GAME #47 - SATURDAY, MAY 22, 2021 - BOSTON RED SOX @ PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

[markj]

7:15PM Eastern

Red Sox

Nathan Eovaldi (R)

1. Enrique Hernandez (R) 2B
2. Rafael Devers (L) 3B
3. J.D. Martinez (R) RF
4. Xander Bogaerts (R) SS
5. Danny Santana (S) CF
6. Bobby Dalbec (R) 1B
7. Franchy Cordero (L) LF
8. Kevin Plawecki (R) C
9. Nathan Eovaldi (R) P

Phillies

Spencer Howard (R)

1. Andrew McCutchen (R) LF
2. Jean Segura (R) 2B
3. Bryce Harper (L) RF
4. Rhys Hoskins (R) 1B
5. Brad Miller (L) 3B
6. Odubel Herrera (L) CF
7. Nick Maton (L) SS
8. Rafael Marchan (S) C
9. Spencer Howard (R) P

Gametime Temp: 82°F
Chance of Precip: 1%

[SeaBeachFred]

Where the hell is Verdugo and Renfroe?  Is Cora going batty?  You have French Fry in there instead when he should have been DFA's or sent down to the minors.  What the heck is the thinking going on in the Red Sox front office?  This doesn't make sense and I hope that w e don't pay for it tonight.

[elktonnick]

Verdugo is out due to left hamstring tightness.  He came out of last night's game after scoring.  It looked like he aggravated his hamstring rounding third.

[markj]

Valdez with a crappy outing. Darwinzon is in to try to clean up the mess. I guess it's fair play as Valdez had to clean up Darwinzon's mess from last night, didn't he? Or was that the game before?

[markj]

Wow, he did it. Favor returned. Still a tight game.

[markj]

Barnes is digging himself into a hole. Single and a walk.

[markj]

Barnes with the save. Sox win again.

[markj]

Jays were nipping at our heels during the last series and now they're 4.5 games behind. Sox with the best record in the AL and second best overall.

[SeaBeachFred]

Verdugo is out due to left hamstring tightness.  He came out of last night's game after scoring.  It looked like he aggravated his hamstring rounding third.

He seems to get more than his share of muscle cramps and pulls.  Perhaps he is too muscled for his own good.  We don't need him on the shelf every other week.

[SeaBeachFred]

Jays were nipping at our heels during the last series and now they're 4.5 games behind. Sox with the best record in the AL and second best overall.

The Orioles weren't too far behind either about two weeks ago and then just cratered completely.  Now it is the turn of the Blue Jays unless they can waylay the Yankees in the upcoming series early next week.  As for us, glad we held on to win tonight.  It got shaky and too close for comfort and though I hate to say it it looked like another one of those low energy games we have become so adept at after winning three or four games in a row.  Tomorrow we have a real challenge and we cannot afford to have anything but a very high energy one since we are facing Zack Wheeler, their hard throwing ace while we counter with the suddenly shaky Eduardo Rodriguez.  We can finally get a five game winning streak if we play like a ball club instead of a pack of lazy stiffs.  They should want a sweep this time around since we blew a chance for one last Sunday.

[Sea Dog 23]

As far as Verdugo, the Franchy fiasco, and the OF‘ers getting dinged up, there is some comforting news in AAA.  Duran is getting closer to being ready. 5 for 5 yesterday, incl two homers, one went 475 ft.  This season his line is .299 / .390 / .672.  As I understand it from some gurus, Duran has already served enough time in AAA this year to gain an added year on his Sox time clock.  The question of course is when will he be an acceptable OF at the MLB level to balance his power numbers at the plate.

Also Downs has had a good start this month.

[SeaBeachFred]

As far as Verdugo, the Franchy fiasco, and the OF‘ers getting dinged up, there is some comforting news in AAA.  Duran is getting closer to being ready. 5 for 5 yesterday, incl two homers, one went 475 ft.  This season his line is .299 / .390 / .672.  As I understand it from some gurus, Duran has already served enough time in AAA this year to gain an added year on his Sox time clock.  The question of course is when will he be an acceptable OF at the MLB level to balance his power numbers at the plate.

Also Downs has had a good start this month.

That's good news to hear Sea Dog.  I read about that myself earlier this morning.  It would be nice to see those two up playing for us since they could replace some players who have no future with us and aren't doing much anyway like Cordero and Gonzales.  It would be even nicer if we could sweep a series for a change after blowing a chance last Sunday.  The Yankes and Rays are not going away and to keep pace we have to find a way to keep winning and that means playing our best players and keeping them healthy.