Athletics (Ginn) vs Red Sox (TBD): 08/09/26, 1:35 PM

[Tedballgame]

Probably going to extras. Sox bullpen is being depleted. Hope they find a way today.

[Bailey_Fox]

5 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

I'm not saying the Sox have returned to Earth yet, but they may be reaching the Earth's hemisphere.

Very possible 

[Tedballgame]

Well, the Sox blew this game. Darn. Whitlock and Chapman were due I guess but they had the runner picked off and couldn't execute.

[Tedballgame]

Team was just not sharp the last two days.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Just now, Tedballgame said:

Team was just not sharp the last two days.

.800+ baseball is not sustainable. Much like clutch hitting.

[Bailey_Fox]

The Boo birds are out. It’s fair to say that the Sox probably deserve to lose this one.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

1 minute ago, Bailey_Fox said:

The Boo birds are out. It’s fair to say that the Sox probably deserve to lose this one.

Or the A's deserved to win. Let's hope we're both wrong.

[Tedballgame]

The ump must have a dinner date.

[Tedballgame]

Kulpa has always been terrible.

[Tedballgame]

Just ask Carl Everett

[Bailey_Fox]

Yeah nah, send Sogard down.

[Tedballgame]

Close but no cigar.

[Tedballgame]

Need to win the first one in Toronto to avoid getting into a losing streak

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

The worst team in baseball has given the Sox the hardest time since 6/25.

[dannycater]

you can't be hot hot hot hot...and not have some stretch in the other direction..Dodgers lost 7 straight and barely won to break it. 

[FredLynn]

1 hour ago, Tedballgame said:

Duran not having a good day.

I’ve about had it with Duran. They need to option him. 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

I blame the series loss on the old proven law of averages. The Sox were overdue to lose and the A's were way overdue to win.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Just now, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

I blame the series loss on the old proven law of averages. The Sox were overdue to lose and the A's were way overdue to win.

Never underestimate the LOA.

[moonslav59]

Major fight in this team, even when they lose.

The vibe is undeniable. I'm still feeling real good about our chances.

[JoeBrady]

18 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

I blame the series loss on the old proven law of averages. The Sox were overdue to lose and the A's were way overdue to win.

It seemed like a difficult game to lose.  I think the As might've had one hard-hit shot.  The first run was unearned.  Soderstrom's triple is not a triple if Abreu is out there.  Duran took a sloppy route to the double, and the RS failed to execute on the pick-off.

But that's part of baseball.  We had a fair number of wins where things just fell into our lap.

[moonslav59]

8 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

I’ve about had it with Duran. They need to option him. 

At best, bat him 9th. He's been bad all year long, with a couple spurts of life that didn't even last a week.

At worst, yes- demote him to AAA. Make him show he can hit there, before he gets another look-see. (if ever)

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

Major fight in this team, even when they lose.

The vibe is undeniable. I'm still feeling real good about our chances.

The chances would be greatly improved if Crochet and Anthony would FINALLY return to playing. If Anthony ever returns, Duran can be the Sox full-time pinch runner.

[FredLynn]

51 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

The chances would be greatly improved if Crochet and Anthony would FINALLY return to playing. If Anthony ever returns, Duran can be the Sox full-time pinch runner.

White is faster. He doesn’t hit much either but he’s at least competitive. Duran isn’t. His OPS+ is just 73!
Duran is at best mediocre defensively. Today he misplayed a double he might have caught but instead did a ballerina imitation out there.
He needs to go down. I don’t care who they replace him with. 

[moonslav59]

41 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

The chances would be greatly improved if Crochet and Anthony would FINALLY return to playing. If Anthony ever returns, Duran can be the Sox full-time pinch runner.

Yes, assuming they are fully healthy and have found their grooves.

Every team can say this or something close to it, but when you have your very best pitcher plus who many felt was going to be our best batter, soon, that hurts.

The less talked about injuries are to Houck, who was our ace in 2024 and Mead, who looked to be our 2B solution and moderate bat help. I also remember hearing Merloni gushing over the impending return of Crawford. Then there is the big enigma- the .800 hitting china doll Casas. Trevor Story was our HR, RBI & SB leader in '25. Oviedo was supposed to be more than decent rotation depth. IKF is our $6 million dollar man!

Rutschman should be joining the team soon, but I'm not sure we can count on anything from anyone else. Story is probably closest to returning, and nearly everyone is saying, "Please no- don't hand him the SS job FT or outright."

Interesting times, but with a few of these guys healthy, we might have the best record in the AL and major MLB, right now.

[jad]

2 hours ago, FredLynn said:

I’ve about had it with Duran. They need to option him. 

No no!  Small sample size!  Give him another 150 ABs or so.   I mean, who would replace him?  It's not like they got guys outhitting him by 100 points or so on the bench.  ... Well, yeah they do. .... But still ...

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, jad said:

No no!  Small sample size!  Give him another 150 ABs or so.   I mean, who would replace him?  It's not like they got guys outhitting him by 100 points or so on the bench.  ... Well, yeah they do. .... But still ...

LOL.

How is this for a sample size? AUG 29, 2024> today (300+ PAs)

.929 Contreras

.821 Bregman

.808 Devers

.804 Anthony

.769 Abreu

.764 Romy

.730 Rafaela

.728 Durbin

.707 Story

.706 Yoshida

.701 Duran

When guys like Story and Yoshida are ahead of you, it's time to think beyond the tiny sample size of 1288 PAs.

 

[Randy Red Sox]

Bello deserves to be back in the rotation.  opener is simply not wqorking

 

[moonslav59]

15 minutes ago, Randy Red Sox said:

Bello deserves to be back in the rotation.  opener is simply not wqorking

 

It has been the definition of working. (for Bello)