Maxbialystock

Sox go down quickly in the 3d.

I think it was mvp78 who said ERod needs to throw lots of fastballs, and tonight the evidence is strong that that would be a mistake. Good mix of pitches, good enough to get outs and no walks and no hits although Judge's liner was a miraculous out. 35 pitches in 2 innings is a lot, but I don't care.

Somebody got to ERod. He looks really confident tonight and throwing quickly.

Changeup really worked on Torres.

Did anyone see the entire play when Bogie grounded out to the thirdbaseman? I ask because I don't see how he could have been beaten on the play unless he gave up early thinking it was foul.

Great hit, dumb baserunning.

Same old pitches from ERod, but I like his locations tonight. Only 8 of 15 pitches were strikes, but no BB's in the 1st.

I am no ERod fan, but that does not mean I'm prepared to drop him from the rotation. His ERA is pretty high (5.64) and his WAR -.2, but I can remember 5th starters for the Sox whom I liked less, especially--as moonslav keep insisting--given his past performances in 2018 and 2019. ERod is a member of a cast of players who have already given us our fair share of ups and downs this season. As moonslav also reminds us, he was pretty fair in April--4 starts, 23 innings, and an ERA of 3.52. But, except for 5 innings vs. the Orioles in which he got a win, he was terrible in May. And now it's June, and one can hope he and the pitching coach are making adjustments. Fortunately, the two of them, with very little effort, can access the excellent insights and advice afforded to all readers of Talksox.

Interesting. As you know, I am no ERod fan, but that does not mean I'm prepared to drop him from the rotation. His ERA is pretty high (5.64) and his WAR -.2, but I can remember 5th starters for the Sox whom I liked less, especially--as you keep insisting--given his past performances in 2018 and 2019. Indeed, it can be argued that ERod is a member of a cast of players who have already given us our fair share of ups and downs this season. ERod himself, as you also remind us, was pretty fair in April--4 starts, 23 innings, and an ERA of 3.52. But, except for 5 innings vs. the Orioles in which he got a win, he was terrible in May. And now it's June, and one can hope he and the pitching coach are making adjustments. It is therefore fortunate that the two of them, with very little effort, could access the excellent insights and advice afforded to all readers of Talksox.

This game was almost scripted. Eovaldi at his best against a weakish Yankees lineup. Devers with a huge dinger in the first. And pretty good relief pitching. After losing 11 in a row at Yankee Stadium. Tomorrow the script is reversed, with the Yankees having the pitching advantage--so a win would be even bigger than tonight.

Tonight I watched the game on espn, but listened on WEEI because I hate TV announcers. Can't you watch the games on mlb.com?

Yankees pitching vs. Sox hitting, but tonight Eovaldi could give the Sox the edge in pitching.

And thanks to moonslav for stopping the bleeding.

Ok, buster, you are officially nailed for plagiarism. I said that first, but so long ago I'm not even sure it was in this century. I think the tale of this series was that better pitching won all four games and that the Sox lost 3 of the 4 because those 3 Astros starters were so good.

Amen. I think command is too often his problem. When his changeup has that small, but sharp break down and to the left, he is a much better pitcher. He has claimed once or twice he has a great cut fastball, but I haven't seen it this year. That said, lack of command is likely caused by the missed season, but it was a short season (60 games) anyway.

Hey, you ain't great if you ain't great, which means I really don't care about ERod's glorious past or Perez's ignominious one. It's 2021, and so far the Sox have outperformed expectations, so I'm inclined to celebrate the guys who have made that possible and not the guys who were good in 2019 when the Sox were 84-78 the year after they won 108 game in the regular season. Perez's ERA right now is 3.09 after 11 starts and 58.2 innings. ERod's is 5.64 after 10 starts and 52 innings. If ERod turns things around and gets his ERA down to 3.09, I will go ape and praise him to the skies.

On to Yankee Stadium for a 3 game series: Eovaldi (4.01) vs. King (2.86); ERod (5.64) vs Taillon (5.10); and Richards (3.75) vs. Germain (3.27). Sox are still 2 back of the Rays and with the 3d best W-L record in the AL after the Rays and White Sox.

I was thinking Mel Parnell because I once had his baseball card.

Really?

A great win and a necessary one. This was the third straight solid start by the Sox rotation and probably the best start by any Sox pitcher this season. Keep it going, moonslav!

Interesting. Yes, absolutely, he has gone through a lot in the past year plus. He not only had COVID, but it affected his heart, which is downright scary. But he is getting paid a lot of money--$8M this year, in fact, which is equal to all his previous salaries combined--so we can be sure he and his manager and pitching coach have all agreed that starting 10 games and pitching 52.2 innings (so far this year) was a good idea. Or, if not a good idea, a necessary idea. But, as a paying fan (via mlb.tv), I'm saying I don't agree. I remember when Jon Lester had his 2006 fight with large cell lymphoma, which included offseason chemotherapy. But I don't recall the announcers or fans ever saying the next year, 2007, "hey, give the guy a break. He stinks tonight or today, but he's going through a tough time, healthwise." Indeed, he helped the Sox win the WS in 2007. So my point remains: ERod and his manager can decide whatever they want to decide, but as a paying customer I expect to see performance, not excuses.

Exactly.

A fair point, but also where we part company. Baseball to me is quintessentially a human endeavor. That means a pitch is whatever the umpire says it is and should not be defined by those graphics we see on the screen. Those graphics are misleadingly and inhumanly accurate. No hitter--not one of the 800 or so MLB players we see each year--can see as well as those graphics. Nor, I would submit, can the catcher, even though he has the best vantage point of anyone. Umpires have been an essential part of the game from the beginning, and they do make mistakes. But, given how difficult it is to hit a baseball and/or to hit the right spot in or near the strike zone, umpires are way more perfect than any hitter or pitcher in the game. I want robo-umps to the same degree I want robo-players.

Perez has now thrown 67 pitches in 7 innings--shutout innings at that. I feel very safe in saying the ERod has never done that in his MLB career.

A note to all you ERod fans. Today we are watching another Sox lefty going up against the same lineup ERod faced. Only Perez doesn't throw as hard as ERod. What he does have is a better array of pitches and better command of them. And, unlike ERod, he is not afraid to throw strikes and even throw to contact.