Maxbialystock

I thought Walden was a dud. Seriously. But he looked awfully good in that one inning, especially with the last batter/out.

What is his injury and how long will he be out?

I did listen to WEEI on my car sound system which picked up the feed from my cell. Those WEEI announcers seemed to me to be more interested in talking about April 14, 1967 than about this game. They also don't routinely give the listener the game situation. And they barely said a peep about Velazquez.

Insane how he had to reach across his body and get the glove into the right position which in fact was barely, barely between the ball and the grass. Just unreal.

Terrific grab by JBJ!! The less I watch, the better the Sox do. Love it. Had to miss some innings because of prior commitments. I'm getting the impression that Kelly pitches better when he on suspension or rather pending suspension. What the heck happened to Mookie?

Great start all around.

Two righties: Cobb vs. Velazquez Cobb's first start for the Orioles, Velazquez's first since April 1 when he went 5 2/3 and gave up 1 vs. Tampa. Day game following a night game, 5th game of 13 back to back, albeit in April. Still worth mentioning because Cora believes in individual rest days, and he has certainly used his bench. I'm thinking Sandy Leon will catch Velazquez. Swihart theoretically can play LF, 3B, 1b, and C, but his one start was as a DH. 11-2!!!!! A bunch of close wins--so maybe some luck involved-- but right now even the Yankees have to be nervous. The Sox hitting seems to be coming around--without our hottest bat, Bogie-- and the rotation has now had just 2 bad starts (Price and ERod) in 13 games. Who woulda thunk Porcello would be this good and leading the team in innings pitched with an ERA of 1.83 and a whip of .76? Or that Johnson and Velazquez would each a a decent start? Or that ERod could look that good (but still scary) over 6 innings vs. the Orioles? The bullpen isn't there yet, but Kimbrel is. OF defense (absent JD) is pretty good, infield so-so.

Mr johnny-come-lately concurs with the talksox brain trust. Great post.

Good phrasing: "I disagree 100% with sending . . ." Me, I was fine with it. He only threw 99 pitches and is a big strong guy. I'll bet he really wanted to go back out there. This was game 3 of 13 straight games without a day off, and Cora had used his bullpen--6 of them-- a whole lot the night before when Price only went 1 inning. They pitched 8 innings and gave up 6 more runs and I think they were due for a break. Oh, and the first reliever after Porcello's sterling 7 innings was Walden, who game up 3 runs and made a game of it, necessitating the appearance of closer Kimbrel. So think through sending Walden out there to pitch the 6th inning with a similar result--3 runs--but this time with 3 more innings to go. My judgments about managers run counter to most on talksox. I honestly don't care whether a move seems dumb or smart unless there is clear evidence it cost us a game. Moreover, I usually give the manager the benefit of the doubt because he has more information and experience. I recently broke that rule, denounced Cora, and was immediately corrected by Bellhorn who reminded me of a couple of salient facts that showed I was wrong. In the case of leaving Porcello in, even though traditionally and no doubt for very good reasons few managers would have done it, I think a strong case can be made that his unorthodoxy paid off.

On this homestand, now 7 games, the Sox have scored 3, 10, 8, 14, 7, 6, and 7 runs: 8 runs per game. Bogaerts, easily our hottest hitter, was injured in the last game of the road trip, so these 7 games have been without him. The five Sox leaders in rbi's are a tight shot group: HamRam 12, JD 11, Betts 11, Devers 10, and the absent Bogaerts 9. The bottom third of the order is weak, but they also led that huge 8th inning rally vs. the Rays last weekend.

Very nice win. Some good hitting and some good pitching except for Hembree.

Kelly only needed 9 pitches. Bring him back for the 9th, please.

3 hits, all well hit.

7-3, thanks to Hembree.

Agree. Despite my criticism, a great 2d start.

Well, Freddy Kruger just went 6 giving up 1 against the Orioles. But not without some pain for us watching.

Yes it certainly is.

The price for being able to challenge is these interminable waits.

What a play by Mookie and Lin!!

Just tuned in so missed a lot. Looks like ERod has been on, but that Orioles reliever just mowed our guys down after the WP. Squandered a good opportunity. 3 straight changeups up to Lin who was completely clueless. Beni almost as bad. But 6-1 after 3 is awfully nice.

Tillman vs, ERodriguez

Yup. But for Price, a sweep.

No way am I staying up for this one. Love everything so far provided HanRam is OK.

In case jacksonianmarch is still following, he should note that most of the complaints about the tight strike zone came when Grey was pitching.

We need 9 more outs ASAP--6 from them and 3 from us.