Maxbialystock

Two of Sales 4 runs were unearned thanks to Devers and, I believe, the lackluster effort by JBJ to catch that triple. Also, some credit to the Ray pitching, which is actually pretty good this year. Bottom line: these guys have forgotten how--what it takes--to win games. ST was a textbook on how not to prepare to defend your title. Chavis to me is a great fix at 2b because he can actually hit which last year's stalwart Kinsler could not do. I don't care about Nunez, Pedey or Lin and do not see them bringing much to the table. I'm also thoroughly disgusted with Devers and JBJ. Devers still isn't hitting the way he should/could and has become a buffoon at 3b and on the basepaths. JBJ is a buffoon at the plate and not nearly the stellar CF he has been in the past. I have no problems with the two catchers even though Leon can't hit. The rotation looks almost decent. The bullpen is up and down, maybe because they were used so much when the rotation couldn't get past the 3d or 4th inning. And I see these 7 decent bats: Beni, Betts, Moreland, JDM, Bogie, Chavis, and Vazquez--with the real possibility that Devers will finally see the light.

What the heck happened to the Devers thread? Hijacked? Gotta say the Tampa series was not good--a costly error in the field and a completely inexcusable and just stupid baserunning error getting picked off. And where is the hitting we expected? On the other thread I picked on JBJ a lot, but I now also have issues with Devers, who last year I supported no matter what. It's time for the kid to grow up.

Speaking of JBJ's incomparable ability in CF at Fenway, did everyone see the miserable job he made of a catchable fly to CF vs. Tampa just now? If Beni or Betts had been out there, there would have been a chorus of JBJ fans saying he catches that baby with ease. Fact is, he had plenty of time and simply jumped too soon (with space between him and the wall). There are, I might add, a good bunch of JBJ fans who will tell you repeatedly that pitchers love him in CF because he saves them runs. That rule doesn't seem to apply when JBJ is in one of his funks.

Meh. He was so dreadful as the opening day starting CF in 2014 that he ended up at Pawtucket. He did indeed come back with a vengeance in August 2015 which lead to a seasonal WAR of 2.2. 2016 was even better, 5.5. Then 3.0 in 2017, 2.1 last year, and currently -1.0 See the trend? I am fine with whatever Cora and DD decide about JBJ, which so far is to play him because he is still pretty good (but not as good as before) in CF. But I do not apologize for criticizing him for being a bonafide liability at bat. And why is there this clamor to defend JBJ because, poor baby, he bats 8th or 9th? He bats down there because so far this season he stinks and he stinks worse than other guys who are also struggling.

He’s played maybe 10 MLB games. JBJ has played how many?

Rays have good pitching, simple as that. Yes, Lin screwed up, but so did his silent and unalert first base coach. Lin's huge mistake was to assume the ball would be caught and to stop watching it. Apparently, so did the 1b coach. But to me the booby prize belongs to our over-rated and borderline imbecilic centerfielder who can't hit spit, but still elected to swing at 2 pitches outside of the strike zone, either of which would have walked home the tying run.

All the JBJ fans need to look at his imbecilic K with the bases loaded, the Sox down 1 with 2 outs in the 8th inning tonight. He swung at 2 pitches out of the strike zone. And tell me again how he singlehandedly swept all three games at Tampa. JBJ right now is a liability.

JBJ is just plain useless at the plate when he swings at 2 pitches out of the zone, either one of which would have given him a walk and brought the tying run home with 2 outs in the 8th. I'm getting pretty sick and tired of his defenders assuring us that he was great back in 2016 and could be great again. He's 29 years old and refuses to learn how to swing a bat at this level--to say nothing of knowing the strike zone.

Ahem. Go to the JBJ thread and learn we swept the Rays entirely because of JBJ.

New lineup with JDM scratched for back spasms-- Beni LF Betts RF Moreland 1b Bogie SS Devers 3b Chavis 2b Pearce DH JBJ CF Vazquez

Same lineup for today's game at 4, except that Price is pitching for the Sox--a big plus. If no one objects, I will just continue this game thread.

Game postponed and rescheduled for June.

Hopefully, this thread won't use a whole page, but as of 4:15 the game hasn't been postponed. Morton (R, ERA 3.38) vs. Josh Smith (R, age 31, 1st MLB start) Pretty close to the same lineup that scored 5 off Morton last Saturday except Chavis for Lin and Vazquez for Leon: Beni LF Betts RF Moreland 1b JDM DH Bogie SS Devers 3b Chavis 2b JBJ CF Vazquez

It worked out best for the Sox because letting Iggy go turned out to be genius. His cumulative WAR, 2014-18, is 7 and Bogie's is twice that for the same period. And I was a huge Iggy fan because of defense.

In which case a rain dance today is in order. Spahn and Sain and all that stuff.

Rain tonight doesn't help much if the Sox have another day-night double header tomorrow. If the missed game is later, then we skip the "mystery" starter planned for tonight and go with Price tomorrow, then Sale, etc.

Excellent perspective. Agree the lineup and rotation are better, but the bullpen is a concern.

Nope. The Big O led them to the final four twice, but never won. The two wins happened after the 1960 Olympics in Rome, after which Robertson went to the NBA.

A sweep would be huge of course. Even transformational. But this team needs to focus on one game at a time. Last Saturday the Sox scored 5 off the Rays' starter tonight, Charlie Morton, a righty, so that part looks good. But the Sox starter tonight is a mystery, which doesn't look good, especially given the recent difficulties with the bullpen. Tonight is game 8 of 20 games in 20 days for the Sox which will put that much more pressure on the bullpen. Ain't nothing easy about this season.

I was on a nearby faculty and ended up rooting for the NY Knicks in 1970 and 1973 when they won the NBA with Willis Reed, Dave Debusschere, Earl Monroe, and Walt Frazier--and Phil Jackson as the 6th man. Bradley was their small forward, and Havlicek drove him nuts because he never stopped moving. A write-up says Havlicek invested well and lived comfortably in retirement. He died of Parkinson's in Jupiter, FL, where residents are quite well off. That 1960 Ohio State team that won the NC went on to play in the NCAAT final game both of the next two years and with basically the same players (Jerry Lucas, Larry Siegfried, Bobby Knight, etc. But both years they lost the final game and NC to the Cincinnati Bearcats. Maybe it was those last two years that gave Havlicek an unquenchable thirst to win championships, and the Celtics and Auerbach were a perfect match for him.

Another boring night at the Fens.

Hembree reaches out to the Tigers with a nice gift walk.

Pulled it down the right field line. Go figure.

Nothing to watch tonight. If the bullpen will collapse like a cheap tent, we’ll have something to talk about. Not sure where all this hitting is coming from.

Jordan Zimmerman (R, ERA 4.94) vs. Rick Porcello (R, ERA 8.47) Basically the same lineup as last night but with Sandy catching: Beni LF Mookie RF Moreland 1B JDM DH Bogie SS Devers 3b Chavis 2b JBJ CF Leon C Nice win last night and a quality start by Eduardo Rodriguez. Porcello looks awful this year, but last year he too had some quality starts. Last night just 4 lefty bats against a righty starter for Detroit. Tonight 5 lefty bats. In the very unlikely event of a Sox win tonight, they will be 5-5 at home. This is a good thing if only because all four of the other AL East teams have winning road records (where the Sox are 6-10). Sox now 6 behind the Rays and 4.5 behind the red hot Yankees on a 6 game winning streak.