Maxbialystock

This game and this team are not worth staying up for.

Gang, it ain't the umpire. It's our guys who these days can't hit, can't field, and can't run the bases. Right now this team is finding ways to lose, but the worst part, because it is so crucial, is the weak hitting.

Huge strike zone? Why can't Kelly find it?

I love it. Our guys can't hit because the umpire is so unfair. Poor babies.

A couple inches maybe. Our guys are carefully schooled in nonaggressive techniques at the plate.

Big rally in the 6th. Bogaerts walked. And of course made no attempt to steal. So Beni and Han ram K and Betts flies out. But still exciting baseball. How I wish I could be at Fenway with all those Cubs fans.

Tonight of course the excuse is we don't hit well in cold weather.

Meh. Cubs only need one to tie. However, when ERod got thru 6 gigantic, monumental innings all by himself, I thought was time to get out the duck boats.

Hard to see the Sox winning this one. Once again, hitting doldrums.

the runs will come??? how many is the question. last year the sox led the american league in runs by over 100. will they even lead the american league this year? I ask because right now the yankees and orioles both have solid pitching and better hitting than the sox. plus let's not forget that this team does not have the baserunning, bunting, hit and run, or other skills needed to manufacture runs. pedroia trying to stretch that single into a double yesterday was a public spectacle, borderline clownish. the sox don't need to lead the league in dingers to score a lot, but they can't afford to be dead last as they are now. major power outage. we also ain't going to win games on defense. heck, right now john henry needs to go public with $1000 bonuses for each time a pitcher successfully covers first base on a grounder hit to the right side because they sure as heck are not going to do it on their own. or he can fire farrell and get a manager who will get their attention on fundamentals. In other words, this team, despite much better than expected pitching, badly needs to hit and especially score runs to win. given our--mine, anyway--offseason expectations, they are a real disappointment so far.

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.