Maxbialystock

They have now scored 3 of our 6 runs, so they are not a disaster. HanRam and JBJ are hitless and scoreless. 8th inning with Leon, Marrero, and Holt coming up and a 1 run game. Let's see what happens.

Pedroia didn't get the word about taking a dive! 1 run game!

Sure they were lucky. But don't forget that line from Bull Durham when Costner's character says the difference between a .300 hitter and a .250 hitter is one hit a week. I checked the math: it's true. I don't disagree that Marrero and Holt aren't much in the way of hitters, but I also don't think batting leadoff has hampered Betts rbi potential all that much.

It's not just the loss, it's the signal to the lineup players who are playing in 88 degrees: "we're going for the price on Wilson." Here's some of the rest of what Brando/Terry Malloy said to Rod Steiger in On the Waterfront: : Terry: It wasn't him, Charley, it was you. Remember that night in the Garden you came down to my dressing room and you said, "Kid, this ain't your night. We're going for the price on Wilson." You remember that? "This ain't your night"! My night! I coulda taken Wilson apart! So what happens? He gets the title shot outdoors on the ballpark and what do I get? A one-way ticket to Palooka-ville!" If Sale starts today, the Sox take the Jays apart. Instead, DD and Farrell are going for the price on Wilson.

Meh. Mendoza x 2 scored 2 runs and Betts had 2 rbi's today. Way above par for him.

Don't forget that Farrell also left Fister in there after it was apparent he didn't have command of his pitches. Are you suggesting DD said something like, "I want Fister to start and to throw at least 100 pitches no matter what?"

I never, ever say this, but there's always the exception. No way, no how is this loss not on Farrell.

Suddenly Farrell can't use too many pitcher--Taylor in for Abad.

Meh. Young was about to GIDP anyway. If Betts makes it to 2d, Pedroia's single brings him home.

Funny thing is, Toronto actually wants to win this game and replaced their starter while Farrell insists on keeping Fister out there. My box score says he has 53 strikes and 47 balls--horrible.

A plus in today's game is that Fister should be gone for good--better late than never--and Holt might be as well. Everyone who raves about his versatility forgets that old saying, "jack of all trades, but master of none." I cannot think of a single position on this team that he plays really well, and his hitting is also suspect.

I'm from the older generation, and that is one of my favorite words, but I try to use it with some discretion, which means I don't use it on blog sites.

We are now in the 4th inning, and Fister has given up 5 runs, 4 walks, and 5 hits. He has thrown 96 pitches--50 for strikes and 46 for balls. Again I say, Farrell is sending a clear message to his lineup: I'm not interested in winning this game.

Fister is awful. No stuff and no control. He threw 27 pitches in the first inning--15 for strikes and 12 for balls--and gave up two doubles and a run. The scary part is that he wasn't really "off," he was just being Fister. When Farrell uses him in a reliever role, it's tantamount to putting up the white flag. I understand about keeping the rotation fresh and not fatigued, but sending Fister out also signals to the lineup that Farrell is giving this game away.

I love that stuff. Good stats, plus good summary. I'm not a Holt fan and certainly not as much as Farrell is. I was happy with Lin/Marrero and am thus chastened by Lin's .703 against righties. Thanks.

I am generally in favor of aggressive baserunning, especially when Betts does it because he is fast and has great instincts. Yes, he ran thru the stop sign and was out by a good margin, but I think he gambled when it was called for. He was on first with two outs, Pedey hit the double to left center, and the next batter was going to be Bogaerts, whose hitting this month has been awful. I hate it when HanRam gambles because he has terrible instincts. Beni has speed, but not very good instincts. JBJ is good on the basepaths. Moreland is OK. Vazquez is OK, Leon is just slow. Bogie is pretty good on the basepaths--speed and instincts. All in all, Kimmi's baserunning stats are borne out by what I see in games. As for bunting, I really like bunting when the Sox have men on 1st and 2d with no one out and a so-so hitter at the plate. Even there the problem is that most Sox hitters can't bunt worth a darn.

To me baseball is absolutely the best sport to watch in person. I've been a Sox fan since 1949 but only been to two games at Fenway--both within the last five or so years. Fenway is a fantastic park to look at but the sight lines down the right side and especially in deep right field are the worst of any ball park in the nation, not just MLB. Like watching the game thru the wrong end of binoculars. My griping aside, keeping Fenway small and unique was a smart move because it is probably the most photogenic ballpark in MLB. And the size helps to ensure the park is normally full or close enough to it even when a lousy team comes to town. One could argue Fenway was the template for all the new ballparks these days that actually seat fewer fans than the parks they replaced. As for why the attendance is down, that's easy. When it was up, it was because the Sox had a really good team almost every year and especially a team that could hit and score runs. But starting in 2010 or 2011 (remember the September collapse which cost Francona his job?), a good year was the exception. On top of that, as has already been said repeatedly, is the insane cost of actually going to Fenway. Sox tickets are near the most expensive in MLB, and everything else is expensive too. espn tracks attendance by team and ballpark. The Sox are ranked 9th in MLB for home attendance and 7th in MLB in road attendance.

And here is the actual muddlers row for today-- Betts Young (!!!) LF Pedroia DH (!!!) Ramirez 1b Bradley Bogaerts Leon Marrero 3b Holt 2b That's 6 righty bats plus one switch-hitter (Leon), and 2 lefties (Bradley and Holt)

Belated congratulations to Kimmi for resuscitating this homestand with two key wins. While I truly admire her enthusiasm for today's game, the realist in me says that winning with Fister has the same promise as swimming with the sharks.

Watching Pomeranz is like watching those old movies about the perils of pauline. He gets himself into and out of all kinds of trouble--just about every inning. He is at his best when JBJ makes a grab in deep centerfield with the bases loaded and 2 outs.

You must mean WAR, but, me, I think percentage of quality starts is a better indicator, and to date Pom is 9 for 19. Everyone else, including Porcello, has a higher percentage.

Clearly Farrell and I don't quite agree, according to this official lineup Betts Benintendi Pedroia Moreland Young Bradley Vazquez Holt Marrero We agree on 8 of the bats but not on the order. I'm assuming Young got the nod over HanRam because he played 15 innings last night--so hard to quarrel with that.

For the record, Pollyanna was the ultimate optimist who always had something positive to say to everyone and about everyone. Thus, if you are a true pollyanna, then you believe nothing on this team needs fixing. Kimmi is not quite that optimistic, but optimistic enough to think the FO should be cautious about what they give up to "improve" this team. In 2013 the Sox did make a late trade--3 way to get Peavy and give up a very good defensive SS named Iglesias. I hated that trade because I loved watching Iglesias at SS, but I had to admit the Sox already had two viable SS's in Drew and Bogaerts. Since then, it is worth noting, Bogaerts's WAR has been higher than Iglesias's in very single season including this one. Peavy wasn't great in 2013, but he did have 6 quality starts in 10 starts and an ERA of 4.04. Less good in the post season, but still a good acquisition I think. Oh, and the Sox played the Tigers in the ALCS and beat them 4-2. I think our hitting sucks, but for that very reason I don't see how one bat is going to fix everything. And if it is just one bat, that bat just might be Devers.

You and Kimmi are turning into pollyannas, which is probably a good thing given the general cynicism, especially mine, on this board. But overall I have felt for sometime that I don't want a trade because I too see some good in just about every position. The Marrero/Lin fix at 3b worked amazingly well because it helped the hitting a little and the defense a lot. Good for you for remembering what Moreland did early on. Plus I need to remind myself that Moreland and Ramirez are playing hurt right now. I think the Yankees gave up too much for Frazier.

Need Pomeranz to be solid tonight. But a giant caveat to the above: the Sox are now 48-10 in games in which they score 4 or more runs, which means they are 5-32 in games when they score fewer than 4 runs. Happ last night is a lefty, tonight it's righty Sanchez, but I see a similar lineup tonight but with Moreland back at 1B and HanRam back at DH and probably Vazquez catching because Leon caught 11 innings last night: Betts Benintendi Pedroia Bradley Ramirez Moreland Vazquez Holt Marrero I moved JBJ way up to 4th to allow Farrell to alternate righties and lefties, plus Kimmi says 4th and 5th slots are both important.