Maxbialystock

Good for you--laughing about it. Nunez leading off, especially after how you excoriated him last night, is indeed a surprise. But doing that stabilizes the rest of the lineup and adds a lefty bat, Holt. I'm also surprised Vazquez is catching again tonight given he went extra innings last night (but not all 12).

He was pulled only as a precaution according to Cora after the game. He had not played a game in 2 weeks and was pulled in the 11th. I thought Mookie looked fine in RF and at bat and am surprised he isn't in there tonight. But I have no problem with Cora being cautious. It just makes tonight's game a little tougher.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Wonderful assertion about Cora's inability to manage to your satisfaction. Better still, you leave no margin of error on Nunez vs. Holt: Cora was completely, irretrievably wrong; and you're completely right. And that, frankly, is just nuts because you massively overstate the importance of one player in a lineup. Not too long ago I pointed out that the Sox had gone 11-4 without Mookie in the lineup, and he is only having a career year with and OPS around 1.100. I like Holt this year--I haven't in the past--for the reasons most of us do. He's a versatile as ever, but this year has an astounding OPS that's over .800. Zowie. But he is still just one guy, and any reasonable observer would give Cora the benefit of any doubt we might have. As it turned out, the two guys who hurt us the most last night were JDM and Moreland who between them had 0 hits and 6 K's and left 8 guys on base. Might I add the Cora's handling of his starter and of the bullpen was nothing more than masterful last night. He left Wright in as long as possible and then brought in the perfect guy to get him out of a jam. Of course, most of the credit goes to the pitchers--Wright, Kelly, Johnson, Hembree, and Kimbrel--but Cora always seemed to know just when to use someone and, in the case of Kimbrel, when to wait.

Good matchup: Hess is only 2-2 in five starts, but his ERA is 3.07 and .96 for his most recent 3 starts and 18.2 innings. ERod is coming into his own this season and is 7-1 with an ERA of 3.68 (2.75 at Camden Yards). But you gotta like our lineup now that Mookie and JDM are back because it's the second best in MLB--despite the great job Bundy did last night. Will fatigue be an issue after a 12 inning game? I don't think so if only because the Sox are pretty young. Nunez is 30 and Moreland 32. JDM is 30 but was the DH last night. Leon will catch, so no problem there. Plus it's the Orioles who right now have the fewest wins, 19, in MLB and are missing Machado.

Back to A Realistic View at 2018, Part II. After last night's 12 inning, 2-0 win over the Orioles, I remain the same pollyanna I was maybe 3 pages ago. The Sox now have Mookie and JDM back, which means we have an excellent lineup--the second best in MLB in OPS and runs scored. Heck, right now I even like the defense which looked pretty darn good to me last night: tie game, no mistakes, and some pretty good plays. But the best part is the pitching now that Pom is on the DL. Five solid starters and a pretty good bullpen. Oh, and "tied" with the Yankees even though they have the better winning percentage. Right now the Sox have 45 wins, three more than any other MLB team. Not too shabby.

I agree with bellhorn04 and don't at all recall Adrian Gonzalez being vilified when he played here. He not only had a great year in 2011--the best of his career--but he taught Ortiz how to hit to the opposite field. He was always slow as molasses, but he was a very good hitter and a skillful first baseman. I frankly thought he was traded to the Dodgers as a sweetener to overcome the bitter flavor of their also taking Beckett and Carl Crawford off our hands. As for the racist claim, I agree with oldtimer and think we should ease up on claiming others are racist. Racism certainly exists in our country and I'm sure in Boston (where I don't live), but I just don't see it on talksox.

Sox have a winning record without Betts and he is having just as good a year as Machado. I prefer to look at the bright side. JDM and Mookie are both back in the lineup, and we know this team can hit and score runs--2d most runs scored in MLB and second highest OPS. At the same time the rotation right now is looking awfully good to me, and the bullpen too. Sox history tells us that need good hitting to win, but they also need good pitching. Heck, I even like the defense right now.

Finally, someone noticed the great pitching by our guys. Of course, it's impossible that the Orioles might have pitched well. They're cellar dwellers and can do nothing right, so we must have had the wrong lineup out there because we sure weren't hitting. Devers belongs in Pawtucket. Nunez is worthless, but is still better than Vazquez or JBJ. Holt should have been in the lineup. We really need a trade, at least one more good bat. Is it too late to bring Hanley back?

So true. We are just stuck with a dumb manager. If he had only stuck him in there in place of JDM or Moreland who together struck out 6 times and were hitless while leaving 8 guys on base.

It's certainly not a strategy. It's just the nature of baseball. Top five or six have carried a big load this season, but the bottom 3, 4, or 5 have chimed in now and then. Thus the biggest hit by far of the game was Devers double, so of course he was the guy getting most of the brick bats on this game thread. I think the favorite theme was to send him back to Pawtucket. I honestly thought the Orioles pitching was pretty good, what with our top four getting K'd 7 times vs. the other five getting K'd 5 times. Another indicator was that huge K of Moreland in the 11th with the bases loaded. In Moreland's defense, I thought he got K'd by circumstances and one really good pitch. Givens threw three straight balls to make it 3-0, then a strike on the outside corner which Moreland should have taken, then a more centered strike which he also should have taken--a walk gives the Sox the lead with Kimbrel available to close. But that last pitch was a fastball, 95 or 96 mph, on the low inside corner which Moreland had to swing at and did and missed.

Top of the order craps out and bottom five hitters produce 2 runs.

4 very nice outs by Kelly and before him 20 very nice outs by Wright. Plus pretty good defense. The perfect game in which to have both. The offense has done zilch, but this game is still very winnable.

Too true. No hits and 3 K's among them. Of course, Betts, JDM, and Moreland tonight have no hits and 4 K's among them.

An honest man.

With JDM and Betts both back in the lineup and a grand total of 3 singles in this game, we are blaming Cora for using a bad lineup and giving zero credit to Bundy? None so blind as though who refuse to see. Of course, as I recall, a lot of folks thought Manaea was just plain lucky on that no-hitter earlier this year in Oakland.

Like I said, one very exciting game. Kelly comes in with the bases loaded and wham, gets the 3d out on a K.

Yup. You nailed it. Holt would have been the difference maker tonight and fixed the hitlessness of Betts, JDM, and Moreland. Cora is such an idiot.

Well they are in good company tonight. I've seen no hits from Betts, JDM, or Moreland. Or did I miss one? Did you see some hits by those three? Is it remotely possible--and this is a stretch--that Bundy is pitching effectively? Nah. Couldn't be.

Hah. Talksox would disapprove vehemently. Our rule is "take no chances on the basepaths. Be cautious. No extra bases if there is the remotest chance you won't make it. We must eliminate wasted outs at all costs."

Sorry gang, but I just don't see what all the whiners see. Sox hit Bundy early, but mostly right at someone. Now he is pitching well even though it's basically the slider (which can break sharply but not always) and the fast ball. Occasional changeup. Wright is matching him with the knuckler and occasional curve and fast ball. Very exciting game to watch. I'm glad our starter is having a great night and our defense is also good when our guys can't seem to score. Interesting that right now we have 3 singles--all by the 2 of the 3 youngest guys on the team. But others have hit the ball hard for outs.

Really stupid announcers for the Orioles.

2011 was his career year and it was with the Sox. He was never that good before or after--and still wasn't good enough for Sox fans. But he's happy because he got that big contract at $22M/yr of which I think 2018 is the last year.

I'm very anti-Porcello myself. But I like him so far this year, a big improvement over last year. For a while he was our ace. He has a good mixture of pitches, but none of them is really good, so he has to be careful about hitting his spots. The other four starters--Sale, Price, ERod, and Wright--have better stuff. He got hurt by Devers's error yesterday, also by how he fell down covering 1B (on an out),which allowed that guy to score from 2b on a ground out. If I gotta pick sides, I go with kimmi and moonslav.

The Orioles radio announcers aren't bad--seriously. They stay focused on the game. They favor the Orioles but overall are pretty objective. I don't hate Showalter, but I don't like him either. I used to like Joe Maddon, now of the Cubs, but now I don't like him either.

I was thinking of you in a post on another thread--and your zero tolerance policy with respect to Cora's lineups. I've been anti-Holt most of the year, but this year I like his defense and his hitting. For me a big surprise. But I like Cora and his judgment even more.