Maxbialystock

I hate these extra pitches at bats. Nice K on a great chaneup. 9 pitches. But still only 42 in the 4th.

Twins 2-1 over Tigers in the 4th--won't last.

Bogaerts GIDP. OK, balances the error by Machado. Still got one run for 7-1 going to the top of the 4th. Dodgers lead Yankees 6-2 in the 3d. Jays and Rays scoreless in the 6th.

That's two sac flies tonight. Excellent.

You guys sound like old school Sox fans, but it's been that kind of season. Me, I just don't see this game being blown. That was a heckuva play by Machado even though Leon was safe.

Excellent. Tough for your father, but I'm sure he loves having his family there.

Actually, his defense at 3B wasn't all that terrible in part because he definitely has the arm to play 3B. What we have seen as of September 12, however, is that he definitely has trouble with a curve. And he may have a problem staying focused because he was picked off 1B by a mile and more recently couldn't remember how many outs there were and so kind of stayed close to 1B on a pop fly to RF with two men out. I had no problem with calling Moncada up with about a month to go because the kid is really talented. It made less sense--I think I have this right, but maybe not--for Farrell to announce Moncada had the 3B job locked and that Shaw needed to work on his outfielding skills if he wanted to keep playing. I think Moncada going like 1 1/2 years with no baseball at all affected him more than we thought. I still think the FO would be crazy to trade him, however. There's a reason he was thought to be the #1 prospect in MLB.

You can't read. I've said countless times I recognize his talent. That ain't an issue. And can you honestly say that not tagging up on a two-out fly is advanced base running? Knowing to run on contact when there are two outs and you are on first base is basic little league stuff. He needs to wake up. Of course we give him time. But at some point Moncada needs to show he's paying attention during games.

Farrell was nothing short of masterful today after Buchholz bombed--6 runs in 3 innings.

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Who gives a s***? HanRam is imperfect, but this season--you know, the one in which the Sox really have a shot--he is in fact our first baseman. To me all the complaining and erudite discussion about next year misses the point. We are also imperfect at 3B and even at SS, fielding-wise, and I find myself able to live with those imperfections as well. Our OP seems to have completely forgotten two salient facts: 1) we are paying HanRam an awful lot of money, more than anyone else in the lineup; 2) we know he can't play the outfield and probably can't play him at 3B either. Meanwhile, however, it turns out he can still hit and his defense at 1B is hardly a disaster.

jasonbay44 saved the day along with Ortiz, Bradley, Bogaerts, et al. Huge win. Big hits by Bradley and Ortiz and Bogaerts--8 rbi's among them. In a day game yet. Buchholz was a disaster, 6 runs in 3 innings, but the bullpen--Farrell used 8 of them, a record for this season--came through, giving up 2 runs (dinger off Hembree after a walk) in 6. Kimbrel looked OK, but I thought Ziegler and Uehara looked very good. Sox scored 11 and officially left 6 on base--not bad. Great road trip, 6-3. Now back to Fenway, starting tomorrow night, with 3 vs. the Orioles and 4 vs. the Yankees. First game is Pomeranz v. Miley, advantage good guys.

OK. That was pretty good. Hang in there, Clay.

So much for good Buchholz.

Huge home run. Huge. That pitch was on the outside of the plate.

Holt took a chance--not normal for him--and it paid off.

I could be wrong, but it looks as though Sanchez is getting the corner calls more than Buch.

22 pitches in the first inning, all because Buchholz was shell-shocked by the home run off a hanging cutter. Buch might turn things around, but right now he looks like he wants to nibble and nibble and nibble some more.

How many can Buchholz walk in the first inning? As many as it takes to piss the game away.

Now Buch is slipping back into his defensive mode. He gives up a dinger, so of course he has to walk the next guy.

Why does Buchholz love that f***ing cutter so much? He throws way too many of them.

Damn good thing Moncada wasn't pinch-running because he would have tagged up at 1B. Which is better than Wright because he would have injured himself. Great double by Betts. Helluva way to get things rolling. Did HanRam really strike out on 3 pitches with a man on 2B?

Right now the Sox pitching is overall the best it has been all year and probably since 2013. The rotation certainly is--credit to DD. The bullpen has been very inconsistent, but on this roadtrip has come into its own. They have given up 2 runs in 8 games and both of those were unearned. The problem is that the hitting is not consistent--13 runs against Toronto then 2 yesterday is what has happened repeatedly this season. I think Happ had something to do with that, but he also threw an awful lot of fastballs, none of which led to any runs by our guys, who finished the game with 4 hits--3 singles and Pedroia's dinger. Our guys have routinely stunk in day games after night games. Heck, they may simply stink in day games period. Today will be another tester, this time against a righty who is pitching well. In another day game. I figure the usual suspects--5 lefty bats and 4 righties--Pedroia, Bogaerts, Ortiz, Betts, Ramirez, Shaw, Leon, Bradley, Holt. I assume Benintendi is unavailable. I expect Buchholz to do fine, maybe 6 or 7 innings, maybe 2 runs. Last time we saw Sanchez was May 27 when we started Vazquez at C, Swihart in LF, and Hernandez at 3B with HanRam DH'ing for Ortiz and Shaw at 1B. Today's lineup will be better--last time they scored 4 runs, 3 earned--but will it hit as well?

I thought the game was over after 3 innings. The simple fact is that ERod once again insisted on throwing almost exclusively fastballs in the early innings and Toronto is a good fastball hitting club. It was only after that 2 run dinger by Upton that he deigned to throw the slider and changeup, both of which were initially off target. Funny thing is, Happ was throwing even more fastballs, but our guys seem incapable of hitting in a day game after a night game. The 13 runs the night before were contributory, but it was the daylight that hurt the most. Yesterday we stacked the lineup with righty bats--only Ortiz and Bradley were not--and it just made no difference. We finished with 4 hits, including Pedroia's gutsy dinger and 3 little singles. Let's not forget that Hill let that grounder play him for the error that led to what proved to be the winning run. If he takes a step or two in, he gets it on the big hop. As it was, it got thru him cleanly.

Nonsense. Sox are terrible bunters, plus the bunt gives away an out. Young had 1 of our 4 hits yesterday and Farrell has started him against righties at least twice recently. A lefty batter in the 9th would have done roughly what Bradley in fact did--struck out swinging blindly.