Maxbialystock

I like Cora a lot. But I just caught a glimpse of Terry Francona managing still another team into the postseason. In his first postseason with the Sox and the Yankees were up 3 games to none in the ALCS, he said "we don't have to win 4 games, we just have to win the next game."

I figured.

☺️

Yep We won. I'm watching the Dodgers game too.

I love the flag and must have saluted it a zillion times, but I sure didn't like the way those yahoos waved it around. They weren't there for the golf or the competition, but to be as insulting as possible.

I definitely would have sent Whitlock out for the 8th, but it's pretty hard to complain about the result.

A little off topic, but i watched big chunks of the Ryder Cup and thought those fans were disgusting. Tonight, all I saw was Yankees fans rooting for the their ball club.

Astounding, amazing, perfectomundo. It's almost exactly what I thought could happen because Crochet has been so good. But so has the Yankees hitting. The Sox secret weapon does it again--Yoshida, Yoshida, Yoshida! Plus Sogard, in for Lowe, hits a huge double to set things up for Yoshida. Sending Crochet out for the 8th was a huge gamble, but it worked. Here's hoping his arm doesn't fall off before his next start.

Good stuff. Thanks. I think winning tonight is crucial and not easily done.

Thanks everyone for a bunch of opinions and insights. Like several of you I'm nervous as heck about tonight because I think winning this one with our ace is essential. Our Sox struggled at the end and the Yankees breezed. However that breeze was helped by playing 12 games against three teams with losing records. The Sox meanwhile played two postseason teams in their final 6 games. In fact, they took 2 of 3 at Toronto, which has the best record in the AL. The Jays have a good offense, but were held to 1 run in each of the first 2 games--one week ago!!--by Sox pitching. For tonight I do expect Cora to stuff the lineup with righty bats.

That's almost exactly what I was mulling last night, especially Eaton in RF for Abreu. Too bad the Sox don't have another righty bat to put in LF.

Nice!

Thanks.

They ae awfully good sig lines.

Well said. Cora has managed the Sox in two postseasons, both of them successful

As for the OP, I'd rather the Sox were going to Toronto where the Sox took 2 of 3 less than a week ago. The Yankees are hot and will be starting their 2 best against the Sox Tues and Wed. When the Sox recently took 3 of 4 at Yankee Stadium, Anthony was playing and hot. I'm not saying the situation is hopeless. If Crochet has a great game Tuesday and the Sox can score 2 or 3 runs, they could win.

Well, I guess that means Cora is going to be banned yet again from MLB because Saturday, after gaining the postseason Friday night, he didn't start a bunch of regulars--Story, Bregman, Duran, and Gonzalez--and the Sox lost. What he did was obviously much worse than stealing signals or betting against the Sox. How dare he rest players and disturb the competitive balance of MLB?

You're big paragraph is exactly why I focus on the pitching. If it's good, the Sox have a little bats--Duran, Story, Bregman, Yoshida, Gonzalez, Rafaela, Lowe, Abreu/Ref, and Narvaez-- is capable of scoring some if not many runs.

Look at the box scores of the games the Sox have won. Most of them show that the Sox pitching has yet again carried the day. So my biggest concern is the pitching because I know we don't have much of a lineup. If the pitching is good, we got a shot. If it ain't, we don't. And it sure helps the pitching when the defense makes great plays as Duran did last night with the bases loaded and 2 outs.

If he starts tomorrow, he would normally not pitch until Friday and thereby miss the first postseason round. If he doesn't start tomorrow, he will be well rested for the first game of the postseason.

2 ER in 5 IP ain't too shabby. Kind of a dull game with all those regulars getting a day of rest--which was a good idea.

Nope.

Duran's grab combined with how well he has been fielding in the last 3 months or so are why the Sox have the best defensive outfield in MLB now that Abreu is back. Lowe is our best defensive 1b this season.

The last thing I would call MLB is an ethical standard bearer for the American people. Teams have been stealing signals or trying to for over a century. Heck the Sox did it in 2017 with a smartwatch with Dustin Pedroia happily contributing. So have pitchers been doctoring the baseball. There is absolutely, positively no "honor system" in MLB. Cora was justifiably nailed because the Astros were so successful at sign stealing and because they were using technology (video camera in CF seats) to enable them to. In a 2019 article in The Athletic, Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich wrote that technological sign-stealing was an MLB-wide problem. I think the Commissioner or someone decided that the Astros needed to be made an example of--a decision with which I completely agree. I also agree with banning Cora from MLB for a year. However, I also agree with allowing Cora to return to MLB in 2021. I believe John Henry made it clear after the 2017 season that he did not want the Sox stealing signals via technology. Thanks to technology sign-stealing today is a lot harder to do. As for pitchers doctoring the ball, umpires check every pitcher when he comes off the mound. Do I need to bring up all the steroid use by pitchers and hitters?

I go by OPS, not BA, but agree with your points. Story has had one heckuva season.