Maxbialystock

Great line. Truly.

Dumbest idea and move by any MLB executive this season. Sox don't need Shaw and they sure didn't need that win today.

Game. Justice is absolutely served. Ottavino gets a hold, Barnes gets a blown save, and Whitlock gets a win. And Bloom/Cora are patting each other on the back for bringing back Shaw.

I'll be honest and say I get a little weary about the "pitcher protection society" who argue that every pitcher, no matter how good or bad, is not required to defend his position because his errors don't count against his ERA, and and that he is entitled to the very best defense available--one that not only makes excellent plays but also never makes an error. Plus, in the case of Barnes, he is entitled to his own catcher because, Plawecki, who had no problem catching Eovaldi and then Ottavino for 8 innings, just wasn't good enough for our ace closer with the recent pay raise.

Do I think a better infield than Devers, Bogaerts, Shaw, Arroyo, et al, would have kept the score down below 3 runs? Yep. But Shaw was brought in to play defense, Arroyo is our best choice to play 2b, and Devers and Bogaerts are our best hitters.

No errors charged to the infield, so a little hard to claim Barnes, who now gets his own personal catcher when he comes into the game, was great out there today. That 2 run double scorched to right center was no fluke, but the result of Barnes losing some heat on his fastball--which was hit for that double--and less break on the knuckle curve, which he can't rely on so much these days. Meanwhile, Whitlock very obviously is pitching the way Barnes did earlier in the season.

I think JDM does have plate discipline. But what we saw in his last at bat is that he can't see the pitches being thrown to him.

Pivetta hasn't been at his best tonight, but Vazquez hasn't been much help and the defense has stunk--both JDM dropping the pop fly and Dalbec not holding onto the grounder. Great play by Devers, however. I do think this season is over for the Sox.

I'll piggyback on your comment to address the general topic: whither the Sox in the remaining games? While I agree that ultimately it always boils down to winning and/or losing games, right now it seems to me the bullpen is the biggest culprit. Our closer doesn't. Instead, he opens the floodgates for opposing hitters. His backup closer, if anything, is worse. And now Whitlock, who still has the best WAR and the best ERA in the bullpen, has given up 4 runs in his last 3 relief appearances (and a total of 3.9 innings). Taylor isn't look all that reliable either, and Hernandez is on the IL until September. I like the insights into the effect of the defense, but honestly don't think the defense is as big a problem as the bullpen, not when they are walking guys (Whitlock and Taylor) and giving up dingers (Barnes). I can't figure the hitting out except to say they can hit bad pitching (Orioles), but have trouble with good pitching (Yankees). Plus, as others have said repeatedly, the whole come from behind thing seems to have been been, well, left behind. I continue to trust in Cora even though Houck maybe could have pitched the 5th yesterday instead of Whitlock, but, honestly, that's 20-20 hindsight (except that in fact I did say stay with Houck on the game thread before Whitlock came in because I figured Whitlock for the 6th and 7th innings). So, one more time: this team is going nowhere unless and until the bullpen reasserts itself, which just might not be possible.

To me it makes no sense at all to say that catchers don't make a difference in how well pitchers pitch. I do agree CERA is an imperfect stat and that in some games pitchers are irretrievably horrible and in other games so good anyone could catch them. But in between those extremes, in maybe 2/3 of games, the pitcher on the mound is doing OK but doesn't have his best stuff or best control--or he's the kind of pitcher who doesn't normally have great stuff or command. And that's where a good pitcher's catcher can really help in what pitches he calls for, how he frames pitches, etc. Yesterday--how's this for a ridiculously small data point?--we saw Houck do pretty well with Vazquez behind the plate, but Whitlock and Taylor just give the game away in relief, mostly because of walks. Could Vazquez have done something more than he did to straighten those guys out? Probably not, but the thought lingers. In the second game Plawecki caught Eovaldi, who went 5, giving up 2 runs (both solo dingers), and then Perez and Sawamura who, unlike Whitlock and Taylor, pitched a pretty clean 6th--1 hit, no walks, no runs--compared to Whitlock/Taylor's disastrous 5th when they got 1 out while giving up 3 runs, 3 walks, and 3 hits.

We lost the first game because the bullpen, mostly Whitlock but also Taylor--both stalwarts for most of this season--conducted a walkathon. We lost the 2d game because of the Yankees pitching and the Sox anemic hitting. Before the July 31 deadline most if not all of us felt that Bloom absolutely had to acquire a really good starter, without which the Sox were doomed. Not so. In the subsequent 2+ weeks it's looking more and more as though the bullpen needed the fresh arms and the lineup another bat or two. The rotation has been pretty good, especially since Richards and Perez were sent to the bullpen.

Sox shut out by excellent Yankees pitching.

OK. Bullpen keeps it a 2-0. One more shot with the top of the order coming up.

Great K on Voit!!! Solid first two outs by Perez.

moonslav may not want to rejoin us, but he is still watching a very good game. Let's see what Perez can do.

Tough break, and a great play by the NYY pitcher.

One terrific at bat by Renfroe, resulting in a clean single off a down and away changeup right on the corner. 9th pitch.

Is anybody watching this guy Peralta? He's throwing great changeups low and on the outside corner.

Correction, 4 singles for the Sox.

The Sox have 3 singles in this game, which tells me the Yankee pitchers have been tough. We get charged up with all those Sox baserunners and forget that 4 of them were on walks.

Kudos to Eovaldi, who is pitching with a lot of heart. In 5 innings, 2 runs on 2 dingers, 7 hits, 6 K's, and 1 BB.

Meh. The Sox have simply run into good pitching. They hit bad pitching just fine. I would be very reluctant to call Devers gutless.

The Sox had little problem hitting the Orioles pitching. The difference is that the Yankees actually have MLB pitchers who are, let's face it, better than the Sox pitchers.

None of those pitches to Devers were easy to hit hard. And all 3 of the strikes were close enough to be called strikes. Thus it is proved: the Yankees have a bullpen, and the Sox don't.

Devers gets another shot. What bothers me is that, as hard as this game has been for the Sox to score--Gil is a good starter--even if the lineup ties it or goes ahead, there is still the dilemma of bringing on that porous bullpen.