Kimmi

As others have said, it was a strange outing by Price. He got hit pretty hard when balls were put in play. OTOH, he had 10 Ks. Farrell's statement is still over the top, but I'm thinking Price is also being overly critical of himself. One thing you have to give Price credit for is that he owns up to his poor outings. No excuses from him.

Dombrowski is apparently pursuing starting pitching 'aggressively', but at the moment, there are only 5 teams who are willing to talk seriously. Realistically, I think we we pick up a solid 3/4 type pitcher and fortify the bullpen rather than adding a top of the rotation starter. IMO, that makes more sense.

Whether we should have added another starter or not, it doesn't change the fact that Price has not pitched like the ace that he is supposed to be. When the #4 and #5 slots in the rotation are in shambles and the pen sorely needs a breather, you expect your ace to step up. When your team is in the midst of a June swoon, you expect your ace to be a stopper, not add to the swoon. As I posted before, he needs to be better.

Is it me, or does this seem to happen far more than it should with injuries to Sox players?

This team has been pathetic lately. Losing 2 of 3 to the Rays is inexcusable.

The word 'luck' is kind of misinterpreted, I think. It's not luck as in lucky rabbit's foot, it's more luck as in randomness, or getting good breaks. It's not really that it can't be explained, but that it's not based on skill as much as it is on random events. An no, it's not strictly luck, but it is a good amount of luck.

I understand the sense of despair, believe me. As I posted before, I vow to 'quit' baseball several times a season (and many times in this last month) because the losses are so disheartening. But then the emotion subsides, and the rational side of me takes over again. It looks bad right now. Really bad. It will get better.

Are you talking to me?

I'm not saying that he's a sunk cost or anything. He gets more time to become acclimated. I'm just saying as our ace, he will need to do better.

They are a good team, but they aren't as good as their record indicates. They have been fairly lucky as well. 1. Pythagorean W-L, or more simply, average runs scored vs average runs allowed accounts for between 91% and 94% of the variance in actual W-L record. To be 6 games above what the Pythagorean record says you should be indicates some luck. The vast majority of teams will end up within 2 wins of their Pythagorean record. 2. Do you know how difficult it is to sustain a 17-5 (.773) record in one run games? So difficult, that if the Rangers maintain that, I believe it would be the best record since 1901. Don't quote me on that since I'm working off my memory here, but I know it would be close. Most teams, good or bad, will finish near .500 in one run games. The Rangers are currently 6 games better in one run games than .500 (exactly the # of games they're beating their Pythagorean W-L by). Believe it or not, the outcome of one run games has more to do with randomness than it does with skill. The Rangers have been lucky in that regard.

The Rays were due for a win after losing 11 in a row. I was pretty sure their losing streak would end in this series. Do you know how difficult it is to lose 11 in a row, much less 14 in a row? Now that the losing streak is over, I would be very shocked if the Sox don't win the next two games.

Price is not the problem, but I'll tell you what. He has also not been the 'ace' that we thought we were getting. I feel pretty confident every time he takes the mound, yet I've been let down by him too many times. He's supposed to be an ace. He has to do better.

^This. Not to mention the division hunt too.

Speier is one of the better Red Sox beat writers, IMO.

I'm not gonna lie, I was very happy to wake up and see that the Yankees lost that game. That said, I would have to agree that the decision/timing of the rain delay was very poor and unfair to both teams. My understanding is that Kirby, on 3 different occasions that inning, had the batter down 2 strikes, then proceeded to hit the batter.

A few thoughts about our catchers: 1. I am a huge Vazquez fan and have always preferred a defense-oriented catcher over an offensive one, but Vazquez was called up too quickly at the beginning of the year. Or in other words, Swihart was not given a long enough look. I wouldn't be surprised if he is sent down. 2. As Bellhorn stated in another thread regarding Leon's offense, enjoy it while it lasts. This is not a knock on Leon, as I have been a Leon fan since he was acquired, but I'm not sure that he will hit any better than Vazquez is hitting now. That said, I would not want to lose him at this point. 3. Getting rid of Hanigan would still be a huge mistake, IMO.

Your opinion is well noted. I don't share your sense of despair, but we'll see. Personally, I have 'Red Sox playoffs' penciled into my calendar for October. To be fair though, I usually do, and am often wrong.

A voice of reason times two. Good post.

Finally, a voice of reason. Thank you.

I understand gut feelings. I'm wondering what your gut feeling was before the last month or so. I know several people posted on here that the team reminded them of 2013's team. Most people seemed to think they had the X factor then.

Don't look now, but O'Sullivan was named the International League Pitcher of the Week. Does he get another chance?

First off, let me clarify my stance on Clay. I did not not say, nor did I mean to imply, that Clay had a decent outing last night. I have not really defended Clay's pitching this season, outside of defending one outing where I said that he did not pitch as poorly as most of you made it out to be. I have defended picking up his option last offseason, and I stand by that. I have not defended his overall body of work this season. He has pretty much stunk. If we had someone waiting in the wings that we know would pitch better than Clay, then I might be willing to move on from him, but we don't. I know many of you would rather see anyone else besides Clay. I still think Clay has more talent than most of the other options that we currently have. I also have way more patience with struggling players than most people have. I'm willing to give him one more start.

Clay gets one more start. If he stinks again, he should be done for the year as a starter. Also, I need to start the game thread for his next start (provided we do not win the game prior to that). There's just too much negative Clay mojo from the rest of you guys.

The Rangers are a remarkable 17-5 in one run games. They are 6 wins better than their Pythagorean W-L record. In other words, they've been lucky.

I do too. I mentioned before that if it's not the Sox, then the Cubs, I hope it's the Guardians. They have played themselves into a 5 game lead in the Central.