Maxbialystock

I think it was game 1 in this series when he hit the double and Shoop made a great play in doubling him off 2B. I watched the replay several times and am convinced it was just a very nice defensive play. Yes, Mookie took a lead, but not a big one, and was moving toward 2B before the ball was caught.

I don't know. Whatever he is throwing seems to work against our guys. 1 run in 3 innings and that was on that Pesky pole cheap dinger by JD.

Where in the world did Mr. .900 OPS Moreland go? Shmuck.

Last year those two had the second best caught stealing %, 39%, in MLB.

That play right there is why I get torqued anytime someone complains about Mookie's base running. He hit that ball to deep center and was full prepared to take 3b if it wasn't smoothly fielded--and then hustled back to 2b when it was. He gambles sometimes because he's so darn good, but he is not foolhardy.

I have railed against ERod, but there is zero doubt in my mind he is a better starter than Pom, who simply does not have enough variety in the pitches he throws, which is exacerbated by the slow fastball. ERod has heat, a good changeup, a good slider, and a decent cut fastball. His issue is command. I have also railed against Porcello, but at least see he mixes up five pitchers pretty evenly--4 seamer, 2 seamer, changeup, slider, and curve. When he has command, he's pretty good.

Leon did exactly the same thing yesterday--threw to 2B.

Changeup worked like a charm. The Orioles announcers were just boasting that Machado is by far the best hitter in MLB with RISP. That single by Jones was off a changeup about a foot outside the strike zone that Jones did a great job on.

One thing ERod isn't doing today is keeping the ball low. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Just like I predicted. Great sand wedge by Holt followed by really hard grounder by Vazquez the Orioles were lucky to field, and some very nice cuts by JBJ. I tell, that magic stroke is back!

I beg to differ. Hess has a fastball, which works magic against JBJ. Any fastball, any speed, any location. Did you not watch the last two games?

Beautiful sand wedge by Holt--safely on a very small green.

That's what I meant about mistakes--back to back fastballs right down the middle by Erod.

Awfully easy 1st for Hess. That's OK, though. When he has to face Holt, Vazquez, and JBJ--one after another--he will rue the day he every tried to pitch at Fenway.

ERod actually has a decent repertoire, which Pom absolutely does not have. ERod just needs to hit his spots and not make bad pitches when hitters are looking for them.

New homeplate umpire who just took a 3d strike away from ERod. But Machado flied out anyway.

Mostly agree, but don't see 6 solid bats in there--and I certainly hope I'm wrong. I will say that, considering just May, Nunez is about on par with Hanley. Holt's good hitting, however, was in April, not May. So the bottom four hitters in this lineup have a collective May OPS closer to .500 than .600 and a far cry from the top five hitters.

JBJ getting this third straight start in a bold attempt to restart his engine or whatever metaphor one prefers for his hitting. In his most recent 9 starts he has 2 hits and 16 K's. In his last 2, 4 K's and 0 hits. All four of those K's were against middling fastballs, most of which were down the middle. At the same time his defense has made not a scintilla of difference in game outcomes. I cannot emphasize too strongly that, despite my complaints about JBJ, I fully endorse whatever decision Cora makes about him. In 2014 and 2015 JBJ went thru a similar spate of utterly abysmal hitting, then suddenly, August 2015, started to hit with a vengeance. Plus in 2018 they are paying him $6M whether he hits or doesn't.

Agree on the no-trade thesis. As for the lost cause part, you could also be right. Ortiz went through a pretty big slump the season after Manny left or the one after that. In fact, hitting-wise, it might be the best Sox outfield in recent memory. But, as oldtimer says, this is a business, and right now JBJ on the active roster is a bit of a liability because his hitting right now is actually worse than in 2014 when he claimed the centerfielder job after Ellsbury left and JBJ ended up in Pawtucket. Do you remember that season? It's the one immediately after winning it all with Ellsbury in CF--you know, the Ellsbury who could hit, but not like the one who hit in 2011, and had wheels and was a decent centerfielder despite a weak arm. I would argue that right now Benintendi is pretty darn close to that Ellsbury, but the JBJ loyalists persist in saying that, compared to JBJ, he is an unmitigated disaster in CF and of course conveniently ignore that he can hit and get on base and contribute to the offense and is probably close to Ellsbury in CF in 2014. So my thought is that sending JBJ down, if it is still possible, is the right move for him and the right move for the Sox because, contrary to the beliefs of the devout JBJ loyalists, an outfield of JDM, Beni, and Betts would actually be pretty darn good.

But Pedey did. Immediately, in fact.

I'm telling you this ump has consistently taken strikes away from Sox pitchers and given them to Orioles pitchers. It's pretty gross.

Of course it is, but I think it makes sense: 6 innings, 3 runs. I sure don't think it's high standard.

Beni da man. Maybe people will stop riding him for awhile. Naw.

Dumb Cora, I guess. Or just maybe Cora thought, "I'm going to need both of them, so which one should pitch to the top of the order, especially Machado?"

Nice job by Kelly. A lot of pitches, but Jones was downright pesky.