Maxbialystock

A grounder with eyes! 5-5!

That's only because Cora has absolutely no feel for the game or his pitchers.

Who was that masked man who got 2 more for the good guys?

Agree. I wrote the Sox off after the first two innings and will be delighted to be wrong. Again.

Not being able to doctor the ball might be part of the problem, but the real issue with Richards is command. Both those dingers, one on a fastball and the other on a slider, were right down the middle. Someone last night opined that ERod needed to pound the strike zone, but in fact what worked for him was moving the location around and mixing up his pitches and not throwing too many pitches right down the middle. Richards gave up way too many runs, but has now thrown 2 straight shut out innings. Of course Cora will stay with him awhile long. Bullpen was heavily used vs. the Yankees. Also at Tampa. And no off day until July 8.

Got it. Professional baseball, which has been played for 150 years with human umpires, was, well, sad to say, illegitimate. Forget Don Larsen's perfect game because he had a human umpire. Same goes for the brilliance of Sandy Koufax because those home plate umpires were probably giving him the benefit of the doubt. And just how many of Babe Ruth's home runs were the result of home plate umpires not calling strikes by opposing pitchers? To me part of the greatness of all sports, very definitely including MLB, is that they are human endeavors--including the humans officiating. The most popular sport in the entire world is soccer football, which is also the least officiated sport in the world. One official calls all the fouls wherever they occur on a very large field of play and is assisted only by sideline judges who call offsides. I don't like the replays we now have to live with, but do recognize they definitely limit on field tantrums we used to see by players, coaches, and managers. Overall, I think they save time in an era when games take longer and longer. Speaking of which, why is there almost no effective control of the time between thrown pitches, which I believe is supposed to be 25 seconds? Speaking of level playing fields, what about all those pitchers doctoring baseballs for the past 100 years? PED's? Ballpark idiosyncracies that favor the home team? Stealing signals, which we know both the Astros and the Red Sox have done--and probably plenty of other teams who weren't caught? The Black Sox, who created an unlevel playing field for their Chicago fans by intentionally throwing games? And how about MLB's occasional dictums which can greatly affect the game, like lowering the mound, suddenly enforcing a 100 year old rule, etc? What you call a level playing field I call a desire for a reality that does not exist on the field with the players and umpires. They cannot see balls and strikes with the accuracy of that rectangle, so it is a false assumption that it's an unlevel playing field. Or take your point about players having to adjust to what the umpire is calling in that game. How is that different from having to adjust to the idiosyncracies of the pitcher you are facing or the batter you are facing? Indeed, by now every player and every pitcher goes into a game with computerized info on the tendencies of whomever they are going to face. That does not mean the opposing pitcher or hitter will conform to what the computer predicts. Hence in game adjustments. Hence better success for hitters the third time they face a pitcher in that game.

My point remains: the home plate ump is in the best position to call balls and strikes, and the rectangle we see on our screens provides an ideal that does not exist on the field of play. Baseball is a human endeavor, not a computer game, which is that the robo-ump fanatics keep insisting we must have.

Ditto. Except that I was impressed with him Tuesday because it seems to me that this year ERod was one of the few pitchers who was not cheating.

Umpiring is fine. Not just the umpire, but the players do not see the ball with the accuracy of that strike zone imposed on the screen. That imposed strike zone is not what the players see, especially not the hitters who are making split second decisions on whether to swing. I favor a pitcher-friendly home plate umpire who basically forces the hitters to swing rather than try to get a walk.

It would seem that Verdugo just doesn't want to get walked.

Angels go up 5-4 with no help from Ohtani. Astounding.

Another hit by Santana, a really tough out. Too bad he's out on the throw back to 2b.

I think it's simpler than that. I think Cora wants a sweep.

A few more and the 10 run rule can be invoked. Rays threatening (it's 4-4) in the bottom of the 7th: 2 on, 2 out. Angels get the 3d out. 4-4 going into the 8th.

Gotta love Gonzalez on defense.

7-2!!!!!!

Cessa screwed. Just like Whitlock was in the top of the 7th.

Let's face it. Bogaerts is a real pain in the ass.

Obviously, Verdugo should not have swung at that 4th pitch and 3-0 count.

Would be nice to see Whitlock pitch the 8th. But I trust Cora.

Whitlock does it again!!!

If that isn't justice, I don't know what is. LeMathieu never swung the bat.

Ump is giving Whitlock nothing.

Whitlock threw 33 pitches Friday night.

Rays up 4-2 in the 6th.