jung

So far, we've got nobody to blame but ourselves. On balance we have played like s*** and we continue to play like s***. Beating ourselves really. We can complain about some of our pitching performances if we want to but they have for most part they have really really battled. Hitters have sucked and defense has sucked. Farrell has not helped matters much.

Sox hitters should feel really compelled to help Buch out here. He has really thrown down the gauntlet to the offense through the first two innings. Like " OK guys, I am giving it everything I have out here". What he has done through two innings is pretty phenomenal especially considering Buch is not one of the guys that immediately comes to mind when you think of pitchers battling like this.

I suspect, they might try to piece it together from there. Buch does not even look like he wants to throw a four seamer at this point. Not sure how long he can go battling this hard. He is battling though.

I wonder if the real plan is to see if they can get Buch through the order one time and if he can pull that off, pull him if there is any sign of trouble after that.

Yea thats right. Buch has been topping out at 88 all year long. Yup!

Really nice job by Buch in the 1st.

Buch's location will have to be terrific. I think we are looking for 5 innings or so from Buch tonight. He will clearly have to battle to get there. If he can do that, he will have done his job.

Nava had a good AB. But it ended with a terrific pitch to hit. We have gotten some good pitches to hit throughout this series and really have not done much with them so far. Bats have got to come around tonight.

Here we go

Now I know that is a lie. McCarver thinks hackin' into a computer involves the use of a chain saw!

I was honestly not convinced that Vic was going to break out tonight. Maybe his back has been bothering him throughout this series so far. Would prefer a heathy Vic if I could have him. But, he has looked like it has been a bit hard to get his hips and lower body into his swing. If his lower back has been troubling him....stiff, that could manifest itself as difficulty getting his lower body into the swing. Will miss his defense But if he was going to stay in the 2 hole and not break out, then I am more willing to give up some defense to exchange his bat and stiff back for Nava's bat.

Vic out of the lineup with lower back stiffness.

Vic now out of the lineup. f*** it...bring it on.....I suspect we might get an early read based on how they come out in the first couple innings. I don't think they want to heap even more pressure on Buch than he will be under anyway.

Gonna listen on radio to Stig and Lou tonight. The latency and delay only bothers me when the Cards are up. Stig will call a long fly headed for the warning track and I have no idea if it is just going to die there or not. Heart in throat while waiting for the play to finish off. However I will trade panic attacks any day when the alternative is listening to the Cadaver and the Half-Buck.

Solid line up...the burden for the offense is where it should be....if the guys at the top and in the heart of the lineup don't hit we really cannot expect guys down there in the 7 or 8 hole to bail us out. Either the guys that should hit do or they don't. If the guys at the bottom of the order hit some...fine but the guys 1-6 should just dig a hole and toss themselves in if 7-9 have to take the weight for anything more than moving a runner here and there. Get it done....2-2 would be a terrific place to be considering everything that has happened so far. Took the better part of the day just to peel myself off the ceiling. Go Sox!!!!

Hopefully Salty will occupy himself with cheering from about five rows back on the bench for the remainder of this series.

Terrible throw. Salty is just digging a deeper hole for himself. IMO, WMB had no shot to catch that mess of a throw. As for the call, IMO it should have been a no call. I have not seen it again since last night but to me there is at least as much video evidence that Craig choose to run over WMB. Yes the runner can choose his base path. That does not mean he can chase the fielder around 3rd base until he finally catches him. The fielder has a right to his position on the field as long as he is not directly in the base path between 3rd and home or putting himself in the path of the runner, causing interference. There is at least as much video evidence that Craig chose to go over Will so that he could use him to regain balance and as a springboard toward home plate as there is that Will interfered with him. In fact I think there is slightly more video evidence against Craig than against Will. But of course the umps can't make a no call. That would mean their relevant significance when compared to players, coaches and the very game itself is rather trivial, as it should be. Umps just cannot tolerate that. So instead we get Torre and See No Evil, Hear no Evil and Speak no Evil sitting up there trying to explain the unexplainable. One of the most embarrassing moments for MLB in a long time. "Well ah, the rule says"....which rule....did you guys actually figure out which rule took precedence? They took nothing into consideration that would have resulted in a correct No call because they are insistent on inserting themselves into the proceedings. You cannot tell me in a month of Sundays that they took the totality of that play into consideration. It happened too quickly in real time with too many of the moving parts happening within split seconds of each other and no help from replay. They made a knee jerk, split second decision favoring interference on the part of the fielder and that was the end of that. They made a call that ended the game instead of making a no call which would have been the correct call in this case. I am dead dog tired of these f***s and the stupid s*** they insert into the game.

Every defensive lapse this team has made has killed it. In fact every defensive lapse made has killed both teams. We can't afford to sit Drew. The Sox are going to have to play their best defenders in the key defensive positions. If that means that they have to depend on the guys that should hit for hitting, so be it. XB should stay in at 3rd. Drew should stay in at SS. Salty should be picking splinters out of his ass for the rest of the f***ing series. Ross has to play for the same reason Drew has to play. They have some flexibility in LF and maybe a little at 1st and that is about it.

Agreed...if Farrell does anything else at this point people will be asking that he get help for his obvious masochistic tendencies.

Well as I said earlier, the other argument that should now be put to rest is the offense vs defense argument. Every defensive mistake has cost the team making it in this series and has usually cost that team dearly. Regardless of the offense which is not great on either side, you need to put your best defense behind your pitchers. That means Ross at Catcher, Drew at SS. WMB might be slightly better than XB but they are very close and that is the toughest call around the diamond I think. Nava/Gomes is another tough call but there again there are other factors that should govern the Nava/Gomes decision.

Third is his worst base throwing.....followed by 1st and finally 2nd and he is bull headed to boot cause he refuses to stop even refusing to make judgement calls about whether he has a good shot at the runner or not. I could buy throwing on slim odds that you can get the out if a guy is a good, accurate thrower. But Salty is not which forces him into the category of thrower that must make a judgement call about those throws. Not Salty...he is cutting it loose regardless and he has all this year, all last year, as long as I have watched him.

Look again...I think Craig's hands contact Will's back a split second before Craigs legs hit Will's feet.

If the runner purposefully reaches down to use Wills body to help him regain his balance and propel himself toward home plate, that is an entirely different can of worms especially if they are both inside the base path and the runner purposefully chooses that path so that he can use the fallen body of the other player to help him regain his balance and propel him forward. They are both inside the base path. Craig did not have his balance until he used Will's body to regain it. Frankly that call begged for a no call if anything especially since the game swung on it.

And that is why I posted what I posted. I think Craig was inside the baseline and used Will's body to help him regain his balance giving him some momentum toward home plate...one of the worse calls I have ever seen. Does not absolve Salty from throwing the thing. Much like in boxing...you leave critical decisions in the hands of the officials and you are just asking for it.

I really don't understand what Salty is doing unless the coaching staff has been egging him on all year "keep throwing it salty, we like that kind of aggressive play. Frankly I doubt it cause he has been throwing the ball into LF all season long and anybody will brains would be trying to dissuade him from cutting it loose unless he had the runner dead to rights...Why???? Cause his throw suck, especially to 3rd.