Maxbialystock

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.

I watched the game and thought he was terrific. Granted, Cleveland's runs-scoring is like 25th of 30 MLB teams. However, in the first two games they scored 5 runs off Houck and won the game and then 7 runs, mostly off the bullpen--Brasier, of course--before losing to the Sox on Saturday. . And yesterday in the 6th inning they definitely had something going with Kwan doubling to lead off, then Rosario singling and on the idiotic throw by Verdugo--which, you guessed it, Sale, ever the professional backing up home plate, caught, thus keeping Rosario on 2b. So then the fly out, the soft ground out to Wong, and the grounder to Turner to Sale covering 1B. I'm not against a high 90's fastball, but I frankly believe a good changeup against those righty bats would do more good. In any case, this year Sale is using a four pitches: slider, fastball, cut fastball, and changeup. I also thought something was weird in his previous outing in Baltimore where he gave up 5 runs on 9 hits in 5 innings with no K's. My strong impression was that the Orioles hitters knew what Sale was throwing before he released the ball. If you assume something weird happened in Baltimore--to Sale's great disadvantage--then he's actually pitching decently for three straight outings. He is definitely back--and far more so than we had any right to expect.

Dugo was also part of that trade, which to me was mostly about dumping salary (all of Mookie's and some of Price's).

Another? Are you telling me the Sox already have a lefty reliever?

A very good win tonight and in the series. The thing about Sale's excellent start--and it truly was--is that it was pretty much unexpected. The lineup has kind of a bunch of no names, but they score freaking runs. The rotation has bigger names, but is rife with inconsistency. Of the eight top WAR's on the Sox pitching staff, seven--Winckowski, Jansen, Crawford, Schreiber, Bernardino, Martin, and Kelly--belong to the bullpen. Houck has the only positive WAR among the starters.

Bruins lose in OT, 4-3, so end of season for them--at the Garden.

Mostly Sale, the same guy who started two starts ago. Could have been that good @ Baltimore, but I could swear they knew every pitch he threw before he threw it. He's doing better than I expected, in fact way better. The rotation is still kind of flaky, however.

Amen. Cleveland pitcher looks terrific.

There is a possible 2 hour gap.

I was suspicious of Sale's last start at Camden Yards and remain so. His stuff wasn't that bad, but the Orioles had no problem hitting his best pitches. At the time, I said he was tipping his pitches.

A decisive loss largely the result of better Cleveland pitching.

bieber vs pivetta, both righties. Sox starting 7 lefty bats

Two straight games in which Cora was a tad slow to make a pitching change.

Poor bastard might have stumbled across talksox and decided tonight it was now or never. However, jerks like me--thanks to moonslav--had already backed off. If you can hit, you can play. And tonight he was excellent at the plate and behind it and running the bases.

Tonight Kluber set a new standard for contrariness by a player on this Sox team this season. He still threw that 88 mph fastball, but pretty much made sure it didn't do any damage. No applause can be wild or loud enough. Assuming the Sox win this game and go back to 1 over .500, I think it might be time to get just a little more positive than most of us have been this season. The no-name lineup is hitting, and that's a fact, jack. The bullpen is bullpenning. The defense isn't killing us. Turner shouldn't have tried for 3d last night, but the baserunning has been OK. And Mr. McGuire, please take a bow for the brilliant way you caught Kluber tonight. I think the "que CERA, CERA" sign is off your back for now. Plus you can hit. What did I leave out? The rotation, of course. Hope springs eternal. If Kluber can keep doing something like tonight, that's seven starters, including Bello at AAA, which means starters plus long relievers plus short relievers plus Jansen. That horrible team ERA is in my opinion misleading.

Sale had a 4 run lead, so to me some of that lead was worth protecting. Sale should not have pitched the 5th and probably should have been replaced in the 4th. Tonight is quite different because The Sox were up 7-0 after two innings and Kluber has gone 6 while giving up just 1 run. Plus the better arms in the bullpen rested last night.

Many thanks for your conspicuous bravery. Kluber should thank you as well.