GAME #51 - FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2021 - MIAMI MARLINS @ BOSTON RED SOX

[markj]

7:10PM Eastern

Red Sox

Martin Perez (L)

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

Marlins

Cody Poteet (R)

1. Jon Berti (R) 3B
2. Starling Marte (R) CF
3. Jesus Aguilar (R) 1B
4. Garrett Cooper (R) RF
5. Corey Dickerson (L) LF
6. Jorge Alfaro (R) C
7. Isan Diaz (L) 2B
8. Sandy Leon (S) DH
9. Jose Devers (L) SS

Gametime Temp: 52°F
Chance of Precip: 12%

[longgame]

The Marlins are hovering around .500 sort of like the whole NL East.  This kid Poteet seems to have a live arm - 2-0 in 3 starts with a 1.06 ERA and 13Ks in 17IP.  WHIP is 0.71! 

[SeaBeachFred]

The Marlins are hovering around .500 sort of like the whole NL East.  This kid Poteet seems to have a live arm - 2-0 in 3 starts with a 1.06 ERA and 13Ks in 17IP.  WHIP is 0.71!

And I see that bumbling Ale Cora can't rid himself of the urge to keep his pet Marwin Gonzales in the lineup despite his miserable season so far with a bat in his hand.  Perhaps he will shut me up tonight with a couple of bangers but knowing how he's done so far this season I should have plenty of amMo to fire at him and his master tomorrow after what could be another lackluster home performance by our energy challenged team.  Point of fact----IT IS HIGH TIME THIS TEAM STARTS WINNING MORE THAN A COUPLE OR THREE GAMES IN A ROW AND GO ON A STREAK AS THE YANKEES AND RAYS HAVE DONE.  WE NOW SEEM TO BE RUNNING PLACE AND BEING  UNABLE TO WIN CONSISTENTLY AT HOME IS A DISGRACE.  As my friends here cal tell I'm still plenty pissed off by many members of our team.

[Sea Dog 23]

Could be a rough weather night.  WEEI guys at 6 said they would try to get the game underway and play at least several innings.  It’s been brewing from out of the Gulf to the northeast all day.   As usual that info won’t buy you a cup of coffee.

[elktonnick]

Our Devers cousin Jose is playing for the Marlins  And wouldn't you know it he makes a throwing error.  I guess the problem is genetic 😁

[markj]

Verdugo with a 3-run dinger. But there's no way they should be playing in that rain. Ridiculous. Game delay now. Maybe the umps just wanted to get in enough innings to call it later.

[markj]

Game called. Sox win 5-2. Yanks lose and are 2-1/2 games back. Sox are 1/2 game back of TB, but tied in the loss column.

[Sea Dog 23]

Sox got 5 runs on only 5 hits, one the big finger.  As Mongo alluded to earlier this week and WEEI guys with Buster Olney last night, the hitting is suffering around the league. A league wide .237 BA and 9.1 K per game.  Almost Obvious that pitchers using substance with the crazy spin rates. MLB looking to propose lowering the mound in CBA talks.  One of the umps is going after suspicious pitchers.

[SeaBeachFred]

Could be a rough weather night.  WEEI guys at 6 said they would try to get the game underway and play at least several innings.  It’s been brewing from out of the Gulf to the northeast all day.   As usual that info won’t buy you a cup of coffee.

Rough weather all right Sea Dog.  Just glad these last two downpours worked in our favor which tells me we can use all the good fortune we can get.  All wins are good and last night's shortened game was a good way to start a series.  Just hope we can make something of it this  time around.  I don't know if we are going to go on a positive run but it sure seems we should be ready for one.  It's been awhile.

[SeaBeachFred]

Game called. Sox win 5-2. Yanks lose and are 2-1/2 games back. Sox are 1/2 game back of TB, but tied in the loss column.

I'll take all the good news I can get markj and I believe I'm in good company there.  I'm three thousand miles away but that is real crappy weather for a city in late May.  Should be warming up there by now.  Maybe when the weather warms up finally we can get that hot run that has eluded us for so long.  Sure would be nice.

[SeaBeachFred]

Sox got 5 runs on only 5 hits, one the big finger.  As Mongo alluded to earlier this week and WEEI guys with Buster Olney last night, the hitting is suffering around the league. A league wide .237 BA and 9.1 K per game.  Almost Obvious that pitchers using substance with the crazy spin rates. MLB looking to propose lowering the mound in CBA talks.  One of the umps is going after suspicious pitchers.

That's the one encouraging sign Sea Dog---that we are in good company in this hitting drought that is plaguing many teams this season.  That is why we need good starting pitching that is consistently throwing decent games.  Perhaps this is the way it will go for the duration of the season but I still think one team might just got real hot and stay hot in the league and hitting is supposed to be a strength of ours.  Wish we could have a half-dozen of our guys go on a month long tear but perhaps that is too much to hope for right now.

[longgame]

There's a lot of talk about pitchers but I just see one poor at bat after another by guys.  Hitting has become all or nothing, best exemplified in last night's game by Hernandez coming out and popping up the first pitch to him and then Verdugo taking the next pitch deep.  The problem is the latter, too many guys trying to end the game on one pitch - in the early innings with 2 strikes and a chance to move a run over with a ball in play.  This whole idea of launch angle and exit velocity is interesting but has nothing to do with getting hits.  I can hit it hard but if it's right at someone it's still an out.

I'd think the stat geeks would have figured this out by now, along with hitting against the shift.  I just think that a team like the '04 Sox would eat up teams in this era by waiting for a pitch they can hit and making guys pitch to them.

Interesting idea - what would be better, making the strike zone bigger or smaller?  Make it smaller seems obvious, harder to throw a strike, etc.  But maybe making it bigger forces guys to make better decisions and not chase pitches that aren't even close?