vegasbob

Going to have to nickname JBJr "At'em or Atom ball" because he does hit hard shots right at somebody.

Stroman, 4-8 with a 5.60 ERA and 1.49 Whip. We should be whacking him by the 4th inning.

It means the GM is signaling for a dance partner

Here's exactly what's wrong with Pomeranz. Gets 2 outs on about 9 pitches, then gives up a 2 out, 1-2 shot to left, then walks the next guy. now looking at trouble plus a bigger pitch count in the 20's leading to a 5 inning run. He does close out the inning but this is not a winner.

probably just my aging memory, but when was the last time the top 3 guys started the first inning with some action. Betts and Beni have been in those slots for awhile, the #3 hitter has varied (JDM, Moreland, etc) ??

Brilliant response !

I think if you are in an age of analytics and probabilities, you do walk Beni to get at JBJr. Not knocking Jackie here, just playing the percentages. Beni's hit was no scorching line drive, but a fortunate bouncer that eluded the Yankee shift, thank you baseball gods.

And oversliding the base to be tagged out, and then there is the old hidden ball trick. The hamstring pull, broken finger (Vazquez), twisted ankle and knee contusion not to mention spiking possibilities. The runner can also be hit with the batted ball negating his presence on the field. Better to just stay in the dugout with a .000 OBP.

One of the very sad facts about many cancers is that when a mature person gets the disease, it almost always recurs, sometimes multiple times. I enjoy listening to Remy on the NESN broadcast as he brings a mid level former players perspective, and a quirky but seemingly kind soul's approach to life. His cancer combined with his son's major criminal issues dealt Jerry two tough hands later in his life. I think this incredible season wherever it leads was a big enjoyment for him to be involved with.

An interesting twist is to see Pom at 1-5 with a 6.56 ERA , on a team that 45 games over .500 A good outing ( 5+ innings, 2 runs, no HR) would set him up to be part of the final 7 weeks, maybe going to the bullpen eventually, and in consideration for the post season roster from the pen. Obviously when Rodriguez returns ready to go, he will get preference for pitching back into shape as a playoff starter. No guarantees there either as his ankle stability and leg strength may take longer to come around. A bad performance today from Drew likely leads to a sooner than later end of his Sox career.

Vazquez is not ready yet to begin a rehab stint . Figure he hasn't even swung a bat when he begins to get back in baseball shape. To me, that means he will , in effect , be a September callup. All 3 catchers will be on the Sept roster, so watch for how Cora uses them to get a better fix on his thinking. One tendency I expect when Vaz returns is that Leon will get some rest , maybe catching 2 or 3 days a week, including for Eovaldi. There is a good chance that all 3 will be part of the 25 in the ALDS, as the pitching corps gets down to 12 with a 4 man bench. Hamstring injuries are tough propositions for an in season true healing. Devers and Swihart could reinjure themselves on the first play back or on Sept 30th. I thought Brock Holt was grabbing at his in the Saturday Yankee game, but apparently not. Bogaerts hand, and Vazquez's finger are also a concern since hand quickness, stress and strength are critical to effective hitting.

So the Yankees win the first of the 4 game differential, 7-0, over the happ-less White Sox . Now they are only 9 games out. Must make them feel a lot better. Lance Lynn earned his keep. Time for Sox to wallop Toronto.

Have watched Benintendi's bouncing single to win it all last night several times. One, it feels good to see it several times, but I do wonder what the Yankee "shifted" infielders were doing because there was no apparent urgency to go hard after that ball. It may have been in the one perfect spot to bounce through, but I don't see any great effort to flag it down setting up a throw to the plate. Overall the series could not have gone better in terms of results. The Red Sox won with high scoring, low scoring, bullpen work and 3 very good to great starting pitching, beating each of the Yankee's best 3.

It's not even that he threw the tantrum, then the glove, followed by his shoulder. It's that it was all precipitated by his horseshit pitching.

Thank you for noticing that fact. Sorry no stats to back that fact up.

I imagine most everyone shares understanding of the long term effects of a barren farm system but here's a couple thoughts: It takes 3 -5 years to graduate a competent , home grown from your system to the MLB level. The system keeps refilling every year from the bottom up. You are never too far away from reloading (2 seasons?) When you win consistently, you draft later lowering your chances of getting a stud. On the other hand, look up Patriots, New England for an alternate theory. Each year 30 teams show up ready to win it all. About 15 of these have no chance going in, Wrong place in the cycle, wrong players, manager, organization , no money nor appeal to FA's, etc.= No chance Of the other 15 , 5 would love to just make the WC game , 5 more expect to be good and 5 think they can win it all. 10 make the playoffs and a 2 days later , it is down to 8 remaining . Maybe 1 of the 8 gets hot and beats a better team. Now you have 3 strong teams plus a lucky dog. One each representing their league move on to the WS. Only one team of the 10 that made the playoffs wins its last game. Everyone else lost. The prize is to be that ONE, not whether your farm system won 4 of 5 lower level league championships. With a team like the Red Sox in 2018, you have got to go for it all at whatever expense, budgetary or future talent. People would have had to experience the futility of the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's to fully appreciate why it's hard to care about the players at Pawtucket, Portland or anywhere else.

I could not agree more. Win the game you are playing today, it is the only one available.and that counts.

We do, Devers and Pedroia (lol). Also Swihart , just to get things roiled up, not to mention Castillo. I would throw Beeks in there (under the bus) but he works elsewhere now.

No doubt it is a much bigger game for the Yankees, they need to show some muscle. Makes Price's performance all the bigger. if he can shut them down, it will create much distress in the Bronx. BTW, I do believe strongly in stepping on their throats when they are down. Never give an inch to New York

One guess is that he comes back with healed knee and works his way back into 2B , intending to play maybe 120 games, requiring a competent back up like Holt, Nunez, Lin, etc. which the team needs anyway as a utility guy. Another guess is that he tries , pushes it, but just can't regain enough mobility or knee endurance to play regularly at which point he becomes a problem due to contract length and you still need a consistent 2Bman ( like this year, to no detriment to the winning record) . Third guess is that he becomes a nuisance because he can't play well enough but won't go away , not sure what you do then.

Just a recollection but hasn't Kimbrel gone over 30 pitches twice since the A-S break ? Because of low contact against him (high K's), he is usually in the 20's per outing it seems. Clearly the best we have in the pen, but does apparently get rattled when he gets hit.

Ok, lobotomy then.

I'm hoping he had his arm amputated .

And, of course, sets up the high possibility of a NYY matchup with the Sox having home field. That would be another in a long line of epic series, say like 2004.

In related news, tonight's game is both a big deal, and then not so much. It's a big deal to see if David Price can get a good game in vs. NYY ; to see if the hitters can jump Tanaka and hit his slop ; to go up 9.5 games with less than 50 to go for the Sox (54 for NY); to shove pie in the face of all Yankee trolls; to sweep NY with a Red Sox DL list that looks like some team's dream roster . It's not so much of a critical game because of the 3 wins in the books already . Even if NY won all of the 4 game differential, they would still be well in the rear view mirror.