Maxbialystock

I don't mean to be impolite, but "the runs will come" covers such a wide range of possibilities as to be almost meaningless. So let's talk turkey. Last year the sox lead the american league in runs by 100. will the sox even lead the american league in runs this year, let alone by 100? and please don't fall back on "well don't forget our pitching is better" because guess what? the yankees and orioles pitching is as good as or better than ours. this team will be mediocre if it doesn't hit well and, more importantly, score runs, preferably as many as any other team in the american league. I am not predicting the demise of the boston red sox, but am saying that the evidence is growing that the hitting is suspect when a lot of us and certainly yours truly were confident the hitting and scoring would be fine even without Ortiz this year. surprise, surprise, Moreland has been better than expected at 1b and benintendi has been about what we hoped for in LF with that sweet left side swing of his. it's stalwarts like ramirez and pedroia and even betts and bogaerts and bradley who have not stepped up. sandoval who lost 40 lbs and looked good in ST so far can't hit or field. the baserunning if anything is worse than last year and you can forget small ball of any kind--this team lacks the skills to bunt, hit and run, steal, you name it. fielding right now also looks worse, to say nothing of the fact that too often our pitchers simply forget to cover 1b on grounders hit to the right side. i do think we have a swift and skilled outfield with one great arm, betts's, one erratic arm, JBJ's, and one decent arm in benintendi. JBJ has a very strong arm, but is accurate with maybe 1 of 3 throws, especially to home plate. i am not saying the sox won't score runs, but am saying they have been a big disappointment so far and that they must score a whole lot more to stay up with the yankees and orioles.

Not writing them off, but definitely pissed off.

amen

Hated rival? Who gives a s*** when the Orioles are also in our division and also playing better ball than the Sox. With the acquisition of Sale, this was supposed to be our year, but right now this team looks like a bunch of deadbeats.

Who the hell cares? His teammates, maybe, but certainly not us fans. I just know he looked like a dumb acquisition until 2013 when he was pretty darn good and that the Sox probably should have hung onto him whatever his personality and character defects.

Right now the Sox have mediocre written all over them. Let's not forget that in last night's great victory the Sox scored all their runs in the 1st inning and were scoreless thereafter and that it took a miracle hold by Abad to preserve that 1 run lead.

I'm frankly getting a little sick of this team. Lousy hitting, lousy defense, lousy base running, pitching not so bad except they don't seem to feel obligated to cover 1b on grounders hit to the right side.

Then why blame the manager?

What bothers me more than leaving Wright out there is the utterly sloppy play of this team. Pitcher doesn't cover 1b on a grounder to the right. Pedroia very stupidly out by a mile trying to stretch a double. 4 f***ing errors. Were I the GM, I could forgive the Wright (wrong) decision far more easily than what now seems more and more evident--for whatever reason, these guys don't look like ball players, not for this level.

I thought throwing at Machado was unnecessary, but, as I recall, 90% of talksox was in favor of Barnes doing what he did. It was an article of faith on this board that that slide by Machado was one of the most vicious slides in the history of MLB. I'm talking hatred, standing up for Pedroia, defending the honor of Boston, you name it. Now suddenly none of that was important?

Weren't you saying exactly the same thing when Farrell brought in Abad last night? Terrible move, idiotic?

This year more the any I can remember the Sox pitchers have been terrible at covering first base. That too is on Farrell--weak fundamentals.

Gotta admit that was a bad move by Farrell, but is it ok to also say the bullpen stinks today?

Could Pedroia be any slower? He was out by a mile.

Wright, however, still lacks consistency.

Offense looks good today because Lackey still seems to have at least three good pitches.

A fair critique except the bunt also puts a man in scoring position--which of course a hit and run does as well.

I really want to disagree with that but cannot. Great start, then steady deterioration.

nice 19 pitch 3 out save by kimbrel. how many if he has to get 5 outs as recommended by all the cognescenti? farrell can always get fired if the sox go south, but no doubt in my mind he knows more than any of us and makes better decisions in real time as opposed to hindsight. dismaying that the sox lineup was held scoreless for 7 innings after that outburst in the 1st. I'm not so sure the slump is over. plus those two errors weren't so hot either.

i just saw lackey and lester, the same two who were big in the 2013 playoffs

that knuckle curve by kimbrel goes awfully fast--88 mph is more like a slider.

i can't agree because of the two k's which to me show abad deserved farrell's confidence. dodging a bullet would be if a cubbie hits it hard but into a double play. or they hit deep liners that are caught. there's nothing lucky about two k's.

in my mlb channel feed, they show cubs highlights at the end of every inning.

bad call on the third strike to bradley, but a merciful one--he was headed for a K one way or the other.