Maxbialystock

Pomeranz is worse--he made no attempt to cover 1b on a grounder to the right

Sorry, but I can't buy that. If JBJ had already stolen 24 of 26 bases, the odds were very high he would be successful in getting to 2b on his own, which would then mean a single would score him. I like those odds more than I do getting another hit or walk to get JBJ to 2d base before the single to bring him home. I also suspect that JBJ took off on his own because the batter did not swing.

If we have learned nothing else from this season, we have learned that our starters and probably the Yankee starters are so inconsistent that knowing who is on the mound--in our case, Pomeranz--tells us nothing about the game outcome. Neither team can even say, "Lopat and Sain and pray for rain." Heck, these days you can't even count on the rain stopping a game. I think it was almost ten decades ago when the great Al Schacht, the pitcher of record for a rainy game, went out to the mound with two bats, sat down, and began rowing. What worries me about any Yankees game these days is their doggone lineup. Ours can be shut down by good pitching, especially good breaking stuff, but the Yankees seem to be able to score against anyone. Also, the Yankees are especially good at home and the Sox still have a losing record on the road. But what I like about tonight is that I will get it on the MLB channel, 586. I also like our chances because of the last two games, taking 2 of 3 in Chicago, the apparent resurgence of Benintendi, and the fact that Pomeranz's last outing was his best this season. Sandoval's OPS vs. righties this year so far is .813 with--count em--4 dingers. Vazquez's is .823. However, the price for Sandoval's .813 is Marrero @ 2b and batting last, to say nothing of the terrifying prospect of Sandoval at 3b. Play ball!

Too true

Meh. Remember, odds are you used your best available starter--maybe your best starter--to win the wild card game, and you have to start the Division Series almost immediately. But you are probably right.

I gotta go with Kimmi--both are good and a 3-2 split on games, either way, is fine with me. The real point is that it's rare to have two decent catchers with Swihart at Pawtucket.

Pomeranz too: 10 starts, 4 quality starts. But his last three, in order were: decent, good, best this year (7 innings, 1 run, and 8 K's). Tanaka is better when both are on.

I believe adding a 2d WC team to each League playoff has made it disadvantageous not to win the division. In five seasons to date, 1 wild card team, the Giants in 2014, has won it all.

Up next is Pomeranz vs. Tanaka at Yankee Stadium. Given Tanaka's 6.34 ERA, one would think we will win easily, but Tanaka also shut the Sox out a tad over a month ago--0 runs in 9 innings.

Nice try. Of course the manager counts because he has the final say on how to use the bullpen, who starts, the lineup, who pinch hits etc. I have said repeatedly that the manager is answerable for the won-lost record, especially if it is better or worse than the FO's assessment of team potential. With regard to that, right now the Yankees are in first place in the AL East and one might opine that is because they are ranked 2d in the AL in runs scored, just 18 runs, but also 3 fewer games, fewer than the Astros. And they are ranked 3d in the AL in ERA. The Sox, meanwhile, are ranked 5th in runs scored and 4th in ERA. Oh, and they are 2 games behind the Yankees at the end of the first 1/3 of the season. So, me, I think Farrell right now is holding his own even though I have complained about him now and then during the season.

The tying run is on 1b with the bottom of the batting order coming up. Because Rutledge didn't swing at that pitch, my guess is that JBJ took off on his own. As Bellhorn says, he doesn't steal very often, but is usually successful when he does. Not a very convincing example of Farrell's presumed ineptitude. You and most managerial critics--because they are almost all criticized by fans after a losing game--seem to forget that, regardless of what the manager does, the results depend on what the players do.

Can't argue with any of that.

No "Realistic View of 2017" can ignore the simple fact, as stated above by Nick, that the Sox right now, June 5, are just 2 games back of the Yankees and 1.5 games ahead of the Orioles and all others contending for an AL wild card slot. I say this almost with chagrin because I have been one of the chief whiners about this team and especially the hitting. Granted, we still have 2/3 of the season still to play, but nevertheless it is hard right now not to be just a little hopeful. So my hat's off to both Kimmi and Moonslav who have consistently said things ain't that bad, which clearly they are not. Funny thing is, I know I wrote way back in April and maybe March that I thought the loss of Ortiz would not be insurmountable. Right now, as Kimmi's numbers show, it still looks pretty bad, with to me the biggest disappointment being HanRam. I think most of the others--Betts, JBJ, Beni, Pedey, Moreland, C (leon and vazquez)--should be fine. 3B is likely to continue to be a problem, but heck, someone has to bat 9th. What partially redeems the hitting is that the pitching suddenly looks pretty darn good.

exactly

Looks like I was dead right with this one. Sale improved drastically as soon as he started throwing breaking balls and keeping it low. The question has to be, if a dummy--I'm not dumb, but I am a total amateur about about MLB--like me can see the problem, why the hell couldn't the pitching coach or for that matter Farrell? Forget today's game. Sale struggled for all of May too--struggling being a relative term for Sale. And all along I thought he was throwing too many fastballs.

Sorry, but I don't agree. Moreland just screwed up, simple as that. You can't teach or coach the ability to make good decisions on the basepaths. As for Sandoval, he is playing in part because the front office wants him to play, plus he made no error and so far has our only extra base hit. As for Marrero, maybe he got too used to playing 3b.

Marrero really is a lousy hitter.

We had 2 bare singles in the first inning, and the Orioles and two doubles and a single that maybe could have been a double. This ain't all on Sandoval even though I agree he screwed up in the field.

box score says no errors charged to the Sox, all 3 runs are earned, and that the Orioles hit 2 doubles in the 1st inning and could have had a third. I'm not sure Sandoval screwed up that tag--it was a very good slide--but I don't understand why he threw to second on the grounder.

Yes, the mistakes are bad, but the biggest problem is that Sale is now very, very hittable, I think because the only pitch he throws for strikes is the fast ball, so they can sit on it and not worry about a slider, curve, changeup, you name it.

I thought the two wins in St Louis were big and said so, then came the 3 losses in Oakland. Then the 6 game win streak, then winning 2 of 3 in Chicago followed but two losses here in Baltimore. So I agree with all the rest of you--we really need to win this game, not only to stay on track, but to keep the Orioles where they belong--behind us and the Yankees.

I'm not sure, but I think the difference between Price this year--so far--and Price last year is fewer straight fastballs and generally lower in the strike zone. In any case, last night he was masterful against a lineup that pummeled ERod the night before. Right now the Sox have six starters--Sale, Price, Porcello, ERod, Pomeranz, and Johnson--who have all pitched at least one solid game. Pomeranz and Porcello have the same ERA, 4.24. Plus a more than decent bullpen. If the hitting comes around, despite the absence of Ortiz, the Sox could be tough. On the other hand, right now the Yankees are ranked 4th in MLB in runs scored and 5th in ERA. Their turnaround from last year is astounding.

Indeed.

YOTN to the rescue!

This is one of the more astounding threads-I'm guessing here--in talksox history. I say that because it is now 82 pages long, the second longest on the front page of talksox forum, and it's about a rookie who looked promising last year and in April this year but is now struggling. At no time has looked as promising as the still young Mookie Betts has become and who I will bet never had an 82 page thread about him. In fact at the same age, 22, Betts was already way better--his overall WAR in 2015 was 4.9--than Benintendi is today. So the question has to be, why the fixation on Benintendi? He is small for a Sox left fielder. He is a decent but not great fielder with an average arm. He has good speed, but not the instincts of a JBJ or for that matter a Betts who started out as a secondbaseman. He is an OK baserunner. He did make that great over the wall grab last year in Tampa. He does have a sweet swing, no question, but right now also an inconsistent one. And he has long hair and he's white.