Maxbialystock

Walker Houdini Buehler escapes a scary 2d inning. The guy is a spellbinder. No, wait, a Freddie Kruger.

Altuve delivers with your ever popular GIDP.

Buehler is in a groove. He either throws an obvious ball or one right down the middle. The Astros love him.

I know. Go figure.

Sox hitting stunk in the 1st inning. And Buehler is scaring us on the mound.

My goodness the Sox are failing to hit fat pitches down the middle. 91 mph fast balls.

Love the kids in the stands signaling dinger. 2-1.

Buehler escapes the first inning giving up just 2 runs thanks to a third out line drive to Rafaela.

Right now, you got me, pardner. The Astros are killing him.

Fast ball right down the middle--2 run dinger for the Astros.

Agree. But he did have a pretty decent July.

Thanks for the start. Buehler pitched better than Gordon in July, which was far and away Buehler's best month of four. Cora has 7 righty bats against lefty Gordon. The two lefty bats are Anthony and Duran in RF and LF with Rafaela back in CF. I would like to say the Sox have a chance to win this game, but I've been reading the comments. Cora should forfeit because Breslow failed to fill a whole bunch of desperate needs. Plus the Sox are in blue and yellow today.

I don't see upgrade/downgrade. I see righty bats going against lefty starters--see today's lineup--and lefty bats--see last night's lineup--against righty starters. I also see Anthony DH'ing now and then because Yoshida and Ref ain't that great. The only price paid is Rafaela at 2b instead of CF, where he is a freaking game saver. Duran is fine in CF, but nowhere near Rafaela. The odd man out is usually Abreu against lefty starters.

Wrong word, no doubt, but at least the Giants are overpaying him, not us. Agree also the savings have yet to be invested, but would argue July is the wrong month for good investments.

I see it differently. However, because the Sox are playing the toughest schedule in all of MLB, I can't argue too much with your last paragraph. To repeat what I've already said, this Sox pitching staff has the same team ERA, 3.74, and the same ranking, 8th, as the 2018 Sox. The hitting isn't nearly as good as 2018, but the defense is better. And this. Breslow last offseason signed Bregman, Crochet, Chapman, Narvaez, and Buehler. Plus this season the Sox brought up Anthony, Mayer, and Campbell. Story is worlds better than he has been for the Sox. Rafaela is too. Narvaez is a huge improvement at catcher. Giolito is finally paying off, and Bello seems to be finding himself. Granted, Buehler stinks, but in July he pitched 22.2 innings in 4 games with an ERA of 3.57. Two of those games were quality starts. Based on those observations, I think the 2025 Sox have been a transitional team and are now hitting their stride. I suspect the departure of Devers helped. The glass is not half empty.

I see it differently. However, because the Sox are playing the toughest schedule in all of MLB, I can't argue too much with your last paragraph. To repeat what I've already said, this Sox pitching staff has the same team ERA, 3.74, and the same ranking, 8th, as the 2018 Sox. The hitting isn't nearly as good as 2018, but the defense is better. And this. Breslow last offseason signed Bregman, Crochet, Chapman, Narvaez, and Buehler. Plus this season the Sox brought up Anthony, Mayer, and Campbell. Story is worlds better than he has been for the Sox. Rafaela is too. Narvaez is a huge improvement at catcher. Giolito is finally paying off, and Bello seems to be finding himself. Granted, Buehler stinks, but in July he pitched 22.2 innings in 4 games with an ERA of 3.57. Two of those games were quality starts. Based on those observations, I think the 2025 Sox have been a transitional team and are now hitting their stride. I suspect the departure of Devers helped. The glass is not half empty.

I see it differently. However, because the Sox are playing the toughest schedule in all of MLB, I can't argue too much with your last paragraph. To repeat what I've already said, this Sox pitching staff has the same team ERA, 3.74, and the same ranking, 8th, as the 2018 Sox. The hitting isn't nearly as good as 2018, but the defense is better. And this. Breslow last offseason signed Bregman, Crochet, Chapman, Narvaez, and Buehler. Plus this season the Sox brought up Anthony, Mayer, and Campbell. Story is worlds better than he has been for the Sox. Rafaela is too. Narvaez is a huge improvement at catcher. Giolito is finally paying off, and Bello seems to be finding himself. Granted, Buehler stinks, but in July he pitched 22.2 innings in 4 games with an ERA of 3.57. Two of those games were quality starts. Based on those observations, I think the 2025 Sox have been a transitional team and are now hitting their stride. I suspect the departure of Devers helped. The glass is not half empty.

Could you be more specific, please? I ask because I thought we needed a really good starter. However, Crochet, Bello, and Giolito are the best starting threesome since the 2018 Sox. Plus the Sox team ERA is 3.74 and ranked 8th in MLB--same as the 2018 Sox.

One nutty thread. We are at game 111 (last night) and the Sox are 60-51 and 5-5 against four Division leaders over the past 2+ weeks. The pitching staff, ERA 3.74, ranked 8th in MLB, has the exact same numbers as the pricey one in 2018. Crochet, Bello, and Giolito are the best starting threesome since 2018, and even the bullpen is looking pretty good lately. The Sox hitting is ranked 4th in MLB in runs scored and 5th in OPS--and that's after sending Devers to the Giants on June 16th. The defense is as good as I can remember despite those errors--LF, RF, CF, 3b, SS, and catcher are all above average in DWAR's. Bregman is back and making a difference. Anthony is amazing and leading off because his OBP is .400. Duran is sneaking back toward last year's numbers and is tied for the Sox lead in rbi's. Rafaela and Story are exceeding expectations at bat and in the field. Cora has four outfielders and employs them brilliantly. Mayer is injured and Campbell bombed, but both have solid potential. But here on Talksox none of that counts. Pessimism rules and the postseason is out of reach. To be honest, that could happen because the 2025 Sox are playing the toughest schedule in MLB.

like Army greens and fatigues of yesteryear.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda. The fault lies with Casas and Devers far more than with Breslow.

This roster is now 5-5 in 2+ weeks against four Division leaders. The pitching staff is statistically as good as the 2018 Sox. Both were/are ranked 8th in MLB in team ERA and both had/have team ERA's of 3.74. Also, if you will recall, Casas was our first baseman, but took the horrible risk of running to 1b--just like last year when he unwisely swung a baseball bat. That's when Breslow tried to get Devers to play 1b, but he refused--and was sent to the Giants. This is definitely a competitive roster despite both Casas and Devers both cashing out.

While I agree segregation limited the pool of players, I would point out that back then MLB had 16 teams, half of what we have now. Plus they only played 154 games. Plus they didn't play night baseball, which Williams said favored pitchers. On the other hand, I think today's game tends toward pitcher dominance. They are throwing harder with better stuff if not always with better command. The best starters make big bucks. Complete games are a rarity because stats tell managers to use their bullpens. I think pitchers benefit from interleague play.

All good, including the semi-defense of Hicks. These 2025 Sox are now 5-5 against the four Division leaders they've played in the last 2+ weeks.

Great line.