GAME #2, SATURDAY JULY 25, 2020, BALTIMORE ORIOLES @ BOSTON RED SOX

[longgame]

1:30PM Eastern

Red Sox

Martin Perez (L)

1. Andrew Benintendi (L) LF
2. J.D. Martinez (R) DH
3. Rafael Devers (L) 3B
4. Mitch Moreland (L) 1B
5. Jose Peraza (R) 2B
6. Alex Verdugo (L) RF
7. Jackie Bradley Jr. (L) CF
8. Kevin Plawecki (R) C
9. Tzu-Wei Lin (L) SS


Orioles

Alex Cobb (R)

1. Austin Hays (R) CF
2. Hanser Alberto (R) 2B
3. Jose Iglesias (R) SS
4. Anthony Santander (S) LF
5. Renato Nunez (R) DH
6. Pedro Severino (R) C
7. Chris Davis (L) 1B
8. Pat Valaika (R) 3B
9. Cedric Mullins (S) RF

Gametime Temp: 87°F
Chance of Precip: 0%

[elktonnick]

Perez looks shaky.   I don't like the infield shift on right handed hitters.  UGH

[Murph]

Os vaunted  offense embarrassing  Perez. Can't  wait to see if Eovaldi can handle a MLB team offense.

[Sea Dog 23]

Beyond Nathan and ERod, we just don't have MLB level pitching to count on.  RR likes Weber, but if his best is a 89 mph heater, he's got to be nuts on to make a quality start.

[Murph]

I needtosee Eovaldi pitch against a real Mlb  team 2 -3 times before getting excited. Still thinking about 25 -27 W tops.

[longgame]

I'm surprised the O's didn't throw Cobb last night for Opening Day.  A whole level above the slop they had out there last night.  The Sox did the opposite, saved the slop for today, but Perez seems to have settled down.  This team will need to score to win anyhow so they better start now. 

[Bill-806]

With a HEAVY HEART, going UNDEFEATED is out of the realm, lets see what happens on sunday, game 3 !!!! iono iono iono iono

[Sea Dog 23]

 Roenicke said he will choose to rest players.  My $.02, this is a short season, a sprint.  Don't sit hot hitters like Pillar, Vaz.  Good call to pull Chavis, Bogey (sore hammie?).  It' s only Game 2, but keep your hot bats stoked.  We did the sit some last year with poor to mixed results.  JMO.

[SeaBeachFred]

Roenicke said he will choose to rest players.  My $.02, this is a short season, a sprint.  Don't sit hot hitters like Pillar, Vaz.  Good call to pull Chavis, Bogey (sore hammie?).  It' s only Game 2, but keep your hot bats stoked.  We did the sit some last year with poor to mixed results.  JMO.

Well today was a bummer no matter how you looked at it.  Perez has been lousy with each turn on the mound, from the inter sqiad ga,es up  to today, and Covey, well, we knew we were getting a dud there so w hat can you do.  Perhaps in a week or two the duds will be reduv=ced to mop-up work while what good and effective pitchers we come up with carry most of the load.  One thing I want to see is Andrew Benintendi pulled from the leadoff spot.  I said and moaned all last season that taking him out of the No, 2 slot was a mistake.  I also don't see why solid hit ter and run producer Martin ez is not batting third or fourth.  I know it;s only four games (two practice) but I am not impressed with Ron Roenicke as a manager.  I hope I am w rong on this.

[elktonnick]

Fred, I am with you regarding the manager, yes I know it has only been 2 games.  In my humble opinion, the Red Sox lost this game during the first at bat.  Wow you say that's crazy but he is my reasoning.  Their slavish adherence to the infield shift from the getgo cost them that ball game.  Did any one look at Austin Hays spray chart?  No obviously.  Because if they had they would have seen the number of balls that he hits to the right side of second base.  Then you put him up against Perez who isn't very good against right handed batters.  His best pitch is the changeup outside.  So what happens.  Exactly what one would expect.  3 of the Orioles first 5 hits were exactly along the same line only one of which would have been a hit had the team been in a traditional alignment defensively.

Let's end the mindless infield shift on right handed hitters and only do so when they are dead pull hitters.

Benintendi looks lost both at the plate and in the outfield right now.  He has no business leading off which may be one of the reasons for his distracted play.  Devers shouldn't be hitting third.  I would have Pilar leading off followed by Beni then JD and Bogie with Devers hitting 5th.

[Bill-806]

Fred, I am with you regarding the manager, yes I know it has only been 2 games.  In my humble opinion, the Red Sox lost this game during the first at bat.  Wow you say that's crazy but he is my reasoning.  Their slavish adherence to the infield shift from the getgo cost them that ball game.  Did any one look at Austin Hays spray chart?  No obviously.  Because if they had they would have seen the number of balls that he hits to the right side of second base.  Then you put him up against Perez who isn't very good against right handed batters.  His best pitch is the changeup outside.  So what happens.  Exactly what one would expect.  3 of the Orioles first 5 hits were exactly along the same line only one of which would have been a hit had the team been in a traditional alignment defensively.

Let's end the mindless infield shift on right handed hitters and only do so when they are dead pull hitters.

Benintendi looks lost both at the plate and in the outfield right now.  He has no business leading off which may be one of the reasons for his distracted play.  Devers shouldn't be hitting third.  I would have Pilar leading off followed by Beni then JD and Bogie with Devers hitting 5th.

  B I N G O on all counts !!!!!  I said the same thing after that cheap hit started it off !!!!  VICTORY GOES TO THOSE WHO WANT IT THE MOST, WANT IT THE LONGEST" !!!  Certainly not yesterday !!!!  12 to 15 defeats is probably the "PLAYOFF ZONE", ya think ???? iono iono iono iono

[Sea Dog 23]

Bill, you may be right on the playoff cut line, I was thinking 25 losses, like Murph.  Anyway IMO the Sox don't appear to be aiming for the playoffs, maybe after reports when ERod went down, they may be in wannabe reset mode.  It wouldn't surprise me if they trade JDM or Devers, or both. 

Watch what they do.  Bloom is just fiddlin and diddlin.  He demoted Covey yesterday and picked up Gonslaves on waivers from the Mets.  All Pawtucket camp dealings.  They have got to cut into what's remaining of the $192 mil (?) salaries for 2021 and some bad deals.

This makes my head hurt, (from Matt Collins)
"Roenicke has said that he knows who is starting the fifth game of the year, but doesn’t know who is going to go for the fourth. My guess is that the fifth game will go to either Zack Godley or Brian Johnson  (both arent on the 30 man right now) and they’ll have some piggyback/bullpen game action for Monday’s game. With that assumption — which, again, total guesswork here — I’d expect a long man like Chris Mazza or Mike Shawaryn to come up for a couple days before going back down for either Godley or Johnson on Tuesday."

[Murph]

Bill, you may be right on the playoff cut line, I was thinking 25 losses, like Murph.  Anyway IMO the Sox don't appear to be aiming for the playoffs, maybe after reports when ERod went down, they may be in wannabe reset mode.  It wouldn't surprise me if they trade JDM or Devers, or both. 

Watch what they do.  Bloom is just fiddlin and diddlin.  He demoted Covey yesterday and picked up Gonslaves on waivers from the Mets.  All Pawtucket camp dealings.  They have got to cut into what's remaining of the $192 mil (?) salaries for 2021 and some bad deals.

This makes my head hurt, (from Matt Collins)
"Roenicke has said that he knows who is starting the fifth game of the year, but doesn’t know who is going to go for the fourth. My guess is that the fifth game will go to either Zack Godley or Brian Johnson  (both arent on the 30 man right now) and they’ll have some piggyback/bullpen game action for Monday’s game. With that assumption â€" which, again, total guesswork here â€" I’d expect a long man like Chris Mazza or Mike Shawaryn to come up for a couple days before going back down for either Godley or Johnson on Tuesday."

I was thinking 25 losses, like Murph
IT WAS MORE LIKE 25 WINS I SAID

[Murph]

I like what I saw in Verdugo. Nice approach at the plate and aggressive on the bases.

[longgame]

JBJ is hot.  Put him at the top of the lineup and let him rake until he cools down.  With a 60 game season he could stay hot the whole time.

Benny and Devers are not ready.  They're young guys and had no idea how to get into baseball shape without being at camp.  Benny is lost, Devers is fat.  Both are pressing.  It's too bad that in a short season there's no luxury of waiting them out.  I'd run with Verdugo, JBJ and Pillar for now in the outfield and send Benny a message to get his ass in shape.  Bogey is pressing somewhat too because he knows he's the "star" of this team now. 

Of course we know the pitching is at worst non-existent and at best disastrous.