illinoisredsox

Not sure what you were looking at. Benintendi smoked his hit and it hit the umpire, costing the Sox a run. Moreland smoked his ball and it caught the pitcher.

Yeah, I agree with this. One of my biggest gripes (maybe the biggest one) with Saltalamacchia was that he NEVER went to the mound other than to change the signals. He never attempted to refocus a pitcher or calm him down or just break a bad rhythm. Ross did it all the time, so it wasn't an organizational thing. Varitek, of course, was the best at it.

It would be great if Porcello can repeat his individual performance from the last game against the Rays: 8 IP, 6 H, 1 run, 0 walks, 7 K's. Unfortunately, it ended up a 1-0 loss.

I'd go along with that to an extent; career wise, however, the Guardians are the team that has given Sale the most trouble. In 28 games (17 starts) against the Tribe, he's 5-7 (the only team he's under .500 against) with a 4.44 ERA (worst against any team he's faced more than twice) and a 1.297 WHIP. Every pitcher seems to have a team he's Superman against and a team that's kryptonite to him. Cleveland appears to be that latter team for Sale.

And still there was a game last week when Betts forgot.

I've seen some guys do it. Maybe they all do, there's not always a close-up of a guy when he reaches. But just as when you coached, every once in a while, the brain turns off and they forget.

That knee is probably still bothering him. He just sat out a week and probably wasn't taking a whole lot of BP. But his job tonight was to catch Sale, and that he did to near perfection.

I nominate a700 for 1st and 3rd base coach (he should be able to handle both). Then after the first boneheaded base running mistake, we can get all over him about not doing his job.

Now, to reality. It depends on what you mean by "rise". If you mean does the ball cross the plate at a higher point than it is released, them yes, a submariner does make the ball rise. Wasn't is Darin O'Day who basically threw the ball from almost ground level? If you mean actually rise, then no. To actually rise, a pitcher would to develop lift on the ball greater than the weight of the ball. That would entail generating a bottom to top spin, a very high spin rate and a very high velocity. The attached outlines the physics of it. The bottom line is no, at least today's athletes cannot make a ball actually rise. http://www.hardballtimes.com/the-physics-of-a-rising-fastball/ They use Aroldis Chapman as a subject, and it concludes that if he kept his current spin rate (2350 rpm), he could (theoretically), get the ball to rise if he could thrown the ball at about 113 mph. Or, if he kept his current velocity, he would need to increase his spin rate to 3100 rpm to make it rise. However, that only accounts for the ball out of his hand. The ball loses speed over the course of it's journey to the plate, so the initial velocity would have to be 9-10 mph higher than it is right now (i.e., he would have to release the ball at around 122-123 mph). A submariner might not have to throw the ball quite that hard, but to impart the same spin, it would have to be done as a breaking pitch which means less initial velocity.

Sidd Finch was able to make his fastball rise.

You left off 2004, when they became the only MLB team ever to blow a 3.889 to 0 game lead in a playoff series.

Just saw that Don Baylor died today: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/red_sox/clubhouse_insider/2017/08/don_baylor_who_hit_31_home_runs_for_1986_red_sox_dies_at_68 His 2 run homer in the 9th inning of Game 5 in the 1986 ALCS was overshadowed by Dave Henderson's a few minutes later, but got the Sox started that inning.

I've seen games at Fenway, New York (Shea and the original Yankee Stadium), Toronto (Exhibition Stadium), Cleveland (Municipal Stadium), Chicago (Wrigley and both Comiskeys), Milwaukee (County Stadium), Kansas City, St. Louis (the old Busch Stadium), and Houston (Astrodome). Obviously, most of the ones I've been to are no longer in use, which is explained by the fact that I haven't seen a major league game in person in probably 25 years.

Stinking up the joint might be a bit harsh, but decidedly mediocre is not. His W-L record, for what it's worth, could be better had he had better run support (especially early in the season). In games where he's allowed 2 or less runs, he is 1-3 (same as the team's record in those games. In games where he's allowed 3 runs, he is 1-5 (and the team is 2-5). OTOH, he has benefitted from run support as well. He's had 12 games where he's given up 4 or more runs, which is where his ERA has ballooned. Amazingly, the team is 6-6 when that's happened (he is 3-6). Only twice this year has he failed to go at least 6 innings. So in games where he's given he Sox a decent chance of winning (3 runs or less) they are 3-8. In games where he really has been bad, they are 6-6. Baseball is a strange game.

You played college ball and can't figure that out? Location and changing speeds upsets hitters timing. As Warren Spahn said, hitting is timing and pitching is upsetting timing. I've written this before here, but it bears repeating. Any pitcher at the major league level has the ability to shut any team down on a given night. It's how often they can do it that seperates the good form the average from the bad.

I agree. He's what, the #8 starter, and people here seem to think he's going to be Sale every time out. He is what he is. If they go .500 in his starts, he's done just fine at the back end of the rotation.

Define what you mean by consistency (or inconsistency). And who would you have used in his place this year?

I'd rather have that from a reliever than have a guy who consistently gives up a run every other time out.

Yeah, now that I think about it, you are correct on that.

He should have been over, it was bad base running by Leon. No secondary lead and didn't read Holt's chopper at all. Edit - and Young made it a moot point.

Lots of Wee Willy Keeler hits for the White Sox today.

Yeah, normally you see the out on a guy going into second, not third.

That was nearly a great DP by Abreu

The theory was to force the cutoff and assure Benintendi scores, so it wasn't as dumb as a lot of them. Still, with play in front he should have seen that AB was going to make it home. Not a total boneheaded play but not a good one either.

You really need to pay attention on what those hits are. A bunt (due to the shift), a hard hit double, a looper that landed in the infield where the shortstop normally plays (another shift hit) and a ground ball perfectly placed between Moreland and Holt. Not like he was giving up frozen ropes all over the yard.