moonslav59

We certainly have found the groove. I hope we can keep it going and going. As much as I'm loving this, I have to think about some serious flaws we still have not solved- namely our SP'ers. I'm more and more convinced that Sale can give us what we need the rest of the year- maybe not an ace, but more and more solid and dependable as the year progresses. The rest of the rotation is one big question mark, with even Pivetta not being the solid #4/5 he has been since joining the Sox. I'm still hopeful enough of our starters will improve by just enough to contend, but we need to start seeing more proof and more consistency for somebody- anybody! What's not to love about the pen, the line-up and the promise of returning players like Story, Duvall, Mondesi, Joely and maybe even something useful from Paxton, who got the win with Woo, despite walking 5. I'm still cautiously optimistic about the season, and I certainly feel better now than a week ago, but I know some struggles lie ahead for us, unless our starters take control and soon.

TBR is for real and were expected to be good. The O's have been building up a mighty foundation of young players that look to be finally maturing. I thought they were a year or two away, and they made very few moves to even replace what they traded away at last summer's deadline. To me, the big LOL is the Yanks tied for the 16th best record in MLB (also the 14th, but 16th sounds better.)

Woo won 14-2 to get to .500 (15-15.) 4-5 Palka w 2 HRs & 5 rbi 3-6 Alfaro w 2B 3-4 Sogard w BB 2-4 Hamilton w 2 BB 1-3 Goodrum w 3 BB 1-2 ABreu w 2 BB 1-4 Fitzy w HR & BB POR split and is 18-7 Game 1 Liu threw a no-hitter (7 IP CG) 2BB & 6K After being demoted on soxprospects.com, Kavadas went 2-4 w 2B & HR (rare no BBs) Rafaela 2-4 w 3 RBI Yorke 0-2 w 2 BB Game 2: lost 2-1 Rosier 2-2 w BB GRE won 10-9 (They are 10-14) 3-5 Jordan w BB 3-6 Paulino w HR 3-4 Lopez w BB 2-6 Mayer w 2B 1-5 Hickey w HR & SF SAL lost 5-2 (They are 11-13.) 2-3 Coffey w BB 0-3 Bleis w SF and rbi de la Rosa 4 IP 3H, 1ER, 4BB, 4K

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.