Maxbialystock

OK. Pitcher and and Yankees bench coach now ejected. Next Yankees pitcher threw inside for an HBP on the hands. No ejection, probably fair. 3 run double by Iglesias! No way MLB can't take action against Girardi and maybe the Yankees as a whole.

Girardi is now controlling this game. Not only did throwing at Cabrera get him thrown out, but the resulting fracas and long. Long delay of game basicallly took out the Tigers starter who lost his command. After the game was tied, the Yankees reliever hit the first Tigers player in the head and no one was ejected. Girardi and the Yankees are scum.

Great call by lthe home plate ump in the Detroit half of the 6th. With 2 outs and no one on the Yankees pitcher decided to nail Cabrera, but ended up throwing behind him for a ball. The ump did not hesitate to eject the pitcher--absolutely the right call. But Girardi came charging out anyway. Then words between Cabrera and the catcher led to a shove by Cabrera who was ejected when a small brawl erupted. Yankees catcher Romine also ejected. No way, no how Girardi did not instigate this with the Yankees down 6-3. I am not a Yankee hater, but that was completely bush league and that whole team is bush league. Chapman is now pitching in the 6th with the Yankees down 6-3. Goodness me.

That's a thought.

Why start our two worst hitters, Davis and Holt? Do you really think Holt is a bigger offensive threat than HanRam? I sure don't. We need Davis for his fielding, but with an OBP of .280 against righties he should bat 9th, where JBJ was. I would go with last night's lineup which preservered against an ace righty, Kluber, but with Leon catching and Davis batting 9th in CF. Maybe shift HanRam lower in the order, but maybe not.

All very sensible. Vintage moonslav.

Gomes the catcher don't catch so good.

Maybe Kimbrel won't get to pitch the 9th after all. Wow.

Whoops. There goes worthless Holt with an rbi and an insurance run off a double. Plus he scored the second run of the game. Why does Farrell even let him on the field, let alone start a game? Oh, I remember. They want to give him enough rope to prove he's a candidate for DFA, which makes perfect sense in the middle of August in a tough pennant race.

Great single by Devers!

Interesting. Reed gave up the dinger on a 2-0 count, which was a deep hole against a hitter like Encarcion. He threw three straight sliders and the 3d one was up too much. Probably not a good pitch choice.

If the bullpen can hang on, this will be a great win--on the road against a bonafide contender for the Cy Young this year who actually pitched a very good game.

Are you serious? This is the guy everyone wanted to see in Monday's game. Now he's a dirtbag? I believe that Farrell thought he could get 4 outs from Kelly and 4 from Reed especially after that hard liner to CF for Kelly's 4th out. You guys have a very low threshhold for calling Farrell a dunce. I mean, even when things go right, he's an idiot.

Come on Devers, make me wrong.

I honestly want to disagree with you, but the simple fact is that Mookie is a sucker for a slider or even a curve, so he must swing at fastballs in the zone, especially on the first pitch. Of course, in his second at bat Kluber threw a cut fastball on the outside corner. Interestingly, Beni did swing at the first pitch, and it was a fastball low and below the strike zone.

I can't say yet how good Kluber's pitches are, but he has a good mix and can really hit the outside parts of the strike zone.

Not a four game reaction. I said at the outset his OPS batting 5th is .769 for I think 11 games. His OPS for the season is 1.007 and at those other 3 positions, where he has batted I think 10 games, 1.225. Indeed, his season to date is a small sample size, but that hasn't stopped virtually this entire board (including me) from saying he can hit anything anytime. All I'm suggesting is the conservative approach for a 20 year old, no matter how good, isn't necessarily bad.

Why was everyone clamoring to move Devers up higher in the batting order? His best positions season to date have been 6th, 7th, and 9th where his combined OPS is 1.222. Batting 5th his OPS is .769 and dropping as I write. Chances are good he will go hitless again tonight--his fourth straight game batting 5th and going hitless.

And no question that MRI has to be done in Boston not Cleveland.

Actually, I'm seeing positive signs in all five starters. Sale is Sale. Pomeranz is a miracle. Porcello is much better since the all-star break. E-Rod has twice started badly--especially the 2d inning--and then settled down. When he is pitching the way he is capable of, he can be tough. Fister is almost as big a surprise as Pomeranz. He doesn't have great stuff, but is effective when he commands his pitches and keeps the ball low (not all the time of course). It's also interesting that 3 and sometimes 4 of our starters are lefties in a righty-hitter universe.

Honestly, I fine it hard to believe they are playing Holt mostly to see if he is a keeper. Not in a pennant race in the middle of August and not against the Yankees--whom we lead by 4.5 for the AL East--or the Guardians, whom we lead by 2.5 for the second best record in the AL. For now Holt serves a useful purpose because of his versatility, especially when Farrell is carrying 13 pitchers and has infielders who are out (Pedroia) or hurting. I agree he is master of none of the positions he plays and that his hitting this year is very subpar. Nevertheless I disagree that he is a liability when he is on the field. Here's why. Since he resumed playing on July 16, he has played in 29 games during which the Sox were 18-11, a winning percentage of .620 vs. the .576 the Sox have for the season to date. I also looked at his game log for those 29 games and specifically at the losses by 1 or 2 runs when one can presume a single hitter could have made a real difference. There have been six games the Sox lost by 1 or 2 runs in which Holt played. Of those six, he actually contributed to the offense with one or more hits or rbi's, or he had 0 at bats and was probably a pinch runner or defender. The single game when it is fair to say Holt had an adverse effect on the outcome was Monday's 5-4 loss in which he was 0 for 4 and committed that error (which I also think was a tough play). I did not charge him with the 4-3 loss to the Yankees when he was a pinch runner and was caught stealing on a 2-0 count with JBJ at the plate because I believe Farrell had called for a hit and run--2-0 count is ideal for that--that JBJ missed. Plus it was a close play even though Holt is not that good a base stealer. I agree completely with what you said about our not knowing what is being decided behind closed doors and that all we can offer is our opinion, and I certainly respect yours. But I also disagree for the reasons stated above. DFA might be a consideration, but in August in a pennant race there has to be a better reason for playing Holt. Interestingly, he only missed one game in the 16 games he was active for in July. In August, he has not played in 5 of 18 games. This is mostly because Devers and Nunez have been added to the roster, both are infielder, and both can hit.

Well said. And I myself am occasionally guilty of hammering and hammering a point beyond what is needed. Sometimes we simply need to agree to respectfully disagree.

Actually, 5th might be too high. Check it out. He has 40 at bats batting 5th and 40 at bats batting 6th, 7th, and 9th combined. His OPS when batting 5th is .861 and in the three lower slots combined 1.225. He is hitless in the three games since he returned to batting 5th.

indeed it would.

I'm not sure I follow you, specifically on identifying who exactly the "best horses" are for the late innings. Kimbrel, absolutely. Did you want to bring him him to pitch the 8th and 9th innings the night after finishing against the Yankees? As for Reed, his ERA with the Sox is 5.63. Last four games were great, but the one before that cost us a game. Plus he pitched Sunday and 1.2 innings the Friday before that. Why mention Kelly for the 8th when we needed him to finish the 6th and all of the 7th? You appear to have promoted him out of the "shmucks" so maybe you have forgotten that, before last night and Saturday, Kelly gave up 3 runs, 1 run, and 1 run in the three games prior. And how can you be so sure Workman was the best choice for the 8th when he gave up the leadoff double in the 9th? My take on what happened last night is that Cleveland had the better bullpen, simple as that and despite the fact that one of their best, Miller, had to leave the game after giving up the walk. Why no mention of Scott who stopped the bleeding in the 8th? I'll tell you why--because he did a good job and that does fit into your neat scenario that once again Farrell is clueless in Cleveland.