Maxbialystock

Every time I see that replay, I think Dugo had no chance at 2d base. But I also agree with Cora that he didn't even try.

Chris Sale is textbook for why big/long contracts for starters are such a gamble.

Well, you sure picked the right night to do that.

Arroyo's the man . . . for the Yankees. Cole's OPS-against vs righties is .640, and Cora has 5 freaking righties in the lineup.

Very intelligent, heady hit by Casas--soft, but brilliantly placed.

Whitlock looks tough. Got an easy groundout after that non-error bad play by Dugo.

Whitlock is throwing a lot of sinkers, but the changeup is the deadly pitch. Sweeper pretty good too. Verdugo took a bad route on that fly ball which should have been out #3.

Cole is red hot this year, including a complete game shutout vs. the Twins way back in April. 7-0 with an ERA of 2.82. However, his ERA in May was 5.18, including giving up 5 to San Diego on May 28, 5 to Baltimore on May 23, and 5 to Tampa on May 7. And the Yankees are 9th in runs scored to the Sox 5th.

I'm not sure he will be fine, plus right now his WAR is the 2d worst on the team. Nevertheless, I agree that he ain't the problem. It's pitching and the whole lineup, not just Casas. Also, if your hitting and pitching aren't so hot, having the world's greatest defense can't save you.

The Sox scored a total of 3 runs in this game. As I pointed out on another game thread, 80% of the Sox wins have occurred when they score at least 5 runs. 3 ain't going to do it. Kluber pitched a clean 5th, at which point the score was 3-1, Cleveland. So out he went to pitch the 6th and just got hammered: the first four Cleveland hitters went dinger, single, double and double, making the score 6-2. At that point I thought the game was out of reach because of the recent spate of weak hitting by the Sox. And I think it's pretty clear that, by leaving Kluber in, Cora had reached the same conclusion. So why use Kluber at all? Because he's on the freaking roster. As it turned out, when Kluber went out to pitch the 6th--after a very successful 5th inning--the Sox definitely had a shot. But then came the avalanche. When Ramirez led off with the dinger, the score was still just 4-2. It wasn't until the 4th hit that it went to 6-2. As for Whitlock not starting last night, Cora gave him 6 days rest between his first and second starts (since returning to the rotation) and probably figured to give him 6 days this time--which is tonight.

Not that it's relevant, but Kike's DWAR is -0.2, which means that his defense will have cost one win by the end of the season. Also irrelevant is that, at least during the John Henry era, the Sox have always preferred hitting over fielding at the SS position--and, really, all other positions. That stupid approach has led to 4 World Series wins. Another irrelevancy is that Kike, who has been a pretty good centerfielder, inherited the SS job when everyone else--Story, Chang, Arroyo, et al--went on the IL. Anyone care to guess which two players are seriously damaging the defense? Yoshida with a DWAR of -0.8 and Casas with a DWAR of -0.9. But enough of irrelevancies. Let's beat up on Kike, Cora, and Bloom some more.

Agree. Hitting is suspect right now.

moonslav provided a comprehensive laydown on usage of the bullpen and made a convincing case that the bullpen is not, repeat not, being overused. I also agree with moonslav that this year's bullpen is an improvement over last year's. I also think the rotation is better, but the injury to Sale is dismaying. The hitting is definitely better than last year, but the defense is worse. And, frankly, I think the hitting is vastly more important than the defense.

Crawford vs Bibee, both righties Bibee is a rookie, but has more starts (7 vs 3) than Crawford and a pretty good ERA (3.20). Four days ago Crawford went 3 IP with 1 ER, very likely to test the waters for a future start. Bibee went 5 with 3 ER six days ago and has not faced the Sox. I give Cleveland the edge tonight because Crawford ain't no Paxton, who had to go 8 IP and 2 runs last night just to keep the Sox in the game. They/we rallied for 4 in the 8th, but then Martin gave 2 back in the 8th before Jansen pitched a clean 9th for the 1 run save. I don't see that scenario repeating itself, but also admit I'm a terrible prognosticator. Also this. I've read a ton of negativity on talksox lately--and contributed some myself. Nevertheless, I do think this team is better than last year's and a glance at the wild card race says that the Sox are just 6.5 games behind the Orioles, the top wild card team in the American League. Given that the Sox still play 13 X 4 = 52 games against AL East teams and the AL East this year is the winningest Division in the history of MLB Divisions, getting a wild card berth is a worthy and attainable goal.

Meh. He makes a ton more money in the investment world than as the Sox owner--although he will probably make a bundle when he sells the Sox, if he does.

Nor with me. Way too much baseball ahead of us.

Like I said in the OP, the magic number for wins is 5 runs. Baloney! This took a superb start by Paxton, a great rally by the Sox--aided by the Guardians lousy bullpen--and an excellent save by Jansen. Also some pretty good defense. Ain't that something.

Sure has. And I've gone completely ape every time he's blown a save and even a couple of times when he didn't quite.

Well, the 1 run lead is going to have to do.

Of course I do. The Sox are paying him $16M this year.

The throw beat the runner, but that was dumb by Reyes. With a 3 run lead in the 8th, take the sure out.

This is directed at all you carping critics of Devers. Tonight, when it really counted, he very wisely and astutely did not swing at all.

Another classic!!

Just a reminder I wrote this around the 2d inning, I think. He pitched a very gutsy 7 innings tonight.

After all my belly-aching, Paxton has gone 5 innings while giving up just 2 runs.