Maxbialystock

Nice grab by Holt, but that ump is definitely giving Gray more calls than Fister and in the same part of the strike zone. 2-1 after 4. Gotta win this if only because the Yankees need it worse and probably expected to win.

I sure did. He was probably right to take the step back to be sure he got it, but then he had too really fire it to get Gardner, who is very quick going down the line.

Nice K by Gray--just the right time to go with the high hard one to Moreland.

Nice opposite field by Beni--smart hitter. I'm even happy Betts hit it to soft to be a GIDP. Go Moreland!

Nuni, Nuni, Nuni! Make me wrong! Great and very needed 2 run dinger. The wrong applies to my totally pessimism about our hitting Gray. May I add that I don't like Holt in there, but he drew that walk and scored.

I have disliked Fister from the start, and I have been wrong. The guy has that something extra--focus, smarts, confidence, whatever--that helps him get out of tight spots. He does not have great stuff, and he has good, but not great control. But he sure is a gamer. And boy do I love being wrong like that.

He is not above reproach. The context of this discussion is last night's game, which is considered by too many evidence that Beni is costing us wins and materially aided the enemy in the 2d inning. I have explained why that is simply not true, and no one, including you has presented any compelling evidence tgo the contrary. On the bonehead plays costing us a 10-15 game lead, fine. Go with the minimum of the 10 game lead, which means 6 more wins than the current 76. 82 wins gives us the second best record in MLB. You claim you can prove boneheaded plays cost 6 wins and I am equally confident you can't demonstrate it by analyzing any of the 56 losses to date. 82 wins, in case you haven't noticed, would give the Sox the second best record in MLB and the best in the AL, and there is no way, no how with our weak hitting you can assert that. We simply differ in our definitions of fundamentals. Mine are hitting and pitching, and yours are playing smart.

Well done, Fister, bouncing back from back to back doubles and yielding just the 1 run. He just might have a quality start, but that remains to be seen. If he does, the problem will still be the same as last night. We couldn't hit Sabathia, and Gray doesn't look any easier. Our 1 baserunner in 2 innings is from a WP on a third strike, batter running to 1b.

Fister vs. Gray, both righties, clear edge to Gray 1 Nunez SS 2 Benintendi CF 3 Betts RF 4 Moreland 1b 5 Pedroia 2b 6 Devers 3b 7 Ramirez DH 8 Leon C 9 Holt LF

He's 23, in his first full season and has less MLB experience than all regulars not named Devers. He is 3d on the team in at bats and has the highest OBP and OPS of those among the top ten in at bats. He is second in rbi's, 2d in dingers, 2d in SB's, 3D in runs scored, and 2d in total hits. His base-stealing % is 82%. And he's never learned how to play the game right? If you are right and he has not, pardon me for saying I'm fine with a guy who has wasted those 15 years of organized ball and can only do what Beni has already done.

Please name a Sox team in the John Henry Bill James era (2002 to 2017?) that used the bunt in any significant way. I like bunts, especially in the way you describe, but the Sox abandoned them more than 10 years before Farrell took the helm.

Fine. Be enraged. Beni probably deserves it. But I'm sorry, I just don't see how his wisely staying at 1b was going to change the game outcome. Hitless Betts was on deck. The next 4 batters were also hitless for the game. Two of them--Bogie and Devers--came to bat in the 1st with the bases loaded and could do nothing against Sabathia. In the 9th with the bases loaded by 2 walks and an HBP, Nunez struck out, Beni walked, Betts popped up to 2d, and Moreland flied out to LF. On top of all that you are ignoring that the Yankees scored 6 runs including 2 dingers. We were simply overmatched last night which should come as no surprise because Sabathia owns us this year and ERod, while I thought he battled well in the first 5 innings, just ain't there yet.

Nunez is a good bat, but anywhere he plays will exact a defensive price as he has repeatedly demonstrated. I think holt is better at every position, and he sure ain't no great defender. But Holt's bat right now makes him 2d to Nunez at any position.

Then you, sir, are in trouble. I need to add that I like and respect everyone who disagrees with me. They all write good stuff. But i still disagree.

Frankly, I am indifferent to Ecks expostulations. He is paid to get excited about specific plays and not to drone on about the 4 singles which weren't confirmed as the total until the game ended. As I have explained already, I also don't care whether Benintendi was right or wrong. The point is, based on how the game played out and based on our sheer ineptitude when the bases were loaded in the 1st and again in the 9th inning, I think Eck and the rest of you are projecting a very unlikely outcome. Beni staying on 1b wasn't going to change the game's dynamic. I too was enraged by Nunez's misplay in the 5th, but by the end of the game considered it inconsequential. The Yankees won because they had better hitting and pitching and nothing else.

Great stuff.

Agree with others, good stuff, thanks. Like moonslav, I think the hitting has underperformed this year with Ortiz no doubt a factor. Blaming Farrell for the wrong lineups to me is silly. There is little or no compelling evidence, especially with this team, that where they are in the order makes a real difference. Betts, for example was terrific last year leading off. Great numbers. He was 2d on the team in rbi's and of course the clear leader in runs scored. Farrell has tried multiple lineups and combinations this year. Holding Devers back??!! He's still 20 for crying out loud. Give me a break.

Vintage. Classic. Simple but thought-provoking stats.

Honestly, I think that "10-15 up with just a few less mental blunders and dumb mistakes" is insupportable. Look at the standings. We're up 4.5 on the Yankees because we are 18 games above .500 and they are 9. For us to increase that lead to 12.5 games--the mean between 10 and 15 games up--we would have to be 34 games above .500, which would give us the best record in the AL and the 2d best record in MLB. All because we are too aggressive on the basepaths or JBJ forgets how many outs or whatever? Give me a break. Besides, I think you are focusing on the wrong fundamentals. By far the two dominant fundamentals in baseball are hitting and pitching. After that, quite a way back in my opinion, comes fielding. Then maybe baserunning. Then maybe playing smart--hitting the cutoff man, covering 1b on grounders to the right, staying focus on the game situation (number of outs, what you should do on a grounder or fly, remembering who to backup if the other team hits a double or something). Last night was a classic example of the fundamentals taking over. In the 2d inning many thought we blew the game when Beni tried for an extra base on a single and was out. This was was supposed to be our big inning, but he ruined it with his recklessness. Really? In the 1st we had the bases full with 1 out and Bogie, Devers, and HanRam quickly succumbed to Sabathia's mastery. Interestingly, if Beni has not run in the 2d, Betts would have come to the plate with men on 1st and 3d and no one out. Guess what? Betts and the next four guys in the lineup last night never got a single hit. In the 9th the Yankess bullpen gave up 3 walks and an HBP which scored 1 run for us, but we never got a hit. We lost last night on the fundamentals, no question, but the fundamentals were hitting and pitching and not whether Beni was too aggressive. We went 16-4 in the first part of August because we had good pitching and good hitting. We are struggling now because the hitting is unquestionably soft. The Nunez/Devers charge to the system has worn off. We took 3 straight from Toronto because they just might have the worst bullpen in the history of baseball (not really), but we got exactly 1 run per game off their three starters. That, sports fans, is ineptitude so great that worrying about aggressiveness on the base paths or not being alert about game situations or being unable to reliably go back on a pop up or whatever other "fundamental flaw" you want to name to me makes no sense. If we can't hit any better, that fundamental flaw will kill us this month--deservedly so. I would like to amend the above by of course agreeing that pitching, the other dominant fundamental, was clearly key last night. Sabathia was way better than ERod even though ERod at least started OK. If Nunez hadn't missed that popup and Betts not allowed him to, ERod would have gone 5 while giving up 1, not bad. Come the 6th, however, the deluge.

In now 6 straight games against 3 different teams, the Sox have been held to 1 run by the other teams starter. That is a little scary to say on September 1. In one game, the final loss to the Orioles, we left 25 on base. Last night the Sox scratched out 4 measly singles in 9 innings. As I said earlier, the utter ineptitude of the Jays bullpen masked our hitting flaws. This is sadly reinforced by watching the games. Nunez and Devers gave our hitting a nice shot in the arm, which enabled that 16-4 streak that vaulted the Sox into a solid lead in the AL East. But the hitting collapse, if such it is, could just as quickly fritter it away. 6 years ago the Sox got Francona fired--after WS wins in 2004 and 2007-- by their September collapse. Today maybe Pedroia and tomorrow maybe JBJ can provide a spark. Maybe the aggressive base running needs to be reined in, which is one of the very few realistic options--I have my doubts about lineup changes--left to Farrell to help the offense. September call ups? Dombrowski has already called up a zillion guys and exactly 1 good bat, Devers.

I was wrong about the hitting. Sox are fine. Great 9th inning rally that just fell short. 3 walks, 1 HBP, 1 K, 1 pop up, and 1 fly out. No hits of course. But 4 big singles in 9 innings is nothing to sneeze at. We'll bbe fine. The pitching is the problem.

Completely agree. The 6th is all on ERod. But the score going in should have been 1-1 with ERod having thrown fewer pitches. The Nunez misplay (officially not an error) was costly. Plus our lineup has 4 measley singles in 7 innings. That's why I give ERod an Ok. Plus those first 5 innings.

Hah! Box score says no error by Nunie in the 5th. Since he never touched the ball, that's probably a fair call, but you cannot persuade me it was not catchable with Betts standing right there.

I've seen uglier from him, a lot uglier. Don't forget that that run in 5th was the result of Nunez problems catching popups behind him, and it also extended the inning. ERod should have been out of there with 0 runs and maybe 90 pitches for the game. Tonight ERod was far more sinned against--by the hitting and the defense and baserunning--than sinning.

Sorry, Nunie, but Pedey makes that play with ease even with the bad knee. Probably not an error, but.