Maxbialystock

Orioles 10-9 in September so far. Before this series they were 10-6. Agreed--no love for Showalter, so it's great to ruin his season.

Actually, a great move by Showalter. Bases loaded and Worley had no problem with HanRam.

Tillman struggling. Probably a good move to take him out after 2 straight walks and 63 pitches in 1.2 innings (and 3 runs).

This 7 game winning streak has a couple of distinctive features-- 1. The Sox scored no less that 5 runs in every game, but also never more than 7. One of the big complaints during the successful road trip when the Sox went 6-3 when winning all three series against Oakland, San Diego, and Toronto was the "feast or famine" from the lineup. That has temporarily ceased. 2. Bullpen has been great throughout the streak and pretty much during the 6-3 road trip. 3. The rotation was marginal in the 4 wins over the Yankees, but has been excellent so far in 3 wins at Baltimore--the latter a surprise because ERod and Buch haven't been that great lately. 4. While Ortiz and Ramirez continued to be our best run producers, others got some big hits as well. One of the wins was with Ortiz on the bench. Several wins were come from behind. In one win the Sox hammered Gausman, the guy who shut them out for 8 innings 6 days prior at Fenway, for 5 runs. The lineup seems to be jelling even though Leon has quit hitting, Bogaerts is up and down, etc. Benintendi is back and his swing seems as good as before. 5. 7 straight in September is a helluva statement, especially when it's been both home and away and against two teams with winning records. 6. So, yes, we want 8 in a row and Price is the guy to do it. It would be so, so nice to take 4 of 4 against the Orioles who have given us trouble in the recent past. And Price already has the 1-0 lead after 1. 7. But the 7 straight by themselves have already wreaked havoc with the AL East and very possibly with the AL as a whole. As I said last night, the Sox right now are 1/2 game behind Cleveland and 1 1/2 behind Texas for the best record in the AL.

BS. THat prediction was pretty darn good. If that's what you really meant, I agree. The rotation isn't fantastic yet, but ERod and Buch have in fact been keys to making it pretty solid.

I onder if our OP now sees that the incomprehensible thing was in his own mind. Others did comprehend, and JBJ is fine.

Probably Buch. ERod has better stuff but Buchholz has the experience. I would be happy with either one.

Out at a speaking engagement and find it hard to believe what happened in the 6th. The error by Davis was also a tough play--throwing across his body to a moving target. The dinger by Benintendi was simply unreal. The 7 great innings by Buchholz almost as unreal. As the announcers keep saying, as win tonight gives the Sox a 5 game lead over the 2d place Jays. More than that, a win destroys the Orioles on their field and in a series they absolutely had to win. What could be better? Early on, I thought the Sox could (not would) get into the playoffs. Right now they are playing like a team that could win the whole darn thing. ERod and Buccholz have pitched back to back gems. Porcello looks like an ace, and Price still has the capacity. The bullpen is definitely not great, but they are looking that way and definitely give Farrell a lot of good options. The hitting is also not great, but it sure as hell is timely.

Meh. Every team without exception has weaknesses. The great thing about the Sox right now is that their weaknesses are minimal.

This was a pretty big win--@Baltimore against their best starter and against a team that really needs a win. Shmucks. Still .5 behind the Guardians and 2.5 behind the Ramgers for best record in the AL. Today is September 21,for crying out loud. Wow.

Great call by Farrell letting ERod pitch to Trumbo with 2 out and a man on 2d in the 6th. Some risk, of course, but he has been pitching great tonight, and getting Trumbo out at a key juncture will set ERod up for the playoffs. He's still only thrown 87 and could come out to start the 7th.

Gausman is actually throwing a pretty good game, especially hitting those low corners. But this time the Sox are onto him. Too bad. Ortiz hit it good, but not quite good enough.

And of course they emphasize Betts cheap hits while ignoring the liners hit by other Sox right at Orioles outfielders.

I'm forced to watch the Orioles feed, and the announcers keep saying a 2 run lead is nothing. Then Machado walked, and they almost made it seem like a dinger by Trumbo was a sure thing. Laughable, especially when he lined to 3B to end the 4th.

Wow. A dinger by JBJ and and a 2-0 lead. After 3. And the bullpen had the day off yesterday. Me, I want to see ERod go at least 6 innings, but as of right now that is not a necessity. Still way early, but this would be one helluva big win.

All kidding aside, let me just say that was a helluva first three innings by Rodriguez. He didn't throw all strikes, but he sure threw enough of them and he threw with decisiveness. This is our third starter for the playoffs. 34 pitches.

Why wasn't ERod allowed to start tonight? I know he's struggle a little with control, but he's still pretty decent. But I like the replacement so far. Throws strikes, has a good fast ball like ERod, but ain't afraid to throw that changeup which looks pretty good.

I agree Pedey is slower, but right now it's hard to see someone else leading off with a comparable OBP. Of course, a month or so ago I was saying he could not and should not lead off, so what do I know? I think the lesson of this season is that more than one lineup can work. Ortiz has batted 3d and 4th, both with good effect. Ditto Betts at 1st and 4th. Bogaerts 2d and 3d. Pedey at 2d and 1st. Bradley has batted 9th, 8th, 7th, 6th, and maybe 5th a couple times. All of that is contrary to the notion that players can't stand being moved around in the batting order. On the other hand, HanRam has stayed pretty much in the 5 slot thru good times and bad. Right now he is red hot, and 5th still seems to suit him well.

Didn't Gausman shut the Sox down for 8 innings last week? Of the Orioles starters, he has the best ERA on the most quality starts. On last night's game thread I inserted some data showing that this year hitting and scoring runs seems to be determining who in the AL gets into the playoffs, but that doesn't mean I don't believe that good pitching can't shut down very good hitting (which the Sox have). I expect a tough game tonight.

Interesting point. No denying the Sox have a very good defensive outfield, and every pitcher worth his salt is continually thankful when his defense helps prevent runs. But I happen to think that hitting and pitching are the primary determiners of game outcomes. Defense is very important, of course, but I think it's 3d.

A lot of truth in that. In the postseason pitching seems to predominate--see especially 2013.

Almost, but it's a little more complicated. I don't mind the Yankees playing winning ball because that makes them great rivals and all the more satisfying when we take a series from them. But the Orioles have no such tradition, plus I got used to them being also-rans. Now, however, for something like 2, 3, or more seasons than have played as though they are just as good as the Sox if not better. That ain't right, especially when I live in their TV coverage area (I'm in N. Virginia).

I'm going to say something here because people read gamethreads and almost never read general baseball discussions. If asked what it takes to build a winning MLB team, most people would say pitching then hitting, but, if at all possible, have both. Right now easily the three best records in the AL belong to the Sox, Guardians, and Rangers, who just happen to be ranked 1st, 2d, and 3d in the AL in runs scored. Conversely, the three best AL pitching staffs, defined as having given up the fewest runs, are the Guardians, Jays, and Astros. Moreover, the pitching staffs--again, defined in terms of runs given up--are kind of tightly bunched. The Guardians are best at 626, but the Mariners, way back in 8th place, have given up 656 runs, just 30 more runs than the Guardians. The Sox lead the AL in runs scored with 830, and the 8th best team, again the Astros, has scored 678, which is a difference of 152 runs. Also, the top six scoring teams are the Sox, Guardians, Rangers, Mariners, Jays, and Orioles--5 of which are likely to be in the playoffs. This is not true of the top 6 pitching staffs. I am not anti-pitching. Far from it. I think our bullpen has been crucial to our success thus far in September. And I like moonslav and others get frustrated when our lineup gets shut down or limited to 1 or 2 runs. Nevertheless, it's also good to have a lineup that leads MLB in runs scored.

That's twice you've had to correct me.

Gotta like the whole lineup right now, including the guys who are slumping. I think tonight, Monday, at Baltimore was pretty close to our best with in LF. I would prefer Shaw over Holt at 3B, but won't argue that one. Against lefties I am also fine with Young in LF and Hill at 3B. I like Betts at the 4, but also thought he was good leading off even though Pedroia has clearly been better there. HanRam has been #5 for most the season, and it's the right slot for him. I like Bogaerts in the 3 slots but can't disagree with moonslav's point about not enough power relative to Betts, Ortiz, Ramirez, etc.