Maxbialystock

Darn! I was thinking payback too. I hate conspiracy theories. I mean really, really hate them. Except when I think the Sox are maybe getting screwed.

OK! Pivetta gets the 3d out, a pop up, on a diet of fastballs.

Interesting. Once again, 5th inning after a superb first four innings, and the first three Jays hitters, all seeing Pivetta for the 2d time today, just hammer the ball. Fortunately, two of them were caught.

Great seeing Vazquez at DH, a big improvement over JDM with those strikeouts and GIDP's, to say nothing of his exceptional baserunning skills.

While I agree Richard and Perez are almost certainly irredeemable, last night I watched Eovaldi pitcher very well for 4 innings, at which point he had seen 15 batters (once thru the lineup and then six more of them twice) and pitched shutout ball. Then in the 5th, facing the bottom of the Jays lineup for the 2d time only, the wheels came completely off. Double, double, absolute useless mound visit, double, fly out, another mound visit, Guerroro walked intentionally, then out 2, a K. At that point, the game was tied 2-2 and the Jays had 2 on and 2 out. The next three Jays hitters--Bichette, Hernandez, and Gurriel, went hard single, double, and dinger for 5 more runs and a 7-2 lead., after which Eovaldi was pulled. To me there has to be something wrong with what happened in the bottom of the 5th. Eovaldi has good stuff, especially when he does not over-rely on his fastball, and OK command. But suddenly the Jay were hitting everything, including changeups and sliders low in the strike zone or even below it. I'd love to blame Vazquez for that disaster, but wonder now if somehow Eovaldi didn't start tipping his pitches. Indeed, given the heavy reliance on tv cameras and computer imaging by all MLB teams, maybe that combo, read correctly, yielded the tiny little clues that Jays hitters could recognize and capitalize on. Today Pivetta, who a month or so ago went 6.2 no hit no run innings, is once again going like a house afire--through 3 innings, no hits and no runs. Will the Jays combination of TV images tied to a computer produce another deluge of hard hit balls for zillions of runs?

I don't remember 2011 so clearly, but can't believe it was as bad as what we are seeing now.

7 runs by the Jays with nary a visit to the mound. Plus let's not forget that Vazquez was calling for those pitches which were being hit all over the place. Gotta think this is about it for the Sox. Only two things they don't do well: hit and pitch.

And of course pitching around Verdugo to get to JDM (with the bases loaded, yet!!!) pays off.

Pitching cautiously to Verdugo knowing that the patsy, JDM, is coming to bat. The ultimate insult for $20M/year hitter.

We can all be thankful Vazquez did not try to go to 3b on that single.

Manoah has the Sox hitters mesmerized and I'm not at all sure it's because he is so great.

I can't remember seeing Renfroe look this awful against one pitcher.

That fastball up in the zone and slightly over it is working for Eovaldi.

That sac fly barely got out of the infield, and Verdugo should have been out by a mile. So sad that Bogie's wrist is really, really, really weak. I mean really weak.

I am pretty sure the soft fly ball you keep mentioning was in fact a line drive.

Horrible at bat, but JDM, looking like a rookie, manages to ground out, but also to move the runner to 3b.

Eovaldi has good stuff, even the fastball when thrown judiciously, but he does not have good command.

Renfroe gets a medium fastball in the heart, the absolute center of the zone, and swings and misses.

Matter of fact, so do I--my wife's coffee.

OK to throw that cutter, but not over the absolute dead center of the strike zone.

Eovaldi is definitely mixing his pitches, right from the get go.

Wake up and smell the coffee. Duran is on the COVID roster. Two hard hit balls by Hernandez and Verdugo--one caught and one a clean single--followed by an absolutely spineless GIDP by JDM.

No way Eovaldi doesn't bounce back from last time. Hernandez CF Verdugo LF JDM DH Bogaerts SS Devers 3B Renfroe RF M.Gonzelez 2B Vazquez C Cordero 1B

Interesting turn on Part III of a Realistic View. I'm not sure it's push the panic button, but it sure as shooting ain't hope for the best. The rotation not only stinks, but seems to be infecting the whole team. Dumping Richards and Perez is extreme, but might help. On the other hand, Pivetta and ERod have also stunk it up now and then. Even Eovaldi. At this point it is likely that stopping the doctoring of the baseball has affected the Sox rotation more than most other teams.

I don't recall many potshots at Duran in the game threads that blamed the entire game on him. If he screwed up--like a K with men on base or whatever--he got zinged just like any other player. His OPS is .568 and his WAR is -.3. Are we supposed to be cheering for him whatever he does?