moonslav59

Paxton went 5 IP and got the win. He was a bit wild. 2 Hits 2 ER 5 BB 4 K

Some games still left to play, but as of right now, we are essentially tied for the 5th best record in MLB. - TBR -4.5 BAL -5.0 ATL -7.0 PIT -7.5 TEX, LAD, BOS -8.0 MIL, MIN, TOR -8.5 LAA -9.0 AZ -9.5 SD -10 HOU, NYM, NYY

Nice to see we can win without scoring 7.

Many felt Abreu was the better half of that trade.

You jinxed him!

I guess he figured a utility player would swing and miss.

The guy we got back is almost identical: 13.2 IP 14 Hits 3 BBs 9 Runns

So, who built up the pen (finally?) Yes, the current group is playing well, despite 2 of our best hitters (Story & Duvall) and 2 of our best defenders (Story & Mondesi) being on the IL. It's all voodoo magic.

soxprospects updated their rankings with no Casas or Kelly, as they graduated. YES! Drohan passed Perales, as well as many others. I caught grief for suggesting it might happen by their summer update. 1. Mayer 2. Blies 3. Rafaela 4. Yorke (jumped Mata) 5. Drohan (jumped Mata, Romero, Perales, Anthony, Walter and Paulino) 6. Mata 7. Romero (jumped Perales) 8. Perales 9. Anthony (jumped Paulino & Walter) 10. Walter 11. Paulino 12. Lugo 13. Valdez (jumped Wikelman) 14. Wikelman 15. Hickey (jumped 3) 16. E R-C 17. Jordan Jumped Murphy) 18. Murphy 19. Hamilton (jumped 6) 20. Abreu (up 3) 21. Coffey (up 1) 22. Meidroth (up 7) Biggest drops: Kavadas 20>27 Koss 28>34 Bonaci 22>25

Cora has moved from L-R-L-R-L-R-L-R-L to L-L-R-L-L-R-L-L-R With so many lefties tearing it up, why not? If Dugo could have played and McGuire catch, we might have seen 8 lefties, if they sat Kike or Turner.

Was the she the one who "flew over the cuckoo's nest?"

MLB has us 15th on the Power Rankings (up 4). We have a better record and just swept the Jays, who they have 9th (down 4). The Cubs, Yanks, Angels and Mets are also ahead of us.

Speaking of Kimmi, anyone know what's up? Should we file a missing persons report?

It's amazing how so many pitchers developed this new pitch virtually overnight.

I'm not sure why having more stuff to pack to move from Woo to Boston should matter.

Like who?

Maybe the pitch clock has messed with some defenders' ability to stay focused on defense. It does seem like there are more blunders, and I've never seen more catcher interference calls in a whole year, as I've seen in 5 weeks. The point remains, even if the overall level of play has dropped, we have done better ve tough teams than almost anyone else, and have played double the tougher teams than some teams. I think that helps determine just how good a team is beyond just looking at a win- loss record. I find it interesting that the guy who keeps calling "scoreboard" as in it's all about winning, now says that winning is happening because of a watered downn league. It is no longer only about wins. I've said all along, one reason I think we have a good shot at the playoffs was because other teams have major issues, too. It's easy to focus just on the Sox and all their faults, and think that is all that goes into determining a team's chances. Don't the other teams matter? We've been trying to point out how difficult it is to win when you play more good teams than others. How that is any different from claiming we are now winning because the teams we are beating are watered down or not as good as their record indicates is the same thing- just in reverse. It's no big deal, except the guy can't stop bringing up how sick he is hearing about the strength of our division and schedule, is now doing the same thing.

Wow, I would have never known MIA beat my Bucks, because they played better. Thanks. Yes, maybe all winning teams are not "good teams," but we are talking comparatively. Besides, I thought you judged everything by wins and losses- no excuses- no if and or buts. In most cases, having the same record by beating winning teams as another team beating lesser winning teams shows some extra value. I'm fine with you disagreeing, but saying you don't "get it" is something you won't explain. How can you not, at least understand why it means something to others?

Bogey, Betts and JD never did this! (LOL)

I'd still rather us have Castillo than SEA, although I'm not sure I'd want to pay the price for him.

You must be one of those "apologists" some talk about.

I'm assuming jacko does not have keys to your cellar.

Well said, as always. To me, the "one that got away" was Luis Castillo, but I realize we'd have had to part with the untouchable Mayer and probably Rafaela or Bello, too. Maybe Mayer, Mata, Walter and Anthony would have come close.

We will certainly hit a rough patch or two (or three, or...) ahead of us, and we will ear about it. It's kinda nice not having jacko calling us horrible, everyday.

If you take away what our opps did against us and compiled their records vs all others, their combined record is around 65%. Nobody has played more games vs teams at >.500 than us, and we have a winning record vs them. It is too hard for some to deal with, so they have to convince themselves the winning teams we beat are watered down or "not as good as we think they are," whatever that means. Look, I'm pretty sure PIT is not as good as they have played, but we played them, when they were hot. Somehow, if seems okay to discount the Pirates, but when we talk about trying to count games vs the ALE as more competitive, we get bashed. That being said, I wish we were playing the Yanks, right now.