. Too bad about the double in the 4th.

 

Very nice pick off throw by Wong. You want a throw into right field, dial up Jansen.

[Maxbialystock]

Sox look completely befuddled by the knuckle curves and the changeups. Too bad so few Sox pitchers have knuckle curves and/or changeups.

[Maxbialystock]

That 86 mph cutter was headed for deep, deep right field.

 

And fearless Crawford gets a K on four straight cutters!!!!

 

5 innings, 2 runs. Pretty good. But so far nowhere near as good as Gallen.

[Maxbialystock]

Game time temp 83 degrees. Last night's Fenway crowd, 32K, average for this season.

[Maxbialystock]

Cute moustache Gasper is sporting. He's a real looker: 3 straight called strikes. 2 K's in 2 AB's. Hmmm.

[Maxbialystock]

Gallen seems to work those edges pretty well. That plus a good repertoire is tough. Rafaela also K's, but he likes to do it swinging, regardless of where the pitch is thrown.

[Maxbialystock]

2 on, 2 out in the 5th with Abreu coming to the plate.

[Maxbialystock]

Abreu has joined the "show me" club. 5 pitches, zero swings--but two were strikes.

 

Finally, Abreu swings--at a pitch miles underneath the strike zone.

 

And he K's on an unchecked swing. Gallen has 8 K's in 5 IP.

 

Sox have 1 hit, a single by Wong, and 4 BB's. They are 0/2 with RISP.

 

Credit where it's due. Crawford has single-handedly kept the Sox in this game.

[Maxbialystock]

Back to back changeups by Kelly. Not as much break as Gallen's,but they got the groundout.

[Maxbialystock]

That GIDP's on Devers, not Ref, because Devers should have stolen 2b.

 

Boy, is this fun, discovering creative ways to blame Devers for any games the Sox lose. Last night I learned from the master, who singled Devers out in a 12-2 loss.

 

That's Devers, whose OPS is ranked 6th in MLB and who whose total bases are ranked 10th. Plus he leads the Sox in rbi's, dingers, BB's, and OPS and is second in total bases, doubles, triples, and runs scored. That's the guy who's the big problem. I disagreed, of course, but was hammered for defending him.

[bmattioli]

Why is so hard to win at home.. Why??

[Maxbialystock]

Bernardino gets the K! Lefty vs righty, too. Need one more.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Thank goodness Wong isn't a goaltender for the BRUINS.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Our BP is from Hellstinky.

[Maxbialystock]

Bernardino chokes big time. He walks two to bring in one run and then throws a WP to bring in another. 23 pitches, 12 for strikes. Sims threw 15 pitches, 5 for strikes.

 

I guess it's slightly miraculous the Diamondbacks only scored 2 runs.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

This HP chUMPIRE has done something very difficult. He's disgraced a profession that's already a disgrace.

[Maxbialystock]

Two straight games the Sox haven't hit spit. Today I was impressed with Crawford's 5 innings and 2 ER's, but the bullpen is now in there to pad Arizona's lead.

 

I keep missing key innings, so haven't really watched Garcia much. I like that sinker of his.

[Maxbialystock]

This HP chUMPIRE has done something very difficult. He's disgraced a profession that's already a disgrace.

 

You are basing that, of course, on a rectangle we see but nobody on the field sees. Nor can we be sure it's accurate.

[Maxbialystock]

Thank goodness Wong isn't a goaltender for the BRUINS.

 

It's so refreshing to read commentary by someone with real standards. Thank goodness--because some of us were getting to like one or two of these Sox players.

 

You would have been so great commenting on Ted Williams and just hammering him for his lackluster play in LF. But standards are standards, and, if you ain't a 5-tool player, well, you're just a tool.

[Maxbialystock]

Before yesterday's game, several people commented that the Diamondbacks are hot--and tough. I wasn't so sure. I was wrong.

[illinoisredsox]

You are basing that, of course, on a rectangle we see but nobody on the field sees. Nor can we be sure it's accurate.

 

It’s not accurate. Side to side probably; up and down no way. That tv rectangle top to bottom is the same for Aaron Judge as it is for Jose Altuve, which obviously can’t be true.

[moonslav59]

Just finished watching on delay. That was awful.

 

We are digging a very deep hole and looking like the team of the last 2 years.

[notin]

It’s not accurate. Side to side probably; up and down no way. That tv rectangle top to bottom is the same for Aaron Judge as it is for Jose Altuve, which obviously can’t be true.

 

Altuve is taller than you think. He just stands really far back in the batters box…