GAME #38 - WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 2021 - OAKLAND ATHLETICS @ BOSTON RED SOX

[markj]

7:10PM

Red Sox

Eduardo Rodriguez (L)

1. Marwin Gonzalez (S) 2B
2. Alex Verdugo (L) CF
3. J.D. Martinez (R) DH
4. Xander Bogaerts (R) SS
5. Rafael Devers (L) 3B
6. Christian Vazquez (R) C
7. Hunter Renfroe (R) RF
8. Franchy Cordero (L) LF
9. Michael Chavis (R) 1B


Athletics

James Kaprielian (R)

1. Mark Canha (R) LF
2. Jed Lowrie (S) 2B
3. Ramon Laureano (R) CF
4. Matt Olson (L) 1B
5. Matt Chapman (R) 3B
6. Stephen Piscotty (R) RF
7. Sean Murphy (R) C
8. Mitch Moreland (L) DH
9. Elvis Andrus (R) SS



Gametime Temp: 59°F
Chance of Precip: 2%

[longgame]

Another black hole lineup.  I have no idea what Gonzalez is doing at the top of the lineup and then there's death valley with Cordero and Renfroe. 

[SeaBeachFred]

Again, WHY THE HELL IS fRENCH fRy Frenchie in the lineup again, and why is the miserable Marwin leading off? DaLbec can at least get a hit and homer now and then.  French Fry can do neither and he stinks in the fielD.  Try putting Chavis on second, Dalbec on first and Marwin in LF----JUST GET CORDERO OUT OF THE LINEUP.  mOST LIKELY WE WILL LOSE THIS GAME TONIGHT BECAUE cORA DOESN'T SEEN TO UNDERSTAND  THAT YOU CAN'T HAVE THE fRENCH FRY IN THE LINEUP.  dAMN HIM!!!!!

[BoSoxFanNY]

Tonight I am ANGRY - angry with this team.
And one run for the A's came on a balk.
LOSING 4 - 1

And ironically, Gonzalez has had a good night with the bat.
Double, single and a walk
AND they can't capitalize on him being on base.

SO FRUSTRATING.
WHY can't they win at Fenway Park???????

And the Yankees may win again
with a 1 - 0 lead over Tampa going into
the 9th inning.
Cole gave them 8 innings - no runs.

UGHHHHHHHHHHH

[BoSoxFanNY]

CRAP!
Yankees win 1 - 0.

Well, first place in the AL EAST was fun while it lasted . . .


WHY can't this team win at home?
WHY can't they manufacture runs?

CRAP@!

[BoSoxFanNY]

I am on a rant.
SOX lose to the A's 4 - 1.

Sox hit several doubles AND then can't get those
men home.  WHAT happened to running hard?  A man
on second and a single can't bring them home?
WHERE is the urgency in this team.
Beyond bummed.

[SeaBeachFred]

I have nothing to say to my friends out there that would do anything but make you feel more miserable after seeing our candy asses embarrass themselves and ruin my evening.+

[MongoLikeSox]

I was really PO'd at the coaching staff in the first inning. I thought OB and Eck were ragging about Verdugo stopping at 2b. Nope. They held Marwin up at 3rd. I know why, but I thought it was way too respectful of that arm. I didn't think we'd get the one run.

I was a little PO'd to see Andrus yucking it up in the dugout.

I was not particularly pleased to see whatever that running goof was by Marwin going home. Many of his mistakes are him trying to be too clever and make things happen. In this case, a contact play that may have worked if he kept going turned into a bandit to get a runner going to 3b.

I did see some things I did like. Cordero being in position to allow Verdugo to go to the wall was the thing I liked best about that play. Good, basic hustle. Seeing the throw and tag was a nice bonus. Devers needed to meet the ball about 3 feet earlier, but was still able to tag the runner. Good stuff.

Back about 1980 or so, Yaz tried to light a fire by stretching an obvious single into a double. It worked, and it worked. They didn't win, IIRC, but the team played better from then on for a while. Last night was like a replay of that. Instead of a 40 year old Yaz, it was a kid stepping up and trying to do something.

The biggest thing I liked seeing was E-Rod not having it and getting PO'd about it, and used it to start pitching with guts and determination. A chip on his shoulder, so to speak. I'd never seen him like that before. A little out of his element, really. I wonder if his normal state of mind does the balk thing. Anyhow, before we rail on him for topping out 93mph too much, imagine how much core strength he lost last year and could not regain with his slope ramp-up? Anyhow, I thought his stuff was not dipping as much as normal last night. Off night, but he was not why we lost.

Ellis Burks about come undone on Renfroe's 2nd pitch in his 9th inning AB. I still get frustrated, sure, but I've somewhat accepted that as norm just so I don't get into a cranky mood. Kind of a sad statement. I ranted about that sort of thing yesterday. I'm getting old.

So, in short, I am a little more pleased with the team's drive last night. It's a shame it didn't manifest itself into a win, but if we're going to lose, at least go down with a fight and effort. I think we saw a lot of that last night.

[longgame]

I posted this yesterday after the game the day before: "They get stuck in non-productive games with no energy, especially at home which is really strange.  The core got very little done at the plate and the rest contributed nothing."  So we are still in this stinking pattern.  Amazingly Gonzalez had a big hit so that's it for him for the week. 

Two things - these guys swing at anything, they had to work hard to pick up those walks in the first inning and the pitcher wasn't even close.  That leads to the strikeouts which of course are non-productive at bats.

At least the pitching has been solid enough.  Too bad they can't hit and have no answers for it. Is Arroyo hurt?  Keep him at 2B, put Gonzalez at 1B and Chavis in LF or maybe flip the last two, but please at least get Franchy out. 

[elktonnick]

Dumb base running and dumb approaches at the plate.  Down three runs and Renfoe is swinging for the fences with nobody on, ridiculous.

[Sea Dog 23]

The pitching coach Bush has done a good job into this season.  However this hitting approach falls on Hyers.  That's unless the players think he's an idiot and do their own thing.  Ultimately Cora gets what he wants, pitching, batting, and base running. But you can only do so much with a cast of characters their former clubs chose not to sign, for what reasons ??

[longgame]

The pitching coach Bush has done a good job into this season.  However this hitting approach falls on Hyers.  That's unless the players think he's an idiot and do their own thing.  Ultimately Cora gets what he wants, pitching, batting, and base running. But you can only do so much with a cast of characters their former clubs chose not to sign, for what reasons ??

Really good points.  The contrast between the improvement of the pitching and the decline of the hitting is quite evident.  Like Mongo said too, guys are taking big cuts with men on base and 2 strikes, usually they aren't even seeing the ball, they're just guessing wrong about pitch and location and are committed before the pitch.  Shorten up and get the ball in play.  Move the line. 

[SeaBeachFred]

You guys really made good points with your missives today but the bottom line in no matter what good came from it in isolated cases the fact is WE STILL LOST!!!!!!!  Whether those positive things some of you saw mean diddly squat or not will depend on how we do tonight and in the Angels series.  Frankly, I believe the arrow is pointing down and as long as that stubborn  bastard Cora still writes Frenchy's name in the lineup we'll continue to be a laughing stock.  True, Cordero is only the symptom of something rotten with our team but he seems to be the poster boy for what  shitty team this is  turning out to be.  Cora had better get his shit together and soon.  He has to remember that he was NOT Bloom's choice as manager and if he wants to be stubborn about who he plays he could find himself looking for a new job after this season.  It can't happen sooner because I never wanted this filthy and rotten cheater back with us in the first place. His shoddy performance in ST 2019 soured me on him....and he has never acknowledged that he was wrong in the first place.

[MongoLikeSox]

As far as Cora goes, there is no way that 2019 and the off-season that followed does not happen the way it did. There is a price to pay for being as lucky as Cora was for 2018, and he paid it. Baseball is like life in it's uncanny ability to get even. Throw in some smugness and, well, DUCK!!!!

Fast forward to this year. If the FC thing is not eating Cora alive, I don't think anything can. He's numb. This is bad for the team. This is the manager taking a big whiz on your highlight reel while saying something like, "and here's what upper management thinks of your efforts to date. Yes, evern you, Dorn." I will not say it's punish your whole team and 6 States to prove a point to your cornerback territory, but I'm not saying it isn't going to be take much better if this isn't fixed soon.