Kimmi

Come on Kelly, shut down inning!

He reported to ST a week early to work on his defense in left field. As far as working on it during the season, Farrell said something about "pacing" Hanley and not having him overdo it, but that Hanley has been very agreeable every time he's been asked to work on his defense.

Papi has some wheels on him! LOL

Kelly limited the damage. Let's get some more runs offense.

It never fails. This team has the uncanny knack of killing their own rallies with DPs.

Rewind and watch it!

This ump must be in a hurry to get home. He has a very generous strike zone.

Hanley!!!!!!!!

As I said in my previous post, I had some concerns about Hanley's attitude when I heard the Sox had signed him. However, several things that I read after his signing allayed my concerns. If his attitude is still indeed a problem, which I'm not convinced it is, then no one should really be surprised. Disappointed, yes, but surprised, no.

Yes, it is. This start will likely determine whether he or Wright goes to the BP.

I just don't understand why some of us are still sitting in our armchairs.....

Not only are we winning today's game, but we are going to sweep this series, bringing with it our first 3-game win streak since early April. You heard it here first! Thunder mojo will not be denied!

lol

I hope she'll be okay. She's still in the hospital with apparently life threatening injuries. Best wishes to her.

That was hilarious. He got away with one. Good catch by Remy.

That was interesting how he had to declare which hand he was going to pitch with. Funny to watch Swihart come out with his RH batting helmet on, then have to go back and switch to his LH batting helmet. Good stuff.

Somehow, sex is always involved.

I also really have no clue what you guys are talking about.

FTR, I really liked the Hanley signing, outside of my concerns about his attitude, which were quickly allayed during the offseason, and I really did not like the Panda signing, even though I was happy to have him on the team after it was done. In hindsight, it's easy to say that both of these signings were terrible, even though it's far too early to judge either of those moves. Third base was one of our weakest, if not our weakest, position last year, both offensively and defensively. Based on his performance last season, Panda should be a significant improvement, both offensively and defensively, over what we had last year. We all knew Hanley's defense would be an issue. However, I think most of us thought that he would be able to adjust to the position well enough that his offense would overcome his lack of defense. His offense should be good enough to give us an overall upgrade at left field over what we had last year. Also, I think Hanley was signed with the idea of being the DH next year or, at the latest, in 2017. When you consider that one of our biggest weaknesses from last season was right handed power and hitting overall, it makes perfect sense that the Sox signed Panda and Hanley. For whatever reasons, these signing are not looking good at the moment, but that doesn't mean that they were bad signings going in.

I would have to go back and look at each of the plays again to be sure, but I read tweet a little earlier that said that of the runners that were thrown out at home plate this season ( I think there have been 9), only 2 of them were bad calls by Butterfield, one of which was last night.

Good post. Being a disciplined and patient hitter does not always mean taking pitches and working the count.

^This.

Somebody quoting UBR stats? A man after my own heart. I can understand the Sox being aggressive. When you're not scoring runs, you need to try something to get the offense going.

IMO, the ultimate responsibility lies with the players. The way this team is playing is on them. They are the ones who are not performing up to expectations. Ben is not to blame. He assembled what should be a good team. He is not responsible for what happens on the field. Farrell and the coaching staff probably share some of the blame as well. When practically the whole team is underperforming, is having mental lapses, and is seemingly lacking in fundamentals, you have to wonder what is going on with the coaching staff.

LOL Tonight's win is all Thunder mojo!