jung

Agons down to 267 now

Surprised JV-land did not get that low pitch to Nava...umps usually cream themselves to make strike calls when he is on the mound.

Nice pitch Dan...get this jerk

Oh God there is was almost a balk Oh God please no Why is it AGons that comes over...why do the Sox coaches trip all over themselves running out there to help Felix and just hit on their hands while Bard possibly melts down

Unbelievable how he just losses focus like this...gets an out...looks down at home plate and sees the number 9 hitter and decides to go to sleep....suddenly wakes up and realizes that it is not a dream...he is on the mound pitching in a baseball game and gets himself all flustered over that

Here he goes...here comes the lost focus...hit batters...more walks...a few balks...should be fun

Well that was a nice four pitch walk Dan.....why don't you follow that up with one of your classic balks...we can cut to the Tigers dugout and see Verlander laughing his ass off

Punto looked ridiculous.....nice to see some of our guys brought their hustle game tonight...they will need it Of course Agons has to reserve all his energy for those home run trots....all four of um'

Geez is there anything this guy does badly...probably laughs out load at our Balk-o-matics

That was just unfair though...doubt Mike will do much better unless Verlander makes a mistake

Talk about overmatched....goes 98 on the FB and then hits Youk with that curve....Holy s***

As far as Bard goes....has a solution so far to the RH hitters...as good a slider as I have seen from him this year...he is up in the zone to the lefties so far though....not every pitch but enough of them. He will give up some runs to these guys if he stays up in the zone to these guys.

Ahhhh, don't think Agons would have made that one.

Bard's got that hard slider goin to the RH hitters so far

That is how I think more and more guys will go after Agons....keep going a little farther outside and a little farther outside until he is reaching across the plate trying to get the ball or they will get him looking out there and bust him inside.

Geez I hate this guy...the ball just seems to flow out of his hand...extended from his arm...does not even look like he is trying hard....disgusting!!!

I swear Prince has gotten even bigger around the middle this year....he is really jiggling these days.

That was a nice pitch to Cabrera and the kind of pitch I would like to see Felxi throw against LH hitters

Yuk..did not like where that pitch was....looked flat and up in the zone

I know for me, when I watch a game telecast from there, even though I am viewing it on TV, it is the only indoor stadium that leaves me with that feeling like every bad CYO gym where I have played late night basketball games. the acoustics are horrible in there. You can tell they are horrible. No other indoor stadium that I have seen a game played in leaves me with that CYO gym feeling. Then there is the fact that occasionally the ball does actually clang off a catwalk....almost like they did not design it specifically to avoid that happenstance. I know it is rare but for God sake....it is major league baseball. It should never happen. I also get the feeling that in a park where that possibility actually does exist, fly balls going up might leave the player with an odd feeling of being out of position even though there is nothing the player can do if the ball does clang off one of those catwalks. That is another one of those elements that are reminiscent of a bad CYO gym. Those places always felt like the space provided was to small for the specific activity you were engaged in, which has an odd feeling all its own. There is no denying that the place looks incredibly dark comparing it to other indoor parks, there just does not seem like there is enough light in there and certainly not what these players would view as the usual amount of light. The overall effect leaves me feeling like the Trop is farther removed from any of the other places where they play. To come in there and play three or four games and then move on must be kinda' strange. Must take some part of the first game of a series just to get over how odd the place must feel.

It is the other first place team, that is probably more worrisome. Although the Orioles pitching probably means they will stick longer than we would like. I know it is popular to praise the Rays for their record on their budget but I really do begin to wonder where they would be were it not for that rat hole of a basement dungeon that is their home park. They are 17-8 down their in that hell hole. Some part of that record must have something to do with how difficult it is for teams to come into that place and play. Rays are 12-12 away from the Trop.

I did not catch Bard's comment about feeling like "himself" and I don't know how that is going to translate either. It seemed to me that he recognized that he was not the kind of pitcher that could run it up there at 96 inning after inning as a starter nor the kind of pitcher that could summon that sort of heat when he needed it at least in the starter's role. It has seemed to me the entire time that Bard has been unable to maintain consistent arm angle and consistent motion from one pitch to the next and from one inning to the next after having a sit while the Sox bat. It has also seemed difficult for him to maintain his concentration and focus once there is a runner on base or some other distraction that has taken his attention away from the hitter. In addition, on those evenings when he is a two pitch pitcher, once the hitters have seen him he seems to feel compelled to get finer and finer as the game progresses which makes matters worse for him with regard to walks. In fact this is where I have been disappointed in the Sox coaching. Where V or somebody has come out to talk to Doubront when the game seems to be getting away from him, I have not really seen the Sox do that with Bard. Now how feeling like "himself" resolves the issues that have plagued him I guess remains to be seen. Maybe he is talking about his velo??? Guess we will just have to see. As I have said before, I think Bard has done pretty well in what has looked to me to be a difficult situation. Doubront has been better than the other 4's that he runs into out there and Bard does better than the other 5's he runs into. Verlander is a whole other ball of wax though. I do hope trying to match him inning for inning does not become a distraction all its own.

Well the difference between what we saw from the Tigers today and what we saw the first series was night and day. I doubt that is all Felix other than in saying that Felix showed the other Sox pitchers what they can do with this Tigers team if they keep the ball away from the real green light, go deep locations...up and in catching to much plate to the RH hitter, down and in catching to much plate to the LH hitter.

OK, that I get 700. I thought maybe you were talkin' about expecting an early and total implosion, something worse than what we might expect based on his recent stints. My bad. Of course he might go all ta' hell early. I don't see anything lately that would suggest that but I also have not seen anything lately that would suggest a really good stint either. That did not look like the same Tiger bunch that started the season. We might get some help there. I do not know if their problem is a lineup that is always swingin' 11/10's but maybe the reason they hammered so many during the first series is because they are always swingin' 11/10's. Put enough raw meat in front of that crew and I guess you should expect to see some blood and guts flying. Maybe they are much like Salty, big and strong but not ever likely to hit for average. I am totally on board with Salty swinging for the fences every time up. But if I had a team full of Salty's I would be worried. Maybe to some extent that is what the Tigers have turned out to be. Keep the ball away from the spots where they can really hurt you and the Tiger stays caged. Hang the raw meat out there and look out. The difference might be giving up the occasional 1 run homer vs guys crossing the plate every five seconds.

So is there a particular reason that you think Bard is going to pitch worse than he has lately? Are you thinking that since it is Verlander, Bard will see this as a big moment and become as defocused as he has sometimes been when a runner gets on base or is it something else that you think will be his undoing?