Astros (Brown) vs Red Sox (Criswell? May?): 8/1/25, 7:10pm

[Maxbialystock]

Great 3d strike pitch by Brown--called a ball by the ump.

Sox have runners on 1st and 2d with nobody out.  

[moonslav59]

9 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

He sure is.  But right now he's still better than--wait for it--Devers with the Giants.  The guy I wanted the Sox to hang onto, Duran, left 2 on with 2 outs.  So I would definitely be a crappy CBO--and after all the training and schooling I've had.  If only SADULU actually meant something in baseballese.  Ditto for LARS,.

Why do you keep saying Toro is doing better than Devers. He's doing way worse since the trade, since opening day and over his career.

That's not to say it wasn't the right thing to trade Devers- it was, but why misrepresent how well Toro is doing, when he has sucked for nearly 2 months now and was a .638 batter before the year began. 

The guy filled in well for Casas for a nice stretch. The stretch of sucking is way longer, now.

.538 first 8 games.

1.102 next 16 games

.587 last 39 games (not counting 0-3 tonight)

[FredLynn]

2 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Try to keep, up, Fred.  I said that tonight the Sox have hurt themselves by not swinging at first pitch strikes or even second pitch strikes.  And they've shown little hesitation in swinging at 3d strikes that are outside the strike zone.  

I see....so its the normal lack of control of the zone.....I'm doing pretty well just watching gameday in the background.

[Maxbialystock]

Nice bunt by Narvaez.  

[Maxbialystock]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Why do you keep saying Toro is doing better than Devers. He's doing way worse since the trade, since opening day and over his career.

That's not to say it wasn't the right thing to trade Devers- it was, but why misrepresent how well Toro is doing, when he has sucked for nearly 2 months now and was a .638 batter before the year began. 

The guy filled in well for Casas for a nice stretch. The stretch of sucking is way longer, now.

.538 first 8 games.

1.102 next 16 games

.587 last 39 games (not counting 0-3 tonight)

Good rejoinder.  I say it because I want it to be true.   Masterful stats by you.  

[Maxbialystock]

5 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

I see....so its the normal lack of control of the zone.....I'm doing pretty well just watching gameday in the background.

I feel for you because it infuriates me when MLB does this on games we've already paid for.  

Quite by accident, when I switched to AT&T I discovered I received the home station, MASN, for the Orioles and Nationals games, which are actually on my blackout list.  Same goes for Atlanta games, and I get their station too.  

3 errors by the Sox, 2 of them by pitchers.  None led to unearned runs. 

Whitlock is on a very good streak--1 ER in his last 11.1 IP.  

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

17 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Sox with 2 errors which did not lead to unearned runs--only adds to the luster of Criswell's night.  

Otoh, Criswell was helped by stupid baserunning by Houston.

[FredLynn]

1 minute ago, Maxbialystock said:

I feel for you because it infuriates me when MLB does this on games we've already paid for.  

Quite by accident, when I switched to AT&T I discovered I received the home station, MASN, for the Orioles and Nationals games, which are actually on my blackout list.  Same goes for Atlanta games, and I get their station too.  

3 errors by the Sox, 2 of them by pitchers.  None led to unearned runs. 

Whitlock is on a very good streak--1 ER in his last 11.1 IP.  

I did pay for MLB with the understanding that occasionally I would run into this nonsense where AppleTV has the game. Its fine. I can live without seeing the game once in a while. There's probably a way to do it but its not worth the effort. Its already the 7th inning I think.

[Maxbialystock]

2 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Otoh, Criswell was helped by stupid baserunning by Houston.

He absolutely was.  

Abysmal bottom of the 8th by Anthony, Bergman, and Duran.  

 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

5 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Otoh, Criswell was helped by stupid baserunning by Houston.

All in all Criswell came through with flying colors.

[Maxbialystock]

2 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

I did pay for MLB with the understanding that occasionally I would run into this nonsense where AppleTV has the game. Its fine. I can live without seeing the game once in a while. There's probably a way to do it but its not worth the effort. Its already the 7th inning I think.

By the way,  Apple is giving us the Astros feed.  At Fenway Park.  

[Maxbialystock]

Just now, Maxbialystock said:

By the way,  Apple is giving us the Astros feed.  At Fenway Park.  

I became a Sox fan largely because of Curt Gowdy calling the games on radio a little over 70 years ago.  And I kind of like the NESN radio guys.  But I much prefer to see the games.  

[Maxbialystock]

8 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

All in all Criswell came through with flying colors.

Absolutely unreal.  I figured him for 1 or 2 IP and giving up 3 or 4 runs.  

Long after I became a Sox fan, I lived in Oklahoma and the only games I could get were the Astros, and those were only on radio.  "Little" Joe Morgan was on that team before he went to Cincy (and glory).  

[FredLynn]

Chance the Flops score here: zero

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Damn, I thought that was gone.

[Maxbialystock]

4 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Absolutely unreal.  I figured him for 1 or 2 IP and giving up 3 or 4 runs.  

Long after I became a Sox fan, I lived in Oklahoma and the only games I could get were the Astros, and those were only on radio.  "Little" Joe Morgan was on that team before he went to Cincy (and glory).  

Bad break for Abreu and us.  So close.  

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Unbelievable.

[Maxbialystock]

On to the 10th.  Abreu almost did it--and against a lefty at that.  

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Perfect throw.

[moonslav59]

38 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Good rejoinder.  I say it because I want it to be true.   Masterful stats by you.  

I've given similar stats several times, before.

Toto's nice run is over.

It's time to call Campbell up for a chance at 1B. Too bad he's not the right hand to platoon with Romy, but we can use Romy at 2B, anyway.

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Perfect throw.

Huge play!

[FredLynn]

I know you guys miss my expert commentary but don't worry: I'll be back tomorrow!

[FredLynn]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I've given similar stats several times, before.

Toto's nice run is over.

It's time to call Campbell up for a chance at 1B. Too bad he's not the right hand to platoon with Romy, but we can use Romy at 2B, anyway.

Are you getting this game? Probably because its a home game for you, at least on your home TV station.

BTW: Toto is Dorothy's dog.....he doesn't play baseball

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Hard to practice those swinging bunts.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Great win!

[FredLynn]

No way Anthony wasn't going to come through there. He is going to be some kind of player over his career.

[Maxbialystock]

8 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Perfect throw.

Absolutely, and on the dead run.  

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

There's something about Anthony's demeanor on the field that reminds me of Yaz.

[Maxbialystock]

Just now, FredLynn said:

No way Anthony wasn't going to come through there. He is going to be some kind of player over his career.

Could not agree more.  

Unbelievable win with Criswell going against Brown.  Despite 3 errors--2 by Sox pitchers--the defense really helped tonight.  

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

He's gonna be a very rich young man.