Maxbialystock

Judge was out with no runners advancing.

Judge hit a fly to RF which the runners could not advance on.

Looks like Pivetta wants to let the Yankees back into the game. First the HBP, then the clean single to LF off his fastball down the middle.

Double off the green monster becomes a cinch single for the Yankees left fielder who simply waits for the good bounce and has an easy throw to 2b. Yoshida, like a bunch of Sox left fielders before him, can do the same thing. And almost none of those Sox left fielders could/can play RF the way Dugo does.

I'd keep him. I prefer Wong but I think Cora likes the both of them. I do believe in CERA but I'm not sure Wong has the edge there. I have zero CBO/GM credentials, so I won't complain if McGuire is traded.

I think Pivetta is at his best when his sliders/sweepers break sharply and aren't in the middle of the strike zone. But today he's also throwing a hard fastball (96 mph, even 97) and keeping it away from the center of the strike zone. I don't think he has a changeup.

It is indeed, especially when this game replaces last night's game, so a whole bunch of tickets are paid for. That said, we are also seeing why night baseball was created. A day game on a work day is tricky.

Maybe, maybe not. At the end of the movie Moneyball, we see Billy Beane fly to Boston to talk to John Henry, who compliments Billy on how little the A's paid (team payroll) for each win that season (2002), especially in comparison to how much the Yankees paid for each win. He then offers Billy a massive salary to come do the same for the Sox--which Billy declines. This season we have seen not one but two AL East franchises field terrific teams--the Orioles and the Rays--with payrolls ranked 28th and 27th in MLB. Sabermetrics might have been involved, but the story line is that they have good minor league systems that produced talented young players who are not yet pricey free agents. The Yankees and Sox, meanwhile, have plenty of pricey free agents who haven't delivered. The Yankees payroll is 2d highest in MLB and the Sox the 15th highest. Appropriately, the Sox have the better won-lost record. In the middle of the AL East--the best division (based on won-lost records) in MLB--are the Jays with 9th highest payroll in MLB. We can hope the Sox can win using the Rays/Orioles model, but they won't until they figure out how to assess and develop young pitchers.

I'm blithely assuming the good-hitting Story (lifetime OPS .839) will emerge. But you're right about Reyes/Urias.

And he came up through the Sox system. Flawed though it no doubt is, it's better than buying starters on the open market.

Pretty much--he and Devers. With those two on the corners and Story and Reyes/Urias up the middle, a good hitting infield whose fielding is OK. Plus guys coming up.

Agree. That said, there can't be much doubt that Bello is far and away this team's best starter, and everyone else is way behind him.

I could be wrong, but I think most of the Orioles hits have come off Bello's fast ball. That double, however, was off the changeup.

Meh. The real story is that McGuire and Urias got the first real hits for the Sox in this game and that Rafaela struck freaking out with a man on 3b.

But the season is not in fact over. I'm pessimistic too, but the Sox are not yet mathematically eliminated from the wild card/postseason. That does not mean there are no reasons to play Rafaela or Abreu.

Mookie Betts is primarily an outfielder, none of whom have been affected by ending the infield shifts.

Not wrong. As has been discussed many times, the return of Sale, Houck, and Whitlock combined with Bello, Paxton, Pivetta, Crawford, Jansen, Martin, Schreiber, Bernardino, Winckowski, and Murphy should have been enough pitching. Same goes for the bats of Devers, Dugo, Turner, Yoshida, Casas, Duran, Wong, Duvall, Ref, Story, Reyes, and even McGuire. I think the 48 games--starting 4 August) with just 3 days off affected the pitching more than I/we expected. It could also have affected the hitting, but I doubt it. Surprisingly, the arrival of Story improved the defense at a key spot, SS, but didn't seem to help much because the pitching was awful. When Houck got beat up in the 6th inning in his last game, everyone seemed to say, "see, he's awful the third time through the lineup." My rebuttal is, "at least he got to the 6th inning because right now Sale, Paxton Pivetta, and Crawford can't."

I think you can argue it either way. The Sox still have a shot, and Cora wants his best lineup in there. Rafaela definitely has potential, but the other guys have experience. Or put it this way, Rafaela is a know quantity in terms of potential. I believe moonslav when he says Rafaela will start in CF next year. So right now it might make sense to see what Duvall, Dugo, Ref, etc can do in terms of keeping them or trading them.

Game over. See ya.

On this team with this rotation, Houck fits right in. They all have trouble going 6 innings and sometimes 5 or even 4 innings.

At least Jacques is consistent. Last time out, he HBP'd the first two batters he faced.

Houck simply blew up the third time through the Orioles order. I doubt that happens the third time Bradish goes through the Sox order.

Bradish vs Houck, both righties Big edge to the Orioles, of course Five lefty bats in the lineup Verdugo RF Devers 3B Turner DH Casas 1B Duvall CF Yoshida LF Story SS Valdez 2B Wong C

Actually, as you well know, while I like defense, especially great defense, I value hitting a whole lot more. Same goes for pitching--way more valuable. Defense is a distant 3d.

Makes sense. I like Duvall and he has the arm for right field.