Maxbialystock

The Jays have good hitting and good pitching, so I think the Sox and Jays are a good bet for the playoffs. Then it looks like a dogfight among the Orioles, Tigers, and maybe the Yankees. Right now the Sox pitching looks pretty good. Buchholz flubbed his last start Sunday in Toronto, but has been good, and the other four--especially Price and Porcello--have been consistent over the last month or so. The bullpen was very good on the 9 game road trip, but never more so that giving up 2 runs in 6 innings to save that rubber game win at Toronto. I would not say we have shut down bullpen, but right now Farrell has some pretty good options in Kinbrel, Ziegler, Uehara, Kelly, Ross, Abad, et al. He used 8 relievers Sunday in Toronto. Team ERA right now is 4.08, 5th best in the AL. 3d best is Houston at 4.03. Hitting is excellent overall even though sometimes they can be beat. Thus the three losses on the road trip were 3-2, 2-1, and 1-0. All of the above sounds good, but it's also true that any team can get hot.

You're right. I was picking on him. But when I first did it I also pointed out four things that could stymie his development--up too soon, apparently made the instant starting thirdbaseman, all the brouhaha from the press about greatest prospect in MLB, and too much money. All four could have had him believing that this MLB stuff is easy. I also said that the consecutive strikeouts were possibly the best thing that could happen to him--ditto getting picked off first. Now we can add to that not running on the two out pop to RF. I don't think any of that was unfair on my part. Someone else cited a stat, maybe valid, that it takes 1200 at bats to be ready for MLB. My guess is Moncada is well under 600, on top of which he missed 1 1/2 years of playing any kind of baseball at all. About Moncada's mistakes not being revelation. Says who? Go read the early parts of this thread when everyone was drooling over Moncada and dunning Shaw or anyone else who dared play 3B in lieu of the great Moncada. He was going to be the engine driving the Sox train in the playoffs. So you better believe his trouble with the curve was a revelation. Now that we have seen all of those mistakes, it's obvious he came up too soon. We saw how easily Benintendi and Betts and even Bogaerts had adjusted and forgot that Moncada missed a lot of essential repetitions. I would be dishonest if I didn't also say I myself was in favor of bringing him up if only because oaf his speed and the fact that Pawtucket was about to run out of games for him to play in. So I was wrong too. The good news is that this was just a September call-up--in the normal scheme of things, no big deal. Wait until next year.

OK. 4 innings, 52 pitches, 2 runs. Let's get that one back.

His last time out Price threw 75% strikes, and he's doing that again tonight.

damn. he nailed that knuckle curve up in the strike zone.

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.