Maxbialystock

Temp is supposed to get to 92 today in Boston, 86 by game time--and should be like that for all six games.

Estes vs. Bello Both righties, both young. Estes, 22, pitched a 9 inning shutout vs. the Angels 6 days ago. Same day, Bello went 6.2 IP vs the Marlins, giving up 1 run. Lately Cora has loaded up with lefty bats against righties. Here are the Sox OPS's vs righties: Devers 1.104, Duran .892, Abreu .819, Ref .816, Hamilton .771, Valdez .761, Wong .753, O'Neill .744, Yoshida .744, Rafaela .673, Gonzalez .639, Smith .623, McGuire .575. In his 10 games, lefty bats have an .864 OPS against Estes and righty bats .621. So I'm guessing 3 righty bats tonight: O'Neill in LF, Rafaela @ SS, and Wong catching. Valdez might get the nod over Hamilton @ 2b because of a hotter bat. Smith over Gonzalez @ 1b. Sox are 17-7 since losing 6-1 on June 8 to the White Sox just a month ago. That includes taking 4/6 from the Yankees and 2/3 from the Phillies. If the season ended last Sunday, the Sox would have the 3d wild card slot. With the next 6 games before the ASG break against the 34-58 A's and the 49-43 Royals (who are 18-25 on the road), the Sox have a chance to win 4/6 and stay in the wild card hunt. And that just might convince the Sox leadership to acquire an arm or a bat or both for the stretch run. As Cora has already said, other teams are going to.

I'm beginning to think that the key factor in the Sale deal was the willingness of the Braves to give him the 3 year deal (2024 plus 2 more) Sale insisted upon. The Sox almost certainly thought that was a horrible idea, so much so they were willing to sweeten the deal with $17M this year. Grissom was/is just someone Breslow could claim would pay off in the future. After he undergoes hamstring replacement surgery.

Oh, but we did sign another starter--Giolito.

Grissom's biggest problem is not of his doing. He was the guy Breslow got back from Atlanta after giving them Sale and paying $17M of his 2024 salary while Sale has become the Braves ace in 2024. No way, no how could Grissom make up for that disaster. As for Yoshida, 2 weeks ago I listed 5 reasons for not giving up on him, and right now he almost looks like an asset. That dinger Friday was huge and clutch--in Yankee stadium!! A story he will tell his grandchildren. Make no mistake: I have criticized both players endlessly because I am as shortsighted as anyone on talksox. Way back in April I figured the Sox for 81-81. But this bunch of no names have changed my mind. Cora is the best manager in MLB and Bailey close to the best pitching coach. Plus I was hugely impressed when Kenley Jansen phoned Cora from the bullpen and asked/told him to send Jansen in to get the last out in the 8th inning and then pitch the 9th. When a very senior veteran shows he wants to win, that means something.

He can maybe right his own little ship, but he sure ain't righting the Sox ship. That's already being done by the likes of Rafaela, Hamilton, Gonzalez, and Valdez. And let's not forget that standing in the wings are three pretty good middle infielders: Trevor Story, Marcelo Mayer, and Kristian Campbell. Grissom had a very nice 41 games, 1/4 of a season, two years ago with the Braves. Since then he's played 46 games with the Sox and been terrible--and that's without getting into his persistent problem with his hammies. And to get Grissom, the Sox not only gave away Chris Sale, but are paying $17M of his salary with the Braves, where he is their ace. There is no way, no how that scale balances out. In fact, it's kind of on par with signing Giolito for $38M for 2 years, who is already missing all of this year with next season somewhat in doubt. The good news is that the 2024 Sox, especially the pitching, have prevailed. If ever there was a time to screw up an acquisition like Grissom--or Giolito--this was the year to do it. Neither is missed.

Good words, phrases. I like Judge. I think he's a heckuva player. But you are right about the overplay, which I believe is company policy. These days--and for all I know, in days past as well--teams aren't nearly as important as individual stars. And that just might be the problem with Sox attendance this season. Winning is fine, Ok, good, glad you did it. But stars are what we pay the big bucks to see in person.

Sorry you missed it too. But you do say the right things.

I like the idea of a RH hitter a lot because the Sox are faring much better on the road than at the Fens with the Green Monster, which is made to order for good righty bats. However, I also like the idea of a reliable starter. The problem, of course, is that Bloom and now Breslow have bombed on the "reliable" part. The current Sox pitching coach, Andrew Bailey, seems to know something about pitchers, so maybe he can help them find a good one. The point is, this Sox team is definitely in the hunt for the postseason.

You are so full of it. Total attendance absolutely and irrefutably is down. Average attendance this year (32,366), last year (32,989), and 2022 (32,408) has been consistent and below what it was before covid. In the five seasons before covid it was 36,564 in 2015 (when the Sox finished last in the AL East), 36,486 in 2016 (when the Sox won the AL East), 36,020 in 2017 (when the Sox won the AL East), 35,747 in 2018 (when the Sox won the AL East, the WS and more games, 108, in the regular season than in any other season in Sox history), and 36,106 in 2019 (when the Sox did not make the postseason despite the biggest payroll in MLB). Now, hold onto your seats, sports fans. In 2012 average attendance was 37,567, which could have been doctored, but not by much. That was Bobby Valentine's monster team, 69-93, and you couldn't keep Sox fans away from Fenway. They had Pedey, Big Papi, AGon, Aviles, Ross, Nava, Saltalamacchia, Lester, Tazawa, Buchholz, Miller, et al. They stunk to high heaven, but the stands were full. Six years later came the 2018 Sox, the best Sox team in history with 108 wins plus an 11-3 record in the postseason and of course the WS. They were loaded with talent: MVP Mookie, JDM, Beni, Bogey, JBJ, Holt, Pearce, Moreland, Sale, Price, Porcello, ERod, Kimbrel, Wright, Eovaldi, et al. But the 2018 best Sox team ever averaged 2000 fewer fans per game than the 2012 Sox, easily the worst Sox team in the JH era.

To me that's the big deal with this series and this season. These freaking Sox are tougher than they seem, especially when they lose 14-4. The Yankees? Not so much. Do I need to add that Friday in game 1 Yoshida, all 5'8" of him, tied it up in the 9th with two outs and two strikes and a man on first? Then in the 10th Rafaela, who's even smaller, hit another 2 run dinger? The Sox rotation is not broken. Nor is the bullpen. The lineup makes errors and sometimes can't score runs, but that bunch of no-names--not including Devers, of course--is getting better and better.

What an idiot, especially when Jansen actually struck Judge out. I hasten to add that, based on what the ump was giving to Yankees pitchers, two of the balls by Jansen could have been called strikes.

I do--somewhat. You see where I live, which means I'm over 200 miles from Atlanta, Washington, and Baltimore, but those are my blackout teams. As it has been explained to me those blackout restrictions are intended to compel me to attend games played in Atlanta, Washington, and Baltimore, which from here is just insane. I have yet to encounter the "random west coast blackout" syndrome.

Well good for him. Seriously.

Well said.

I do not see Grissom back in Boston this season, short of a bunch of injuries. I would take Valdez, Hamilton, Rafaela, and Gonzalez over Grissom. If it comes to it, Mayer as well. Grissom was OK 2 season ago, but not last season or this season. Plus what is it with the hamstrings, for crying out loud?

Good grief. I had no idea he was hitting that well. Gotta keep him. He killed us in game 1 vs the Yankees, but Yoshida brought us back with 2 outs and 2 strikes in the 9th at Yankee Stadium. Then Rafaela sealed it in the 10th. My goodness, what a game!

I think you're right. Jansen's been there, done that, and probably doesn't care about going again.

Tomorrow's off, but Tuesday starts 3 vs the A's and the Sox going with Bello, Pivetta, and Houck, the same three who were excellent @ Miami. It's remotely possible the Sox will be able to get on the winning side at the Fens. My new theory is the Sox don't get enough doubles, especially from their righty batters.

Sure did.

Watching Jansen pitch reminds me of Kevin Costner in the movie Tin Cup in which he breaks all of his clubs except the 7 iron, which he never misses with. That's Jansen and his cutter. Huge win by the Sox!!!!! After yesterday 14-4 and winning the first game in extra innings, I think this win over the Yankees is like the signature game of this season. It tells me these Sox are for freaking real.

Funny thing, but that is basically what he does. Whatever he's throwing seem to work even though it's basically the same pitch every time, just in different places.

That home plate ump is a world class putz. That first pitch was right on the freaking corner and he called it a ball because it was thrown by a Red Sox pitcher. Smooth cover of 1b by our gigantic closer.

Hey, it's their stinking homerun playground, so I love it when the Sox get cheap ones. And in this case that cheapie was huge, gigantic, and otherwise very useful to the cause of winning this freaking game. So far Crawford and the very gifted Slaten have pitched shutout baseball for 8 innings at Yankee Home of the Homer Stadium. Ain't that sumthin?

Think it's possible Devers is tad classier and a whole bunch better ballplayer that Verdugo?