Maxbialystock

Ahem. I'm disappointed to but they finished last night after 11 and then flew to Toronto and probably lost some sleep. Plus I suspect there is a bit of a letdown. But I do not see "stumble and bumble."

Leon gets third base when he misses strike 3. Goodness me.

Game just turned ugly again. Very ugly. But the right kind of ugly.

It has definitely been that, but Bogie made things better. I'm still mad at Hanley.

If Cora has any hair on his ass, he will ream Hanley out.

That was not a mistake. It was sheer laziness. I am fine with most mistakes because they happen, but that was deliberate laziness on his part, like he just can't be bothered.

Baloney. Betts took 3d on that hard single straight to the rightfielder, then Beni stole second. Hanley didn't hustle, but the other guys do.

Remy agrees with me and points out that Hanley was in fact not hustling going to 2b. Hanley is a not a professional ballplayer.

I agree with the skeptics--Hanley has enough speed to score from 1st on a double off the wall with two outs because he should have been past 2d by the time it hit the wall.

What do want to bet Hanley wasn't sprinting immediately after JD made contact? He has a nasty habit of assuming the ball is going out or going to be caught or whatever.

Sanchez is throwing better stuff than Sale. His breaking balls have more bite.

Mookie strikes out on 3 pitches. What the heck is going on?

I think the bench is calling the pitches.

Surprising start to this game. Two doubles by Toronto and now likely two runs off our ace, who looks a little too hittable. Sanchez, meanwhile, looks pretty good after that long 1st inning when we really should have scored more than 1 run.

Yes, he walked 3 guys and needed a lot of pitches. But I have a slightly different theory about last night. He needed 22 pitches in the 1st because he was trying to get control of the lower part of the strike zone and below it--and he achieved just that without give up a run. I do agree, however, that he flat lost it in the 4th, but got a little lucky and escaped with no runs. Austin swinging at two balls definitely helped because by then the bases were loaded--and Austin struck out.

Hold it right there, buster. When Cora is criticized on talksox, it's completely legit. If Cora did his job right, the Sox wouldn't lose. it's that simple.

Apropos of nothing, I noticed Velazquez did not pitch vs. the NYY. Perhaps the intent was/is to save him to back up Price tomorrow.

I dreaded the Yankees series and am very pleased with how our guys played--except the bullpen, of course. I look forward to this series because the Sox to me seem to be back on track. Sale is probably our ace now. Betts RF Beni CF Hanley DH JDM LF Bogie SS Moreland 1B Nunez 3B Holt 2b Leon C JBJ continues to ride the pine and is now joined by Devers. So two lefty bats replaced by two others (Moreland and Holt).

Meh. When you include 2016, it's like what the Yankees did to justify shelling out zillions for Ellsbury because of that incredible, never to be approached, let alone repeated, 2011. The Sox are lucky 2018 has happened and they can make a more informed decision about JBJ. That said, it is always possible he will come around. I just don't think it's a good bet. Right now we are seeing the 2014 JBJ.

But haven't we already agreed we need his bat and we already have good ones for 1b and DH? Heck, we have some many of both Cora can afford to bench JBJ and put JD in the outfield and Moreland at 1B. I would far, far rather have a newbie with a good bat and doubtful defense than, as was the case with JBJ and now appears to be the case again, a newbie with a great glove and an OPS of .530 (2014). JBJ was deservedly sent back to Pawtucket. Devers won't be. I'll go one step further and say I would rather have Devers at 3b than Nunez, who probably has no errors, at 2B because Nunez has almost no range and his hitting is off.

Here's what soxprospects says about him-- Field: Has soft hands and his footwork is surprisingly good given his build. Comfortable charging the ball and making smooth transfers from glove to throwing hand. Agile for his size and has average range. Projects as at least an average defender at third base. Speed of the game could give him some trouble while he adjusts to the major league level. On occasion will lose fundamentals leading to careless errors. Should be able to stick at the position long-term unless his body gets away from him as he matures. There was concern in the lower minors that he may need to move off the position, but this stemmed almost entirely from projections that he may lose agility as he grew into his large frame, rather than from anything relating to his fielding ability.

All good points. I frankly applaud any multimillionaire who gives up a few to stay where he and his family are comfortable. They will remain so for the rest of their lives if they spend wisely. I'm convinced that the higher and higher and higher salaries are driven more by the agents than the players. But I could be wrong.

Agree on most. And try not to think much about the future--too hard, too uncertain.

Absolutely true. Actually, I thought better of us after we lost the first two games and said so. But for the bullpen, we had a shot at winning both of them. jacksonianmarch was pleased with the Yankees big 7th inning rally last night, but all I saw was bullpen ineptitude--singles and walks and even a wild pitch to bring in 1 of those 4 runs. If Price is OK and the carpal tunnel is behind him, I see signs of a pretty darn good rotation, and to me bullpens are always fixable. And I really like the lineup. The defense ain't great, but, honestly, I don't care. To me 80% of defense is that guy on the mound.

Which one is more recent? I consider the recent Yankees series to be a real eye-opener because before it I was plenty worried. The one positive voice who made sense to me was moonslav, which is why I give him credit. He saw the potential of this team more clearly than I. I patted myself on the back for recognizing that moonslav was right after the first two games, both of which we lost. That's when almost everyone else was moaning and groaning. I'm an old Red Sox fan and consequently a pessimist. Remember that 86 year drought? I was a fan for 54 years of it, 1949-2003. Thus, even though I loved the first 19 games (17-2), I was ready to bail when the Yankees went on an equally hot streak. I expected them to crush our Sox at Yankee Stadium. They had Severino, Tanaka, and Sabathia going against Pom, Price, and Porcello (which turned out to be Pom, Porcello, and ERod). However, I think that, except for the bullpen, the Sox played great in those first two games and was very encouraged and said so. Last night made it even better because I had low expectations for ERod.