Maxbialystock

3 dingers, 4 runs. Opposite field by Duran.

Finally, the leadoff hitter with a 2 run dinger!

Sure looks like it tonight.

5 out of 5 innings, the leadoff man has gotten on base. But just one run on a dinger.

Meanwhile, the hitting stinks. That said, Mize for the Tigers has pitched very well at home this year. His splitter is pretty darn good.

If I have said it once, I've said it a million times this season. ERod cannot and must not rely on his fastball. But tonight that fastball is working like a champ. He just threw one right down the middle on a 2-0 count and the batter swung and missed it!

Devers, batting 4th, lefty vs. righty, is killing the Sox offense tonight.

Man on 3b, one out, no rbi for JDM. Leadoff double for Bogie, but Raffie, JDM, and Verdugo can't bring him home. Sox lineup doing all they can to keep the Tigers in this game.

Very good 3d inning by ERod. Lucky double for the Tigers with 1 out, but no cigar. K on a changeup, then groundout on a changeup.

It truly is. And has been in other games when it is slower (81 mph).

WEEI guys astute on ERod's changeup, saying slower (81 mph) is better, faster (86 mph) is hittable. The slower changeup breaks more.

WEEI guys think maybe the Tigers hitters are seeing the fastball well.

Vazquez once again brilliant on the base paths.

Vazquez leads AL catchers in innings caught--WEEI guys.

1-0 after 2. That's the good news. Less good is that ERod has thrown 47 pitches. WEEI guys went ape when ERod walked Zack Short, AVG .158, on 7 pitches.

Nice dinger by JDM! Will it hold up for 1/2 an inning?

Of course, ERod then gets two huge K's largely with his fastball, primarily above the zone, which is the best place for it.

Erod still loves his fastball fully as much as opposing hitters love it.

Got it. Bad idea to have your best hitter at bat with 2 men on base. What was Cora thinking? The problem isn't the order in which they bat, it's what they do when they are at bat. Last night, down 3-2 in the top of the 7th, Duran leads off with a single and later steals 2d. Meanwhile, the heart of this year's lineup, Devers, Bogaerts, and JDM, all strike out. And you want to rearrange the deck chairs on the titanic.

Well stated, as always.

Love it, especially your pursuit of silver linings. I also agree that Bloom's decisions were good. I have my doubts however, that Sale, Schwarber, Arroyo, Houck, etc can right this ship. Read on. 1. We have no specific dates on when they return (except for Houck), and the need, the very urgent need, is right now. 2. We don't know 2021 Sale will be as good as 2018 Sale, that Schwarber can play 1b and hit AL pitching, that Arroyo can stay off the IL while playing hard, that Houck can pitch more than 4 innings, that there won't be further injuries to key players, that JDM, Vazquez, etc will emerge from their slumps. 3. These past five games/losses suggest there is more wrong with these Sox than is rationally fixable. All five Sox starters are suspect. And the lineup just might be. In the top of the 7th last night, for example, the Sox were down 3-2, and Duran led off with a single and later stole 2b. But the next three batters, the absolute heart (Devers, Bogaerts, and JDM) of the Sox lineup this season, all struck out.

score one for vegasbob.

Still a good team with just four weaknesses--hitting, pitching (rotation), fielding, and baserunning.

That said, I think some of the sports/venues are silly, like golf, tennis, basketball, and baseball, all of which have better venues elsewhere. Beach volleyball is a joke. I do like the equestrian events, track and field (of course), decathlon, pentathlon, wrestling, swimming, canoeing/kaying/rowing, wrestling, weightlifting, and probably some others I've forgotten (like archery and shooting/marksmanship).

Not much of a rotation and not much of a lineup. Sure looks like 5 losses in a row, all of them earned.