Maxbialystock

Well, he said this one felt worse than last time. What exacerbates this is that we have no idea when Abreu returns. That's 2 pretty good lefty bats to go against righty pitchers, which the Sox see the most of. It doesn't help that in their last starts Crochet, Bello, and May did not look their best. These are the best Sox bats vs righties on the active roster: Lowe 1.209, Duran .881, Bregman .831, Story .736, Narvaez .735, Rafaela .722, Gonzalez,.697, Yoshida .674, Ref .620, Hamilton .595, Eaton .545, Wong .512. Last night most of those guys did real damage to Cleveland's pitching staff. Wong didn't play. Ref was hitless in 2 AB's. Hamilton played but didn't bat.

With Bregman struggling and Anthony possibly headed for the IL, the Sox lineup will need to rely heavily on all those other bats, including Rafaela's and Yoshida's, Tonight Cleveland starts lefty Cantillo, but this is first start in over 2 weeks, plus he started the season in the bullpen. In his last 3 starts he went 5.2, 5.2, and 5 innings and gave up 6 ER for an ERA of 3.31. The Sox best bats vs righties are Gonzalez (.994), Ref (.950), Bregman (.927), Story (.773), Narvaez (.748), Rafaela (.719), Eaton (.698), and Duran (.580). I left out Anthony's .770 because I doubt he can play tonight. All those others can. I also left out Lowe because (in just 9 AB's) his OPS vs lefties is .222. Were I Cora, I might go with this batting order tonight Ref DH Bregman 3B Gonzalez 2b Story SS Narvaez C Lowe 1b Rafaela CF Duran LF Eaton RF

Cora announced that Tolle will pitch the first game @ Arizona on Friday. Today will be potluck. I think the guy really being left out, for now, is May. After Tolle, the rotation is Giolito, Bello, Crochet, and a blank for May. I have bragged about this Sox rotation, but last night Crochet gave up 7 runs and the night before Bello gave up 4 in 5 IP.

Your complaint about Breslow makes no sense. The most important communicator on every MLB team is the manager, who talks to the media, answers questions, etc after every single game. CBO's pronouncements do not need to be all that informative. In fact, the less said, the better. Do you remember what was said after JH and Breslow flew to KC to talk to Devers? "We communicated." As for communicating with other teams about trades, etc,, are you unaware that Breslow transformed the Sox by bringing in Crochet, Bregman, Chapman, and Narvaez? Also Giolito, who needed a year to recover from an injury. Buehler bombed, agreed. Letting Sale go was a mistake. I'm sure there were others, but this is Breslow's first CBO job and he came in knowing that JH was unlikely to return to his biggest payroll in MLB days. This year the payroll is 12th. Do you remember what we all clamored for in July? Pitching, pitching, pitching. We didn't get a #2 starter, but right now the Sox have their best rotation--Crochet, Bello, Giolito, May, and Tolle--in a long time. And the bullpen is pretty good too. And, thanks to the partnership between Cora and Breslow, the defense is also the best in years. I will say that Breslow absolutely must be able to communicate with his manager and with those above him. The evidence is overwhelming that he does both well.

Agree.

Any word yet on Anthony's MRI?

I will join you. Incredible game and terrific win!! The only guy I was sure of before the game was Crochet, so of course everybody else brought home the win. Hitting was terrific, defense was excellent, and the bullpen gave up 0 runs in 3 innings. Just 34.9K attended, but they sure got their moneys' worth. 34.9K is still 1500 above the Sox average home attendance this season. Earlier, I think I pointed out another thread that 5 AL Teams have 76 wins or more (with Detroit at 80 wins). However, Houston and Detroit have played just .500 ball since the ASG, The other three--Toronto, Boston, and NYY are all above .500 since the ASG. Tonight both Detroit and Houston are losing and other three have won or are winning.

Ya think?

Good to hear even though your voice is a little raspy.

Dinger #2 off Crochet. Game not over.

Sox 3 for 5 with RISP.

Crochet has just 3 K's, but he's also thrown just 56 pitches in 5 innings.

Romy's OPS in August was .707. Sox defense tonight has been solid, with Story the standout.

What's the deal on Eaton for Anthony in RF?

That low inside breaking ball is death against Anthony.

Against righty starters, his OPS is .689, plus his DWAR is freaking -0.8. Hamilton's OPS in August was .918 and his DWAR is 1.3, 4th best in MLB. Gonzalez overall WAR is 1.2 and Hamilton's is 1.0. Agree completely Rafaela should stay in CF, but disagree Gonzalez ahead of Hamilton against righty starters.

Devers .905 was over 73 games, almost half a season because he didn't miss a single game. Since his lifetime OPS is ,858, I think it's hard to argue the .905 wasn't legit. If he was 1b instead of DH, I see his OPS dropping. Agree Casas likely to be .750 to .850, but we can't be sure that injury--running to 1b--wouldn't have occurred anyway, We agree on Yoshida. I did not say Abreu should DH, only that one of the three outfield lefty bats should against righty starters. I think Anthony was usually Cora's first choice to DH, but Duran would also be a good choice. Dinger by Lowe--to CF, yet. Good acquisition, and I remember being indifferent when I heard they signed him.

Absolutely brilliant swinging bunt by Narvaez. 4-1 on hard hit single by Anthony. Looks like Narvaez got picked off 2b.

Yessiree.

Bottom of the order comes thru nicely!!!

That hurt. Another hard hit ball, this one a dinger, also off a pitch well outside the strike zone. Sox hitters need to, well, hit the dadgum ball.

That at bat hurt. After 1 IP, Crochet 20 pitches, Cecconi 10.

Bellhorn to the rescue!!!

First inning and the ump has already screwed Crochet and handed a big gift to Cecconi.