Maxbialystock

A walk, a balk, a grounder to advance runner to 3b, and a 2 out single.

In Dalbec's defense, the Sox management have kind of taken a young, inexperienced kid and thrown him into lion's den. He's just 25 years old, and they expect him to be able to hit fastballs over 93 mph. He's a thirdbaseman, and they're making him play first base, a far more difficult position.

Let's not forget "cooler" Dalbec is versatile. What his batting can't do, his defense takes care of. He's the worst defensive firstbaseman in MLB.

What was the name of that Bill Macy/Alec Baldwin movie? The Cooler. That's what Bobby Dalbec is: the Red Sox very own cooler.

Can't help picking on him again. This rally is courtesy of Bobby Dalbec, who has remained in the dugout throughout and is currently the fourth batter away from wrecking it.

And the heart of the order delivers!!!!

Nice at bat by Bogie.

We simply might differ. I think overall the rotation has been better than expected--today being a notable exception--and that the bullpen is where the leakage is. Where we no doubt agree is that you gotta have both working.

Bogie missed a fat pitch by a mile.

Nice poke off that slider, the same one he missed on pitch 1.

Oh, stop it. Well said.

Sox on 1st and 2b, no outs, and the heart of the order coming up: JDM, Bogie, Devers. Time to right the ship and make that idiot Maxbialystock shut up.

6 of the 7 Tiger runs today are charged to Eovaldi.

Oh, that is good.

Finally, a decent play in the OF.

Why does Renfroe keep throwing to 3b when he has no hope of throwing the runner out?

It's possible that we are watching the rubber game of a season-defining series. moonslav keeps reminding us of all that great talent waiting to be called up to right the ship, but I am skeptical. The Tigers so far have demonstrated they are better at the following: pitching, hitting, defense, and running the bases. And they have the worst record in MLB. Oh, and their run differential going into this game was -65.

Plenty of at bats to go. Unfortunately, the Tigers get some of them.

Rough break for Dalbec. The ump cheated him on that one pitch that was way inside. Shoulda called a strike, and it should make no difference that Dalbec swung hard at it. Kid's got an eye him, not swinging at that last pitch. He reeks potential.

I've been running errands and only listened to the game sporadically. I know things look dicey right now and against the Tigers yet. But I just noticed Dalbec is at 1B, so all is well. The kid's got potential, and, really, that's what counts. And now, here's Bobby!!! With a man on 3d and 2 outs.

Actually, that is normal for him. He almost never beats the runner to 1B. And neither the Sox manager nor the Sox pitching coach seems able to break him of that pernicious habit. Apparently, he gets away with believing he is out there to pitch, not play defense.

There are times when I think of Eovaldi as if he were the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz--singing, "if I only had a brain."

Tie game. Just like that. Tigers love Eovaldi's fastball almost as much as he does.

Well said. Jacksonianmarch has a point, but your corrective is the right realistic view of 2021.

A Realistic View at 2021 is currently dismaying. Since the 9 game winning streak, the Sox have played subpar baseball, winning 9 and losing 10. The first two games of the Detroit Tigers series is confirmatory of that trend. The Tigers are 2 and 8 in their last 10 games, but won last night and could have won the night before were it night for Cabrera's two GIDP's, including the crucial one in the 8th with the bases loaded and just 1 out. The bottom part of the lineup is a real problem these days. The starting pitching is better than I expected, but the bullpen keeps springing leaks. And the defense is kind of weak across the board. The outfield looks like strangers in the night: opposing outfields look more comfortable at Fenway and make better plays. Three years ago the Sox outfield was Beni, JBJ, and Betts at least 2/3 of the time and the latter two were gold glove contenders. The infield is at least as weak as the outfield. And opposing baserunners steal with impunity in an era when stealing bases is deemed foolhardy. Today at 1:10 it's Turnbull vs. Eovaldi for the series win. Based on the first two games and the Sox steady slide downward, I'm taking nothing for granted.