GAME #30 - TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2021 - DETROIT TIGERS @ BOSTON RED SOX

BoSoxFanNY · May 04, 2021, 09:50:31 PM

Red Sox beat the Tigers 11 - 7.
What should have been an easy game - ended
up being exhausting.
Matt Barnes came thru - 4 out save.

markj · May 04, 2021, 09:51:02 PM

Barnes with another quick 1-2-3 inning to close it out. He's really turned things around this season. Hats off to him.

MongoLikeSox · May 05, 2021, 06:16:00 AM

It was so nice seeing a whole bunch of swings NOT look like they were going yard or going home. These were actual professional hitters up there for a change. Yes, it's easy to see good when you score 11, but watching that after this past road trip was like watching two entirely different strategies unfold. This is Red Sox offense, not the homer swings 24/7 thing that the rest of the league is hooked on.

What's even better is that I think the league might be taking notice. Look, I thought Dave Kingman was a lot of fun. He was unusual. He would not be so unusual in the modern game, but for the first time in a long time, he would have been unusual on the Red Sox.

I really believe we have Holt to thank. Our boys are running around swinging like steroid-kings on crack while he beats them with liners and well placed soft junk. They had to notice and remember, right?

I'm beginning to get really impressed with Pivetta's current state of mind and overall makeup out there. He's gotten himself out of more than one self inflicted mess.

Sea Dog 23 · May 05, 2021, 06:24:25 AM

The folks who like to project things show Barnes on schedule for 82 appearances this year . That is prob unsustainable. Who can help out there, Whitlock, Ottovino? No for Darwinzon!! The pickins are slim right now.

longgame · May 05, 2021, 07:59:58 AM

Gee, you get hitting out of one guy in the bottom of the order and lo and behold, the offense scores runs. Renfroe with a big night surrounded by Arroyo and Dalbec with 0-fers. If Renfroe hadn't been on, they would have lost.

Boy do they have a mess in middle relief.

Seems the Sox have to know what to address at this point. Need some offense from those lower spots (i.e. Cordero has to go, and Dalbec has to hit). Need to be able to hold games between the starters and back end of the pen. It seemed during the winning stretch they had starters going deep, especially for so early in the year. Need to make sure our guys stay focused too, they've been running up starter pitch counts the past week or so too - not throwing enough strikes which they had been doing earlier.

Make some moves now and see if some other guys can perform.

Sea Dog 23 · May 05, 2021, 08:09:07 AM

Ted, as far as pitching help on the farm, it would have to be IMO Houck and Thad Ward. I saw that Seabold has elbow inflamation and Mata is already lost to TJS this year.

I looked at the pitching on the Worchester roster, and it includes many of the retreads we suffered through in 2020.

MongoLikeSox · May 05, 2021, 08:37:03 AM

I agree about the bottom end of the order. Any and every team is better when it clicks. I've always thought the #6 spot to be vital in keeping the pressure on. When Vasquez is playing the part of a professional hitter, this is where I like him the best. A couple of strike out kings at the bottom doesn't keep the train moving, though. If one of them is at least hitting the ball somewhere - anywhere.... maybe then we can absorb one.

longgame · May 06, 2021, 09:22:39 AM

Quote from: MongoLikeSox on May 05, 2021, 08:37:03 AM
I agree about the bottom end of the order. Any and every team is better when it clicks. I've always thought the #6 spot to be vital in keeping the pressure on. When Vasquez is playing the part of a professional hitter, this is where I like him the best. A couple of strike out kings at the bottom doesn't keep the train moving, though. If one of them is at least hitting the ball somewhere - anywhere.... maybe then we can absorb one.

Like we used to absorb JBJ but at least he was a plus defender. I see Hernandez as JBJ without the glove or the hot streaks. I'm really not impressed with this guy at all. Then of course with Renfroe and Cordero in the lineup along with him it's lineup death.

MongoLikeSox · May 06, 2021, 10:31:54 AM

Quote from: longgame on May 06, 2021, 09:22:39 AM
Quote from: MongoLikeSox on May 05, 2021, 08:37:03 AM
I agree about the bottom end of the order. Any and every team is better when it clicks. I've always thought the #6 spot to be vital in keeping the pressure on. When Vasquez is playing the part of a professional hitter, this is where I like him the best. A couple of strike out kings at the bottom doesn't keep the train moving, though. If one of them is at least hitting the ball somewhere - anywhere.... maybe then we can absorb one.

Like we used to absorb JBJ but at least he was a plus defender. I see Hernandez as JBJ without the glove or the hot streaks. I'm really not impressed with this guy at all. Then of course with Renfroe and Cordero in the lineup along with him it's lineup death.

Calling him an MLB Outfielder is like a review I saw online years ago on a Grilled Pork BBQ dish that got one-star. Upon further reading, the reviewer modified the dish, omitting both the pork and the grill. In our case, we're omitting the bat and the glove. Then again, had he not been wearing that glove, he may have had a better chance of fielding it. Just saying.