Maxbialystock

He may be 21, but tonight he looks like a smart hitter. He's been picking on a so-so Kershaw which other Sox hitters have mostly failed to do.

Lousy command, perhaps the result of the 2 first inning dingers.

Nice throw by Narvaez. Sox defense is helping. The 2d inning outburst has not been supplemented in innings 2 and 3. The 2 lefty bats, Anthony and Duran, for the Sox have 2 of the Sox 5 hits and 2 of the rbi's.

Agree on spending it. But it's not just the dollars, it's the trade because the other teams are going to want good players for good pitchers.

This game is tougher than I expected, even with the 3-2 lead. Kershaw has done surprisingly well with a slow fastball and a good mix of pitches.

Raffy said no way would he play 1b for the Sox. Now he's playing 1b for the Giants. So the Raffy "trade" isn't all on Breslow.

One would think--and I sure hope so. He has come through so many times this season.

Against lefties, the Dodgers Hernandez OPS is .984, Smith .952, Kim .933, Ohtani .902, Rojas .832, Pages .760, Ruiz .750, Freeman .703, and Edman .710. For the Sox vs lefties, Gonzalez 1.065, Bregman .988, Ref .933, Narvaez .835, Rafaela .769, Story .688, Toro .641, Duran .551, and Anthony .526.

7 righties, including Toro, in the lineup tonight. Lefties are Anthony and Duran. Narvaez back after 2 days rest. Rafaela back in CF. Ref DH. Last night's 36,369 was a thousand short of a sellout. Stunning pitching matchup. Kershaw gets the nod because of the Dodgers lineup.

How much better? Going into this game the Dodgers were winning 58% of the time and the Sox 53%. That difference is miniscule. That said, tonight the Dodgers definitely look like the better team.

A disappointing game. Sox stink on their home field.

What a great insight/line!!! A sellout has been a long time coming.

Murphy has been terrific for 1.2 IP. Where oh where is the Sox hitting?

Despite that bad leg, he has been a real asset since his return.

Yeah. What torques me is that Anthony, Story, Rafaela, Abreu, and Toro are all hitless.

Terrific finish by Bello in the 5th.

They sure have.

No rest tonight. I got momentum. Huge hit by Wong in a big game in which a whole bunch of Sox "hitters" look like crap.

Me too. Did you watch The Fastest Indian In the World? Rafaela and Abreu both look incompetent in their second at bats. Add Toro to the "les incompetents" list.

Small part, brilliantly played by Anthony Hopkins. Terrific 4th by Bello.

Another at bat by Wong when he utterly failed to drive in a run. What liability he is.

Great start and terrible finish to the bottom of the 3d. Yoshida's OPS continues to plummet. 3-2 Dodgers.

RISP disease. We got it worse than most other teams. Wait, wait. I just remembered. The Sox aren't winning enough because of Wong.

I know. Mayer had injury issues in the minors. And this one was caused by swinging the bat (!!??).

I've always thought bunts were a great part of the game. They challenge batters to do something unusual (even more unusual today) and in turn make the infield behave differently. Good bunts are almost an art form. And Toro's throw home off a bunt was a terrific, game-saving play. Go back to the movie Moneyball, which I definitely enjoyed. At the end of the movie John Henry praised sabermetrics and what the A's had done in 2002--with special emphasis on how little a win cost the A's vs what it cost the Yankees. But in fact John Henry never came close to that model because the fans don't come to see sabermetrics at work. They want to see Manny and Big Papi swing the bat or the bloody sock guy hold the Yankees at bay or Uehara for his fantastic 2013 season (when Oritz also excelled). We don't root for systems nearly as much as we do for heroics, How many times have we been told that pitchers are in dire peril when they face a lineup for the 3d time? Yet how many times have we expected a starter to do just that when he is going well? The Phillies have played 102 games and in 55 of those games their starter had a quality start, meaning 6 or more innings and the certainty of facing a lineup for the third time. The Sox have 46 quality starts in 104 games. Bello went absolutely nuts when he pitched that complete game recently--and we should have too. I'm not saying sabermetrics or whatever aren't useful for managers, pitching coaches, etc. I'm just saying they are sometimes antithetical to the notion that baseball games are also theater. To me bunts can be great theater.