oldtimer

My feeling is Fister obviously didn't have his control tonight and JF stayed with him too long. Then when it became obvious he was unable to get anyone out, JF probably thought the game lost and stuck in his weaaker BP arms to compound the issue. We battled back but 8 runs have not been enough to win the game and we stand a 50/50 chance of losing it. Some of this comes back on JF and his judgment of the pitching staff.

Would you have any faith in him at this point?,Travis is a better hitter than either of them at this point. By pinch running for Vaz, we now have a lineup without much punch.

Devers made his 12th error in his 45th game tonight so consideration of his converting to 1st next year still should be an option. I realize he is very young and should become much better but that error rate as it stands is pretty unacceptable. The problem is Nunez has his own problems.

We miss his bat tonight.

Had to try but Hanley couldn't get it done and then neither could Beni. Britton is pretty hard to hit.

Good by Reed to get out of the mess. Notice the Orioles have a good hitting team. It's their pitching that tends to let them down.

He showed his worth with the bat tonight. Has a chance to bring him in but couldn't get it done.

And our manager looks bad too.

That is now his 12th error in 44 games. Way too many.

JF is putting in our weakest relief pitching in this game. Remind him that we need to win it.

Fister walked 2, one a 111 hitter on 4 pitches. He doesn't seem to have enough control and has put us behind by 4 which is the runs we average in a game. Fister must have some problem with nerves as he always seems to run into early trouble before settling down in later innings. Tough start for him tonight.

Take Fister out now.

I agree, the problem is finding a FA that would fit the needs of the team and still have a contract requirement we could swallow.

I like that JF has Vazquez as DH tonight. He really can't trust Young to do much and his other option, Travis can be saved for use later in the game. Swihart as backup to Leon makes the move possible. Betts is in the lineup so it appears while his thumb is sore, he is fit enough to play and swing the bat. Clearly JF knows how important this and all games going forward will be and wants to give the team the best chance of winning.

Well, the field players we could lose through Free Agency are Young, Davis, Moreland and Nunez. i think Young and Davis are gone. Moreland is a decent player both in the field and with the bat, but we are looking for an impact player at that position, so he is probably not coming back. Word is out that we will probably try to retain Nunez, but we don't have full time position for him to fill so he probably will go where that is possible. Too bad, since Pedey is likely a 90 game a year guy going forward and he could probably get some time at SS and DH, so he would have a lot of opportunity and he is getting older so might be best when used with some down time available. So it does look like we will go in the 1st base direction. How we accomplish that remains to be seen. I don't see anyone waiting in the wings in the minors who is ready to provide what we need so it is a FA, a move of a player and a trade or FA to fill whatever position becomes open or we try to work a trade, but what we have to offer other than one of our young regular players would probably not interest a club. Moon hasn't identified any first base prospects that stand out. I don't think bringing in just a DH for next year makes sense based on Hanley's contract and limitations and a switch to going after a 3rd baseman probably should await the battle for Machado. The other aspect of this is whether we can get some of our young players we want long term to agree to extension contracts. Clearly Betts is one of those. Possibly JBJ and/or Bogaerts also fit that. The others are so young that no action at this point is realistic or required. Depending on how much money we want to commit in that direction and to enhance the pitching staff, there will be some outside number we will want to pay for a big bat. Otherwise, this whole situation is complicated and it is in DD's lap to come up with some sort of compromise solution.

They weren't saying his shoulder was the problem, it was the left bicep although nothing showed up in the MRI. Maybe they should do an EEG.

I wouldn't sign another guy just to be a DH. Whoever we get with a big bat also needs to be a regular field player. Hanley will still be around to mainly DH when he is playing.

Looking at our best player Betts getting $9.36 K when Hanley gets $22.7 mil, I would expect arb raises to be substantial for many. As far as Devers winding up at 1st base, it is not all that far fetched. His error total at 3rd is high and although he will undoutedly get better, they say he is expected to mature into a heavier even stronger player, so 1st might be a best spot. Either way, we definitely need a middle of the order guy and Hanley doesn't seem to fill that bill going forward despite his big salary.

Perhaps there is a school of thought that having a few of these people around would allow completing a trade for a much needed power bat or two going forward The cupboard is kind of bare and our needs will be real. I hope we can sign some of our excellent young players to long term contracts to cover three years out, but we will still need others.

I just get concerned that the injury bug has bitten us at a tough time, taking too many of our right handed bats out of the lineup. We need to keep winning and I would prefer to face Houston to Cleveland, but neither is a walk in the park.

Tough to see Betts out of the game with a contusion. Hope that doesn't mean he will be out for an extended period as it is reported as day to day. With Pedey gimpy, Hanley out for an unknown time (not hitting anyway), Young just not a reliable option and Nunez's return still an unknown, we are short on quality right handed bats in the lineup. JF will have his hands full coming up with a threatening lineup.

I saw a mention in Omnisport by line Alec Brzezinski dated Sept 12th The Red Sox will likely have to hold off their competition in the American League East without infielder Eduardo Nunez. Manager John Farrell said Tuesday, via ESPN.com, that Nunez, who is dealing with a knee sprain and bruise, will be out for at least a week, and possibly the remainder of the regular season. Nunez has been on a mission since joining the Red Sox from San Francisco earlier this summer. He has hit .319 with eight home runs, 27 RBIs and 22 runs scored in 37 games with the Red Sox. Boston currently holds a slender three-game lead over the streaky Yankees, but they do have some room over the Twins and Angels for the first wild-card spot should New York rally

We still are in this game. That would be taking a big risk.

Big trouble for e-rod. Walk issue to load the bases with Longoria up.

So far, not a single hit. There have been a few hard hit balls, so there is always hope. Odorizzi has only 72 pitches and could go 7 or more innings. We just can't allow more runs or at least keep it close.