vegasbob

10 hits and a walk for 1 run ? C'mon man ! Yoshi still asleep at the plate. So now it goes to Kenley to do his stuff and save the victory/sweep

Sox flirting with messing this one up, and potentially blowing another superb pitching job. Take the sweep the A's are offering

Story with 2 blown DP's today. Not the pitcher's best friend.

Devers shoulder may be sore but that scorcher of a double tells me he is starting a hot streak. 2nd/3rd , 1 out, how many can we get? None thanks to DP Casas. Can he actually hit a fly ball ?

Just don't feel this will be ending 1-0. Never let an opponent like the A's hang around this long. Find a way to get on base and work your way around to score. infield single, steal 2B, go to 3B on a slow roller out, then a sac fly.

Meanwhile in NYY land, Aaron Boone has limited Verdugo to one neck chain per game . Verdugo who is used the 3 or 4 per game feels naked on the field, and he is not talking about his talents .

Joely does seem to have it settled down a bit better than he showed in Seattle. Slaten's pitches look fairly flat, not a lot of movement.

Rare to have that depth of talent and flexibility on the bench ready to report for duty.

Probably an astute prognostication .. Let's see-- sore during ST, 2 days off of first 4 to rest it, isn't hitting well---- Yeah, sore left shoulder on a guy who overswings with some regularity, and holds the bat with both hands on the extended follow through. If , in fact, the shoulder is hampering his hitting, it won't get much better as the season progresses until Raffy gets on the 15+day IL.

This time Story makes the play and Pivetta holds his shutout. Get some runs, boys.

Story has an example of a play NOT MADE, but no error, that may cost Pivetta this inning. Should have been an inning ending DP, but turns into a hit given Trevor's matador defense. Followed by a check swing "bunt" hit to load the bases. Worse yet, Joely Rodriguez is warming up.

Pretty soon Duran, the OBP machine, will weary of Devers failure to hit behind him. Even Jarren cannot outrun the DP balls being served up by Raffy. Rafaela is out-stating Devers at the plate right now. Yes, this is an intentional slight at Devers who needs to get going.

Pivetta treated to the absolute minimum lead possible in baseball, 1-0 . Holds up well through 4 with another nice play at the Cf wall by Rafaela, not quite the hard running catych of last night, but enough to save a run and help hold Pivetta's and the Sox lead. Interesting debate on how to quantify the value of difficult plays made to save runs vs rbi's from hits/ productive outs. Cedanne is a player in any event

Pivetta still throwing blanks through 3 . Hitters batting blanks through 3. Need a breakout inning here Abreu did get a hit so there's that

Was that a double steal that Devers should have swung through or a run/hit and he got some bad luck when Stripling speared it ?

That actually was a very good grab and throw in a tough spot. Raffy definitely made that play.

Taking a look at some SSS stats , if .700 OPS is a floor for a productive hitter, then we have 4 guys at that level or higher led by O'Neill at 1.145 ( Duvall April 2023 memories anyone ?), and Devers/Story at the bottom of the 4 with .707/.706 respectively. The other guy-- Reese Mcguire at .962 through 12 AB's. Guys with difficulty so far, Casa and Valdez at .535-.500. The dog without a bone is Not Ready For Prime Time, Wilyer Abreu (.350 OPS) who does need work at WooSox in multiple areas.- So why is Abreu in RF and O'Neill sitting today. Scheduled day off or minor soreness?

I think AC managed his resources very well last night, got players in the righty positions to win a game. This guy may have a future in managing baseball teams. Note the few errors this year so far, and as Moon says, look at the plays MADE that never sho up in box scores.

Note the time guys, it's noon:37 for me. Nick Pivetta going for win #1 and a clean sweep in Oakland . A key game that would insure a minimum .500 West Coast road trip opening the 2024 season. Nick can do this thing. A's will be offering Ross Stripling, whose nickname is Chicken Strips , which rhymes with Chicken S...., not going there Ross out of respect for any MLB'er. Time to bust out some runs on Ross, whose ERA is over 7. and has a 1.80 WHIP Sox hitting over these 6 games is inconsistent . Looking for a "professional " assessment of the hitting SSS to date by our more analytic posters. We do have a positive run differential of +14, but if you take out the 9-0 blowout vs the A's it is only 5 runs surplus and 4 of those were needed to get the other 3 victories so far. . The only losses so far were by a -2 so the Sox have a +3 in any event. The point is no one is really crushing the ball early this year. Duran can run but Rafaella can catch and truly saved win #4 in the 11th. Enjoying the 3 game win streak and looking forward to the sweep and games in Anaheim where I will be seeing these dudes in person Saturday night. Sleep Well, East Coasters.

Wink wins it with a nice strong K.. Sox roll despite little offense and Bello's mediocre start. Dammit, have to do another Game Thread. Feel like I'm talking to myself

Rafaela's big time running catch at the Cf wall saves Wink's shot at still winning this. One out to go.

At least O'Neill DP'ed the ghost runner home from 3rd, after McGuire's single moved Abreu up one sack. Must have a shutout inning now to win Winckowski still has the ball in hand

Nice workaround in the 10th to hold A's with no score. Sox bats are just not on track. Need 2 runs in 11th to get this one.

I'll just put it up here that Jansen on my scorecard has a T after his name not P. He has devolved into a Thrower, not a pitcher . Used 26 pitches to hold the 9th vs the A's. Probably needs a couple days rest now. If the Sox expected to be truly competitive, Kenley is not your closer.

Story's double not cashed in. Valdez got more off his bat than O'Neill or Devers.. Bottom 9 looking for Xtra's.