Maxbialystock

One mistake Happ is making this inning--he is not getting that easy first strike.

Hell, I already did. I'm just not ready to give up.

Maybe a little more rest for Bogie, who looks awfully tired and weak out there. Three more days to get his energy back? A week? His health is important you know.

Who is that masked man. Talk about cool as a cucumber. He did not get sucked in by the low stuff, but then he also had to swing at a low fast ball and hammered it. What a great at bat!!!

Look at that. 3 straight Porcello pitches all in the same great spot, low and away. Nothing would make me happier than to eat my words. I also like the high fastball. And he got him on a slider low in the zone!!!! Way to go, Porcello. Maybe you can pitch. What why in the wide, wide world of sports did it take so long?

Happ don't know jack this early in the game. He pitches like that because it works. I will readily agree that strike called greatly benefitted Happ and put Nunez in a whole--and that Nunez then had to swing defensively. That's why I commended him for getting Happ to 10 pitches. Tough at bat.

There is no Sox pitcher who can do what Happ just did. Threw 5 straight pitches--2 fast balls, 2 sliders, and a changeup--to the same general spot, low and away from a righty batter. That, Kimmi and gentlemen, is what I call a professional MLB pitcher. He can do it because he is confident in his control of all three pitches as Porcello so clearly is not. Firster might be able to do that, but I sure haven't seen it. And forget the bullpen except Reed, who might be able to do it. Our ace Sale absolutely could never do what Happ just do. Never.

Look at that. Beni works him for a walk, and think one thing that helped him was fouling that first pitch, signalling he was going to be aggressive.

I saw only one bad call.

Note the enormous difference between Happ and Porcello. First and foremost, Happ throws a fat first pitch because the Sox normally won't swing. Second, he keeps the ball low because the hitter is behind and can't be sure it won't be a strike. In fact, on this at bat, Nunez has swung at three straight pitches that were well out side the zone--and then a 4th 3 pitches later. Good for Nunez. At least he saw 10 pitches and actually hit the ball.

Porcello gave up the double on slider that didn't slide much and was up in the zone. Now comes the three run dinger on a curve up in the zone. This is mostly on Porcello, but the pitching coach gets credit for not working on Porcello's inability to pitch low effectively. He already knows how to throw one in the dirt.

He's afraid to throw the ball, simple as that. From 3b is a long throw.

Managers normally don't win or lose games that aren't close, but they can have an effect on close ones.

Even though this is Toronto, it's hard to be confident after losing 3 of 4 when none of the losses were close.

Well, it's true. I played one summer of Babe Ruth League baseball in the summer of 1955 and that has made all the difference. I know tons more baseball than my wife (who only played softball).

I don't care what lineup he tries because no lineup is working these days. Last time against lefty Happ the Sox got 1 run in 6 innings. I'm guessing Pedey needs another rest day, Devers needs to sit, JBJ maybe can't hit Happ, etc. Not a Young fan myself, this year.

Meh. The last time against lefty Happ the A lineup got 1 run in 6 innings.

Espn is changing I think. I heard nothing last night so I don't know of any bias. That said, read espn.com and you will see they love having the Yankees back, and their fan base is very much worth cultivating.

Struck in the twilight zone, I think. You chose DH for the obvious reason there is too much competition at C and in the outfield. He could play 1b with ease, but Moreland (if he stays) and Travis are in the way. HanRam can still play 1B. I think he needs to forget his age, injuries, etc, and just focus on hitting. If he can hit--and soxprospects says he can--the big club will find a slot. But not until his hitting demands something be done, and he is a long way from there. Hitting will also make him better trade bait. We have seen other good Sox prospects who did not prosper until they left the Sox system.

Way to go, Kimmi !!! That's what I wanted you to say on the game thread last night and said so. The rest of us are wimpy, no good, low down, rotten nattering nabobs of negativism. In my case in comes from long practice.

I'm not sure we are talking about the same AB. Let's talk about Sox hitting and Beni and whoever.

It's possible. In the summer of 1972 someone like that visited Cooperstown after spending some time abroad, but he never had time to be a fan. Too busy.

Of course it came across that way, and there absolutely must be room for everybody's opinion. That's what we are here for.

So here we are on Labor Day and on the one talksox thread that is all about "a realistic view at 2017." So what is our realistic view today? Mine is that the Yankees series did more damage than just losing 3 of 4 to the only team that can beat us for the AL East title. It is also a terrible reminder of just how regressive our hitting has become since the 16-4 streak moonslav likes to talk about. Last night was the 10th straight game--with Friday night being a wonderful and most welcome exception--when our hitters have been unable to get to the starters of three different teams (Orioles, Jays, and Yankees). We won all 3 Jays games because their bullpen is horrendous, but we never got to their 3 starters who each gave up just 1 run. At the same time the Yankees were able to get to three of our four starters--ERod (who actually pitched well for 5 innings), Pom (ditto), and Sale (who now has 1 quality start in his last 4 starts). Season to date, the Sox lead the AL in quality starts with 77. Our rotation has been our oasis in the scoring desert of this season, and our bullpen has been pretty good too. They are why we are still 1st in the AL East. They will likely still be good enough to get us there because we have a weak schedule in the remaining 25 games or so. But right now I have my doubts about them in the playoffs. Think of this now concluded Yankees series as a preview of the ALDS. Think the Guardians instead of the Yankees. Remember last year. Scary, isn't it? A sidebar on the manager. If the Sox don't deliver this year, he is gone, and that will be fair. But consider this. The four best teams (most wins) in the AL are the Astros, Guardians, Red Sox, and Yankees in that order. The other three teams have, in the same order, scored 162, 179, and 137 runs more than their opponents in the roughly 136 games played to date by each team. The Sox have scored 81 runs more than their opponents. Those are of course very rough numbers and can no doubt be interpreted many ways, but my take is that they at least suggest the admittedly very slim possibility that Farrell has done more with less than the other three managers.

Honestly, oldtimer, my strong impression right now is that too many of our hitters aren't sure what they heck they are doing, and that especially applies to last year's two studs, Betts and Bogaerts. My favorite hitting style is probably Pedroia's. He is pretty aggressive but smart enough to take the walk when it is there. You and I have both commented on the importance of the first pitch. Almost all other teams we face will have a few hitters if not most who will swing at a fat first pitch. We almost never do. I could be wrong, but I think this becomes a big problem when other teams pitchers feel confident they can go up in the count from the get go. All that pitcher then has to do is get one more strike to force our hitters to swing at bad pitches or pitches they can't make good contact with.