Maxbialystock

Hard to drill one out when the pitches are all at the bottom of the strike zone or below.

Now doing it to JDM, 4 straight at the bottom, 3 strikes (2 swung at). 5 out of 6 at the bottom of the zone or below, leading to a harmless ground out.

Yesterday or the day before the WEEI guys were commenting it's been awhile since Verdugo hit a dinger. Yesterday and today again fly outs suggesting he's sure trying to get one up and out. I wish he would go for line drives and not worry about the home run count.

4 straight pitches in the bottom of the zone against Hernandez. All close. Red Sox pitchers are simply not able to do that.

Dalbec benched again against a righty starter. 3 K's yesterday.

1, 2, 3 in the top of the 1st. All ground outs. Pivetta has a good mix of pitches, but I haven't seen a changeup yet.

Agree with both you and bellhorn. I like to debate, but I am also convinced Cora is freaking brilliant. It the Sox were ahead 3-2, Ottavino probably would have gotten the nod in the 8th. As it turned out, the Sox never did score that 3d run, and today Cora has both Ottavino and Barnes. I'd like to say he also has the indomitable Andriese, but sadly he is on the IL.

What is with this "chill out?" The game was last night, and this is the post mortem part of the game thread. I'm simply saying I expected to see Ottavino on the mound in the 8th inning which is actually pretty normal for the Cora this year. Plus he is much better against righty bats than is Taylor. The one argument I would buy that hasn't been advanced is that the Sox were going to lose this game regardless of who was on the mound because the hitters simply weren't hitting. The box score says the Sox were 0 for 6 with RISP. Vazquez scored the Sox 2d run way, way back in the 3d inning when Knapp's pickoff throw went wild. However, Cora did not manage the bullpen as though he thought winning was not in the cards. Thus Sawamura in to finish the 4th and pitch the 5th, Whitlock (statistically the Sox best reliever) to pitch the 6th and 2 outs in the 7th, Taylor to get the last man, Harper, in the 7th, which he did with a great pickoff move, and bringing Taylor back out to get Harper in the 8th. I hasten to add I agreed with all of those moves by Cora. But I still think bringing Ottavino in after Harper got on base was the best move if we think the game was winnable at that point.

While I can agree keeping Taylor on the mound in the 8th was not an egregious error, I have presented some pretty good stats which show that Ottavino was the better choice after Taylor, who is a lot better vs. lefties than righties, gave up that leadoff single to Harper in the 8th. Not only is Ottavino better against righties, but he sort of owns the 8th inning in close games and even gets to close games, which Taylor has not been asked to do this season.

Against Taylor lefty hitters (51 at bats) have an OPS of .427 and have scored 0 runs. Righty hitters (64 at bats) OPS is .785 and have scored 15 runs. Taylor's ERA at home is 5.06 and on the road 0.00. Against Ottavino lefty hitters (47 at bats) have an OPS of .815 and have scored 7 runs. Right hitters (85 at bats) have an OPS of .464 and have scored 5 runs. His at home ERA is 1.35 and road ERA is 4.50.

So it's the top of the 8th, the Sox are down 3-2, which to me means the game is still winnable. I understand bringing Taylor out to face Harper, but not why he was left in afterward. Is Ottavino tired? Injured? I mean, why send Sawamura and Whitlock out there to keep the lid on, and then not use Ottavino in the 8th, which is normally his inning?

What's bad, that one player got called on it and is now appealing? Manfred said what he would do, and he did it, using the right mechanism, the umpires. I seen nothing untoward in all that.

Chavis the rally killer. Talk about a versatile guy, he is a keeper.

9 run rally!

Bad news is the Phillies scored 8 in the 8th. Good news is it wasn't a crooked number. Wild applause for our bullpen who kept things symmetrical.

Right now, I'll believe anything.

He does indeed. Different style, but the same dedication to giving the hitters what they need. But we have to face the fact that Taylor and Workman served up the most meatballs today.

That's old news. None of those three is competing with Duran for a slot on the big club. Duran is an outfielder and the Sox outfield is looking pretty good right now, offensively and defensively. The Sox #9 hitter, Dalbec, is looking better lately, plus he plays 1b, plus he hit well in MLB last year. Without Duran playing a single game of the 89 the Sox have played so far, they have compiled the best record in the AL and the 2d best in MLB. Just what is Duran supposed to fix?

With Arroyo at 2b, Hernandez is hands down the Sox best centerfielder. He, Verdugo, and Renfroe have WAR's of 2.3, 1.6, and 1.4. There is no compelling need for Duran at this time: he will do better to play every day in Worcester.

Hmmpf. Do not slander the great Duran.

I thought we saw vintage Andriese tonight.

Bryce Harper, the great one. An honor and a delight to watch him play, a true five tool player, by which I mean his salary is more than 5 X $5M.

Could not have picked a better game to go 0 for 5.

You do have a gift.

Agree. Pretty good command, excellent repertoire.