Maxbialystock

GIDP on a play the Sox don't make. After 2 innings, Rasmussen 24 pitches and Eovaldi 39, but of course Nate is a lot stronger.

Even better. Eovaldi is sheer perfection today. Just a tiny glitch in the 1st. JDM gets another hit! He needs to trip over 2d base about every 10 games next year.

37 games is a huge number, so a brain fart as well.

Five K's in 2 innings! This game is in the bag.

Eovaldi so far averaging 7 pitches per out, which is just fine.

Eovaldi throwing lots of strikes!!!! This is so great!!!!

I misunderstood the WEEI announcers.

Rasmussen seems to have better command and Eovaldi better stuff.

Rasmussen's 37th postseason game.

Lovely day for a ball game. Eovaldi's doing great, and it makes absolutely no difference how many runs he gives up in the top of the 1st. Really like the Sox uniforms, the crowd, the ambiance, the announcers, and all the upbeat folks on talksox.

Every game is important now. Today/tonight is big primarily because the Sox actually have a good starter. ERod and Sale combined for 2.2 innings and 7 runs. If we didn't know better, I'd say they were both saboteurs.

Absolutely neat list, with which I completely agree. Others may differ, but not by much. And a good manager cannot afford to ignore the recency factor. With 2 very high, 3 high, and 3 moderate, I'm think Cora has enough to get through the next 2 or 3 games. There's another day off before the last game. So Eovaldi--on 5 days rest--hopefully goes at least 5 innings today and Houck, also on 5 days rest, the same Wednesday. Tomorrow is tricky both because ERod and Pivetta will be on 4 days rest and because much will depend on today's outcome. Tomorrow is tricky. ERod and Pivetta will both be on 4, not 5 days rest.

I stand corrected. The Rays pitching stats--individual WAR's--say McHugh is the Rays 3d best pitcher, period. Wisler, not so much. Wacha actually has a WAR of -.7, so why would Cash insert him when the Rays were only down 8-6?

Yes it does, and that's certainly good news. Less good is that Sale and ERod both look like stinkers, Pivetta is up and down, and Houck can't pitch 4 or 5 great innings whenever Eovaldi isn't starting.

Two mvp's. Houck was one. You were the other when, in the midst of the Sox losing game 1, you said the Sox would win the ALDS in 4 games. Then Sale started game 2 by giving up 5 runs in the first inning. Who knew then that your prediction would hold up?

A season of surprises from the Orioles sweeping the Sox to start, to the Sox leading the AL East for most of the first half of the season, to the slide backwards in the 2d half culminating in the Yankees sweep at Fenway followed by the Orioles taking 2 of 3 in late September, to the great sweep of the Nats in the final series, and the thrill of beating the Yankees and their ace Cole in the wild card game! The ALDS was gravy, playing with house money. And, frankly, it should have been essentially over when ERod and Sale crapped out in the first two games while giving up 7 freaking runs in 2.2 innings! But Cora outmanaged Cash, Houck was brilliant for 5 innings, and the Sox hitters scored an astounding 14 runs in game 2. Now, improbably, the Sox have the edge with Eovaldi on the mound today at Fenway, where he has pitched well against the Rays this year. And 2 of the next 3 games, including today, are at the Fens. That said, the Rays are playing in their 3d straight postseason and barely lost the WS last year to the Dodgers, 4 games to 3. Statistically, they have better hitting, pitching, defense, and baserunning, and Cash is a good manager. This ALDS is a long way from over. The Rays could still win. But they are the ones wondering what hit them.

The only big things the Sox do better is manage. The Rays hitting, pitching, fielding, and baserunning are all better. As evidence I cite game 1 and game 2 of this ALDS. The Rays won game 1 easily and, based on Sale's horrible start, should have won game 2 easily if Cash had taken it seriously as Cora in fact did. Instead, Cash did not use his best relievers, Cora had gambled JDM could still hit with a bad ankle, and the Sox hitting erupted. As others have pointed out, even when the Rays came back to make the score 8-6 Sox, Cash still did not send his good relievers out but a starter instead, and Wacha got stomped on. To me game 1 showed that, when the Rays put their best pitchers on the mound, they can beat the Sox. Cora's smarts ain't much good if the players don't deliver. And game 2 demonstrated that Cora can persevere even when his 2d best starter gives up 5 freaking runs in the first inning. I exaggerate of course because Houck had to pitch 5 terrific innings in relief, the rest of the bullpen pitch 3 scoreless innings, and the Sox lineup to erupt as they did on August 11th (20-8 at Fenway and against the Rays).

I think you are exaggerating, but I agree with the premise that normally, usually you don't want to give away games in the playoffs. That said, however, in 2007 Francona sort of did that. The Sox were down 2-1 to the Guardians in the ALCS, and there were those who said he should start his ace, Beckett in game 4 with just 4 days rest. But Francona reasoned that, since a game 5 was guaranteed, he would rather let Beckett start game 5 fully rested. The Sox did in fact lose game 4, went down 3-1 to the Guardians, and still pulled out the ALCS by winning three straight.

I too like where the Sox stand right now. The ALDS is theirs to win. What I don’t understand is why you now claim the Rays really ain’t so good. Those “little things” are hitting, pitching, defense, and baserunning, all of which they usually do better than the Sox. What we are looking at now is an upset. Why is that somehow unworthy? The Sox having to play the wild card game and starting Eovaldi gave the Rays a big advantage. Cora had to send ERod up against McClanahan, a mismatch which ensured game 1 for the Rays. Fair enough. Then last night Sale handed game 2 over to the Rays in the first inning when he gave up 5 runs, after which catastrophe struck! The Rays, not the Sox. Cora had already set that in motion by gambling JDM, who did not play in game 1, could still hit with a bad ankle and stuck him in the lineup. Then he pulled Sale after one inning and sent in his best reliever in the 2d freaking inning. He gambled Houck could hold ‘em while the lineup kicked them in the ass—which both did magnificently. Cash helped the Sox by not sending in his best relievers to keep that 3 run lead. Cora simply outmanaged Cash, and the Sox bullpen and lineup came through big time as they did in the Nats series. And against the Yankees.

Wrong!!!! The Sox could not go back to NYC for the final 3 games because the had already played them 19 times. Stop making stuff up. I might add the wild card game clearly defined where both teams stood in the postseason. The Sox were better, period.

His look was the same as always, which is as unemotional as he can make it. I do think he choked because he walked the first batter in both innings, which is why Cora pulled him. My heartburn with EROD is his unprofessional defense—he sometimes doesn’t cover 1b on grounders to the right. He has, however, pitched well in august and September. He will start game 4 because he’s the best of poor choices, and Cora will again be ready to pull him early.

His regular season ERA in 2018 was 2.11, basically half what it was in the postseason. Aces rise to the occasion in the postseason. Think Schilling, Beckett, Lester, Lackey, Eovaldi--but not Price. Sale has pitched 26 postseason innings and given up 21 runs. Pedro pitched 96 postseason innings and had an ERA of 3.46. He stunk, however, in 2003 and 2004 and 2009 (with the Phillies).

I doubt that anyone on talksox wants Sale to start game 5.

Well reasoned. I'm arguing from a sense of disappointment in Sale overall. He is the very model of an ace--very professional, great presence on the mound, good command, and good stuff-- but to me he has not delivered, especially late in the season, the way other Sox aces have. Your point about his K's is fascinating--especially the Nats game last Sunday. I'm convinced he's lost his changeup, which gets him down to just two pitches, four seamer and slider, against all those righty bats.

Target hit! See just above for my new version of why you're right.