Maxbialystock

Nope. Gotta have 2 catchers.

Devers has been Kikuchi's best friend in this game--every time he needs an out, Devers delivers. When was the last time a manager, seeing his starter was on his last legs, has left him in because Devers was coming to bat? As soon as Devers provided the out, in comes a reliever.

What is it with Wong? He's not too bad at getting on base, but seems unable to score any runs. He needs to focus on scoring. Hitting is the easy part.

Ump definitely helped Yoshida on that dinger--by calling two strikes balls. Yoshida may be slow on the bases and not much in the outfield, but that's a pretty good swing.

Tapia in for Duran a small surprise, but otherwise a pretty inevitable lineup--including Kike at SS and Arroyo at 2b. I'm surprised the Sox have scored 2 runs already because I'm impressed with Kikuchi's repertoire, which works well against Devers, but not so much Dugo, Arroyo, Wong, and Yoshida. Houck is going great guns. Until Varsho gets the double. Got the groundout for his 12th out and a scoreless 4 innings.

Meh. Jacksonianmarch usually has pretty good insights. Plus we should be kind to him--given that the Yankees have unquestionably fallen on hard times going back at least 20 years. They won three straight, 1998-2000, but have won just once, 2009, in the John Henry era.

The Red Sox have repeatedly demonstrated a preference for SS's who can hit first, field 2d. As soon as they realize they are playing a SS who is a superb fielder, they dump him. This has actually worked well in the John Henry era.

I'm higher on Sale than you because I think he was tipping his pitches or whatever in Baltimore. I think he's back and probably our ace. Then it's just a bunch of decent but not terrific starters--in order, Houck, Pivetta, Bello, Kluber, and Paxton. Including Sale, that's 6 starters. I would start Crawford over a couple of those guys--and certainly over Whitlock--but the real point is that Winckowski, Crawford, and now Whitlock can give Cora some long relief options, depending on game situations. That's exactly when he did with Schreiber when he sent him back out to pitch the 9th last night after that disastrous 8th inning in which Kike tried to sabotage the game. Or put it this way. The bullpen is the strength of this pitching staff. However, to win consistently, the rotation must avoid what Kluber and Sale were doing earlier in the season. What Kluber did last night, especially against the Jays, was just right. That game was won until Kike decided to help the Jays back into it. I see absolutely no need to bring Whitlock back to the rotation.

As unlikely as that is. On the other hand, I have high hopes for this current Jays series although their lefty starter tonight, Kikuchi, looks pretty tough. That means that Casas will probably sit, Turner move to 1b, and Refsnyder or Yoshida will be DH. Wong bats righty, so he fits. It's possible both Arroyo and Kike will start in the infield. The four lefty bats staying in tonight's lineup have to be Verdugo, Devers, Yoshida, and Duran. The point is that you and Thunder have identified that this year's Sox allow us to hope a little. The hitting is the big surprise, but the bullpen has also been pretty good. Rotation and defense, not so hot.

Wow. I had completely forgotten.

Let's not forget that, despite all the jibes from talksoxers, Kluber had a pretty decent start and Wright had a pretty decent night behind the plate. I'm a big fan of Connor Wong, but see absolutely nothing bad in having two good catchers. No one has been more anti-Kluber than I, so could not be happier to see him have two back to back good starts. Credit, once again, to Cora for letting Kluber go 5.1 innings and for bringing Winckowski back for the 9th inning. Also for sending Tapia in to run for Kike.

A good reminder, especially for gripers like me. Huge walk.

But they sure said he's an idiot at 2b. One more time: that was a tough play at 2b on a ball hit into the LF corner at Fenway. It was not a routine tag. Also, as much as I dislike like Casas, I do like it when he gets yet another BB.

An embarrassment.

Because you're stupid.

Casas is such a loser. He does not have potential written all over him. Maybe something like, "no compete."

I'm always amazed when NESN interviews players--on camera yet--while the game is being played. It sends this message: we know this game is dreadfully boring with nothing on the field worth discussing, so here's some worthless bs which might distract you.

Absolutely nothing routine about that tag.

Disagree with both of you. The game has changed enough to encourage baserunners to vary how they touch the base, which of course is also bigger this year. There are few routine tags these days for someone sliding into 2b. Plus that double was down the line in LF, which makes it very difficult to get a runner going to 2b.

Sox batters getting some calls.

The last thing Casas wants is to swing. He has to be a joke among the umpires. Were I behind the plate with him up, I would call strikes on anything remotely close to the strike zone.

That's agent talk because agents only get a small percentage of the player's salary. The simple fact is that Raffy is fixed for life with a stupendous guaranteed contract.

A lotta good signs, agreed. I'll take Wong over Vazquez any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Biggest surprises have come from what I call the "no-name" offense, which currently is ranked 3d in MLB in runs scored. That's better than the marquee offenses of the Dodgers, Jays, Angels, Yankees, Astros, Padres, Phillies, etc.

Agree--and I'm looking forward to the Jays series.

The really neat thing about a MLB season is all those freaking games broken into series, home and away. Cleveland, 2d in the AL Central, just left-- --and in comes the semi-juggernaut, the great Toronto Blue Jays for four big ones. And Cora will be sending out Kluber, Houck, Pivetta, and Bello. Backing them up will be two pretty good long relievers, Winckowski and Crawford, and six others, including closer Jansen, for spot duty. My hope is that Cora won't commit Winckowski or Crawford to a game the Sox are unlikely to win. With Paxton due back soon and Whitlock out for maybe 2 weeks, right now the pitching staff seems brimming with health compared to the lineup players, among whom Duvall, Story, and Chang (who was impressive at SS) are all out for longish periods. But I like the Sox in this Jays series at the Fens.