SoxFanForsyth

Weather is looking good for the game. Only a 10% chance of rain from 6:00 until 10:00, and then only 30% from 10:00 on out. Thank God. Hopefully that holds and Beckett's start doesn't get cut short.

He's definitely not broken, and to be fair Gonzo looked awful against Coke as well. Seemed to be very deceiving on his delivery to LHP, and that's helped him limit all LHH to a .172 BA this year. Craw is coming around, but he's been seeing a lot of bad luck. He hit a ball hard right up the middle the other night and Tillman just kind of swung his glove behind him and actually caught it. Gardner made a diving catch that would usually be down for a single. And I've seen countless rips to the right side of the IF that just aren't getting through. His BABIP is .248, almost 90 points down from his career numbers. He is hitting .281 in May, but he's still not hitting the ball well. Nothing for extra bases. Just ground balls up the middle when he gets on base. He has only hit 4 XBH this month. Not exactly what we wanted from him. I almost question whether hitting him 8th is the answer. I can see it from a "Let's let him get settled into Boston with all the pressure", but now I wonder if it has turned into him saying "I gotta start crushing so that I can get back into the top of the order". He's said that he feels like hitting 8th is a demotion for him, and rightfully so. Maybe putting him toward the top of the order would help him to get going.

That sucks. Would have been a miserable night though. Rainy, chilly night with Beckett vs Verlander? Offense is going to be non-existent tonight.

Yeah. He's hitting .273 with runners on base. That's pretty solid.

Beckett + Verlander have combined for 1 ER over their last 39.1 IP. jaw-dropping doesn't do that justice.

By the way - Peter Gammons was on WEEI yesterday and he was talking about catchers in the AL. He said that all catchers in the AL are hitting a combined .221. Oddly enough, that's exactly what Salty is hitting.

I think Salty has made some significant strides recently, both in terms of swinging the bat and defensively. His throws down to 2nd have been right on target, he's been blocking just about everything that is in the dirt. I know how easy it is to do this, because I do it too, but you can't harp on him because of the occasional passed ball. I'm not saying you are, I'm just saying when it does happen, because it will, we have to remember that it happens to every catcher. Every catcher is going to allow an occasional passed ball, the problem is that Salty was horrible defensively this year so any ball that gets by him now, people are calling for his head. I'm also curious to see how Tito approaches the catching situation now that DiceK is on the DL. Does Salty now catch 4 of the 5 starters? If so, that could play a big role in a turnaround. The positive effect of consistent AB's cannot be overstated. He is hitting .292/.320/.500 over his last 8 games. Something to build on.

You mean 2017? I think he'll figure it out.

No kidding. They have allowed a combined 1 ER over their past 35.1 IP. Verlander: 17 IP, 1 ER Beckett: 18.1 IP, 0 ER There's a word for that. Retarded.

After starting off so s*****, Buchholz's ERA now at 3.42. So, our top 3 starters: Lester: 3.28 ERA Beckett: 1.75 ERA Buchholz: 3.42 ERA Brilliant.

Wow. Incredibly clutch by Pap right there. Excellent win.

Damn. Good pitch though.

hahaha Don cracked himself up over something

Phil Coke was a chimney sweep in the offseason. Albuquerque sold crack.

We could use a Pedey wall ball double, or hell, just go ahead and put one in the monster seats.

45 degrees. Rainy. Wednesday night, 10:30 pm. Through 1 rain delay. And it's still louder than Cleveland on a 75 degree sunny Saturday afternoon.

Thatta baby Salty!!!

Come on Papi. We need you to crush one and give us a lead so that they can call the game and we can get the W.

So, if the Sox have a lead after the 5th, and the game is called to weather, it's a W for the Sox, correct? It's only if the game is tied that it gets postponed to tomorrow?

Nothin like putting your 4 and 5 starters on the DL and then running your 3 man to 130 pitches. Awesome.

God Crawford looks disgusting

wow. Thank you for swinging.

Gonzo really really really struggles vs LHP