jung

Well you are right here again SFF. The Sox have got to stick to their knitting. They are not talented enough to go out there and beat teams on raw talent. That is what most bothers me about WMB's AB's. I love the guy. But I can't stand watching him be so oblivious to where he is at the plate. That sort of s*** is infectious for one thing. I know we like to think about this RISP position thing as a consequence of getting so many runners on in the first place. But the numbers are now getting totally ridiculous. Take SF Giants in their WS run as the example of what a team short on talent and long on process can do if it sticks to its knitting. The Sox have been pretty disciplined all season long. But they have to think about every AB as life or death now because it is life and death now. While other teams have narrowed their focus here in crunch time the Sox have been more "Gee we are happy to be here". Well OK they have gotten away with maybe more than they should have since the ASB. Time to get serious fellas or I will guarantee you that you will not feel so sporty if you end up getting boosted out of the post season going down the stretch.

Don't be so hard on yourself Thunder. Mojo does not move mountains. Farrell has got this incredible stubborn streak and that really bothers me. Whenever he gets into these discussions of why, he always comes up with this obscure thing...like well "he hits well against lefties that tie their right shoe before tying their left shoe on every second Wednesday of the month." It's not that complicated. Your team sucks against LH pitching. Stop dreaming up excuses to run the same damn lineup out there every day. I think Naps will have to get well for example but running him out there to fail every day was not working.

Well I don't know about lifeless but you are right about them finding multiple ways to lose now and that is scary as I pointed out a week or so ago. Once it becomes , one night no bats, one night no pitching, one night the opponents are running wild on the base paths, one night the defense looks like swiss cheese....this is how winning two out of three turns into losing two out of three. Opponents are really focused on our weaknesses now and there are quite a few. So that is making it tough. Clearly teams are really focused on making sure Ortiz does not beat them. All they can do though is concentrate on the things that got them here and hope its enough. by year end though I know I am going to want to punch Buch right in the mouth....I can see it coming.

Wow.....yup.....losing series now instead of winning them....Maybe we can come home and get better against the evil empire.

Taz is lost in a sea of Red Sox pitchers that barely look over at runners, let alone hold runners. This team has always had a lotta holes. They have been there all year long. Now that it is crunch time ya' gotta expect that teams are going to take more advantage...

Calling that thing a hit and screwing Peavy like that is ridiculous. Maybe Canadians should stick to hockey...something they know something about.

What the f*** is he swinging at ahead in the count. This to me is WMB's biggest problem. He seems totally oblivious to where he is in the count and how to put himself in a good position to hit. The times he does get ahead in the count seem more like pure luck than anything else and he has already proven that he is not the second coming of Pedey or any of the hitters known to be able to bail themselves out of a bad count situation. So he gets a walk here but he simply makes it too easy. He gets himself out.

That 0-0 change on the outer third is NOT a pitch I want to see WMB swinging at. If he wants to swing at that with 2 strikes fine, 0-0 he is just asking to dig himself a hole.

Jeez Lavarnway having to depend on the ump to alert him that his team would actually like to communicate a sign to him.

But that suggests that the closer is automatically your best relief pitcher. He may not be your best pitcher. He may be the guy in your pen that has the best head for coming into a clean ninth inning and whipping through it but that might not mean he is your best relief pitcher. Seems to me that you need a fireman and you need a closer but that those two guys are not the same guy necessarily. Ueh is a great change of pace from almost anybody else out there before he comes in and is well capable of getting you three outs before the other team knows what hit it. Not sure that means i would have him come in to put out a fire unless I had no other options. As for stints across a sit which is what we are really talking about...it can really burn a guy out. Their bodies are simply not used to giving a max physical effort and then coming out after a sit to continue a max physical effort. Conversely they can't pace themselves banking that the manager is going to have them come out after sitting across the half inning. It eventually killed Paps in 2011 when you could literally see his fuel tank go to total empty when it finally happened to him. Too many multiple inning stints or I should say sits between max efforts killed him that year and we literally watched him die on the mound. He finally gave up the ghost in the home stand before the final trip of the year and was toast for what remained of that year. Still pitched out the year and got blamed for the mess in Baltimore. However his last meaningful pitch was thrown long before that during the home stand that preceded the Baltimore series.

If Ells goes I expect we see Bradley or they bring somebody else aboard. Vic is fast now but not Ells fast and he would have trouble with CF in Fenway if pressed into service there for too many games I think. I love him in RF though and that is where I would want him to stay. Few years earlier and would feel differently.

That was too funny. Davis playing mainly in LF must have been waiting God only knows how long to call off a LF as the CF and the guy does not give way! What a disappointment. I was ready for a good train wreck.

I don't know how you guys remember these user names from the past. I don't remember any of those guys!

Another Roger's cork shot. Man the ball does bounce high enough off that stuff.

Even though Lester is struggling again, take that one whacky play away and he has given up one run and we are once again waiting for the Sox to get the starter out of the game and get into the bullpen.

Man I always end up forgetting that the warning track in Rogers is sort of a cork material. I am familiar with that material and have played on that surface before. Many recreational facilities used to cover their entire floor with it years ago. Boy I would not want to try to slide on it like a tennis player on clay though. There is not really that much "slide" in that stuff. I would think it would be easy to catch and stick on that surface.

I think Farrell will end up finding some ways to rest Naps more and hope that helps. Might see more of Carp at 1st or maybe even Nava at 1st. Heck with some inter-league coming up we may see some Ortiz at 1st. Getting Naps some additional rest may at least have a shot at working. He is doing so poorly now that it really won't hurt anything to have him sit. Madden must be going out of his mind with his Rays. Six game losing streaks are not supposed to happen to his teams. I think the absence of Moore has really hurt them more than you would think. With Moore out if Price has a bad outing when his turn comes up then BANG you have a six game losing streak if the other starters are not showing up well. That's all it really takes. Your stopper does not stop anything for 1 turn of the rotation and you lose 6 straight just like that. With Moore, if Price had a bad outing there was Moore to pick him up.

Certainly not our father's Red Sox offense but they have been very disciplined all year long with few lapses and they have made an approach, an offensive process work for them so far this year. Nobody other than Ortiz really stands out but usually by the end of the game they have pieced together enough runs to win. They live on a tight rope though and that is what is both exciting and unnerving for Sox fans...downright frustrating for everybody else. That is one thing I always admired about the Rays...how frustrating it was to play them....not so much for their offense. In our case, this offense must drive teams and opponent fans batty.

Nice job there Vic. Really solid inning for the Sox....runs their usual way....

WMB on a 2-0 count...atta' boy Will.

Boy that must be a hard surface. I think that ball would have made it all the way back to the infield.

Great job Bres. Maybe Farrell is counting on the extra days off this month to save Taz's butt. I think this month is our light month for games....a day off every week I think.

I guess Farrell must really feel like he is in a box and the Sox have needed somebody to go more than one inning in relief all year long. Just don't see what about Taz would lead one to believe he is that guy since he really needed the ASB as much or more than anybody else on the staff.

Seen enough yet John or are you going to wait for the Jays to be celebrating at home plate.

Time for more Ueh magic to send us off into extras. Whoops...Taz for two again...man this looking more and more like playing with fire with Taz. He was already sort of toasty looking around the ASB.