Maxbialystock

Fix the strike zone? Really? The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings. Last night is a classic example. The Sox had 15 hits and so many guys on base KC was asking Boston's finest for the loan of a traffic cop. But Ortiz, Leon, and Bradley combined for 21 fresh Maine LOBsters to keep the Royals safely in the lead. The 9th inning was a classic. Pedroia and Bogaerts led off with singles. With Ortiz coming to bat, the pitcher suddenly had a big smile on his face, and Ortiz hit an easy GIDP, of course. Not so fast, said Betts and Ramirez, who both singled to bring the tying run to the plate. Too bad because Sandy Leon came to the plate. He actually made contact with the ball on an easy grounder to 2B and I think I saw a small fist pump as he made the final out.

Anomaly is a good word. Hopeful.

Pretty clear box score. Wright gave up walks and 2 dingers in the 1st for 5 runs and the Royals only scored 1 in the next 8 innings. The Sox meanwhile had 15 hit and a slew of baserunners but only 3 runs. Ortiz left 7 runners on, Leon 8, and Bradley 6. That's a lot of LOBsters for anyone not in Maine. So my version of the game is that four guys--Wright, Ortiz, Leon, and Bradley--took a blood oath to make sure the Royals would win at least one game in the friendly confines of Fenway. Except for Tazawa, who has become the Wreck of the Hesperus, everyone else was trying to win this game. Even Bad Wright's twin brother Good Wright went 5 scoreless innings. If you stuck around for the bottom of the 9th, you saw the game in microcosm. Pedroia and Bogaerts lead off with singles. Ortiz hits a perfect GIDP ball for a couple more LOBsters. Betts, who prefers steak, gets a hit and drives home Bogaerts. Ramirez gets on. And Leon, thrilled at the prospect of 8 Lobsters, grounds routinely to 2B for the 3d out.

You are more sensible than I. You could be dead right about Bogaerts and I just never thought of him that way.

Fascinating exposition. You point to all the weak hitters and then blame Farrell for all the losses. I didn't much like today's lineup either, but the biggest gap and the only one that meant anything was no Ortiz. Last night he hit the 2 run dinger in the 1st, but the entire team couldn't score in the 4th thru the 11th innings. This team, except for Ortiz and maybe Pedroia, can't hit good pitching, and the Rays have a good rotation and apparently a very good bullpen which in this series pitches 16+ innings while giving up 2 earned runs (and no runs at all in the final 3 games). I notice you point out "very week hitting in LF against righties," which must mean you blame Farrell for Benintendi's injury last night.

True. Pedroia is hitting like a veteran in August. HanRam is hitting like a guy expecting a bonus when his helmet falls off. Hill does not impress. Young is solid against lefties.

Good stuff, but we also looked terrible with the 2 GIDP's and the 1 CS.

Laughable. 9th inning, 1 run game, and HanRam and JBJ both K. And Ortiz too. Good pitching trumps good hitting, especially our hitting, almost every time.

What lineup would you prefer? The one last night wasn't much better, nor the one the night before. The big different today is no Ortiz, but it's a day game after a night game and Ortiz at 40 with the bad heel needs a rest now and then. The simple fact is that right now this team depends too much on Ortiz. Last night, with what should have been a good lineup, they struck out 14 times (Bradley 4 times) and couldn't score in the 4th thru 11th innings. If Ortiz had not played last night, the Rays would not have needed 11 innings to beat us. If Ortiz doesn't play in Tuesday's game, we maybe don't win that one. This team, except for Ortiz, cannot hit decent pitching, period.

Seven righties against a lefty starter looks OK to me. Leon could use a day off. It's a day game after a night game at the end of a lot of consecutive day games and on the road. I might switch Bradley and Young, but can live with that order. I would anticipate that this bottom third of the order won't do much, but they could surprise us.

I apologize. Clearly I screwed up this thread from the get go and brought pain and suffering upon the House of Talksox. Now that I've had overnight to digest what I saw last night--all the way to the bitter end--these thoughts-- 1. The Rays may be last in the AL East but they aren't terrible. See our win Tues night for confirmation. They rely on pitching and Longoria, which right now is not that much different from us relying on our rotation and Ortiz. Plus the Rays clearly have a better bullpen. 2. Hembree's error in the 11th was an act of mercy because we were never, ever going to score again in that game. It was also not an easy play because pf the narrow margin created more by Shaw's needing time to get to the ball than by Hembree's slowness to 1B. Hembree actually made a pretty good recovery to throw home and beat the runner, but Leon couldn't keep it in his glove--no error charged to Leon. 3. Top of the 7th was to me the key play. Men on 2d and 3d, no one out, and the top of the order coming to bat. Pedroia had the perfect pitch to get the ball into the air, but instead hit an easy grounder to a drawn in infield. Benintendi, not to be outdone by his senior, turned that grounder into one of the easiest GIDP's you'll ever see and hurt himself in the process. Maybe Shaw should have been sent home, but the real issue was not making sure Benintendi knew what to do on a grounder. He assumed Shaw would go on contact, but that's not necessarily the right play with no one out and men on 2d and 3d. 4. Porcello showed a lot of guts. He hung that curve--right over the geometric center of the strike zone to Longoria who can hit curves--but was probably a better choice to pitch to Longoria than Ross the lefty. I agree it is arguable that Ross should have pitched the entire 8th inning, but Porcello was going great guns in the 4th thru 7th innings. He was in a groove. And our bullpen continues to be problematical. 5. Hill pinch-hitting for Holt was a classic demonstration of the value of a deep and capable bullpen. As soon as Hill went in, Tampa brought in a righty to get another K of the 14 K's they got in this game. 6. Bradley K'd 4 times, which tells me he is always capable of sliding back to his former self. Bogaerts is also sliding--0 for 5 with 2 K's and 4 LOBsters. He is clearly slumping. 7. Anyone who thinks Ortiz shouldn't bat 3d in this current lineup is blind and/or ignorant. He is far and away our best hitter right now. Betts may not be the best fit for 4th, but he is the best guarantee that Ortiz will get "a pitch to hit," which is exactly what Manny Ramirez used to do.

Just one scary game. Ambriese is breezing and Porcello seems to be throwing into headwinds. Nice 5th so far, though. Love it: clean and short. Good for another. Bogaerts honestly looks lost at the plate--swings at balls outside the zone and looks at fat ones or can only foul them off.

Wake up. They are pitching to Betts. He has walked 4 times this month vs. 9 times in July, 7 times in June, and 9 times in May. I'm not saying cleanup is his best spot, but am saying it's not the wrong spot for him with all those dingers and rbi's. On August 16 he batted clean up and drive in all 5 runs in a win over the Orioles. In the 7 games since then he has 0 rbi's, but the Sox won 5 of 7 and all were road games. So far this year Betts has 57 rbi's at home and 32 on the road.

Camden Yards is great inside and outside and drove a number of other ballpark designs that followed. Nationals Park is one of them. Not so great on the outside, but great sight lines inside. Fenway has the some of the worst sight lines anywhere down the right field line. I mean terrible/rotten/frustrating. So bad I'm thinking a setting up a contest. Winner gets a ticket deep down the right field line at Fenway. 2d place gets 20 tickets in the same place. 3d place is a season ticket in the same place. I'm not going back to Fenway, but it's still beautiful on TV. Royals ballpark in KC is also good, but can get really hot in the summer. Braves ballpark (Turner Field) in Atlanta is also nice. Shibe Park in Philly in the 50's wasn't bad. Griffith Stadium in Washington in the 50's was OK, but a great adventure for my first MLB experience, age 14, Senators v. Guardians.

The Benintendi experiment cries out for a repeat with Moncada--indeed, with slightly more cause because Shaw/Hill ain't hitting much. That said, you also have to decide which players go on the 25 man roster. On the other hand, in September you can have a thousand or so. In the playoffs you can do nicely with 11 pitchers which leaves another opening for a guy like Moncada.

Box score shows no PB and that the 1 run was earned. The 2d run against the Rays was unearned.

I could not contribute to the thread last night because I was playing poker which I do monthly. I did, however, watch the game on my ipad. I'm not so sure the ballpark is the real issue on attendance. True, the Rays are dead last in MLB at 17K/game and 3K/game below the next best team (Oakland). But not far above in 27th place is Miami @ 22k/game, and I think they have a pretty good ballpark, good accessibility, and--wait for it--the 4th largest urban area in the USA at 5.5M. The Tampa Bay population is 4.3M. Floridians just don't like baseball that much.

They are indeed.

Words to conjure with.

In the spring I was in favor of bringing back Buch this year, but by the summer I was not. Now I'm back on the bus to Abilene--Buch and Dombrowski can do no wrong.

I just noticed that he has lost the Fire Farrell Trade Pedroia DFA Buchholz mantra and has, like others before him, elected to return from the dark side. I've been there myself because 64 of my years were under the curse of the bambino. What's that line near the end of Casablanca? "With MPV78 on our side, I'm sure our side will win?" To be honest, I would have been fine with firing Farrell a couple of times this season. I would have traded Pedroia for a #1 starter in a heartbeat, but otherwise not. But I never could see the sense in paying Buchholz to pitch for someone else. As for tonight, I love Porcello's chances, but am chastened by last night's win, which necessitated an error for our guys to score the winning run in a 2-1 game. Anyone know something about Andriese?

Good stuff, as always, Kimmi.

What mojo? Like everyone else, I'm fascinated by what these guys are doing right now and delighted with what they are accomplishing. Baseball can do that, especially the kind played by our Sox in the John Henry era. No 86 year waits for us.

Gutsy win. Buch came through for the win and Farrell made some good moves and the bullpen was solid. Love that unearned run.

Words to conjure with.