7:05PM Eastern
Red Sox
Nick Pivetta (R)
1. Tommy Pham (R) LF
2. Rafael Devers (L) 3B
3. J.D. Martinez (R) DH
4. Alex Verdugo (L) RF
5. Christian Arroyo (R) 2B
6. Eric Hosmer (L) 1B
7. Enrique Hernandez (R) SS
8. Reese McGuire (L) C
9. Jarren Duran (L) CF
Pirates
Mitch Keller (R)
1. Tucupita Marcano (L) LF
2. Kevin Newman (R) 2B
3. Bryan Reynolds (S) CF
4. Ben Gamel (L) DH
5. Kevin Padlo (R) 1B
6. Oneil Cruz (L) SS
7. Rodolfo Castro (S) 3B
8. Bligh Madris (L) RF
9. Jason Delay (R) C
Gametime Temp: 74°F
Chance of Precip: 8%
Looking at the Pirates last couple weeks, they went out to LA and swept the Dodgers iirc. I believe that was before they traded slugger Vogelbach to the Mets and a couple of pitchers to the Cards.
Quote from: Sea Dog 23 on August 16, 2022, 08:49:30 AM
Looking at the Pirates last couple weeks, they went out to LA and swept the Dodgers iirc. I believe that was before they traded slugger Vogelbach to the Mets and a couple of pitchers to the Cards.
I think the bigger variable here is which Pivetta shows up.
Looks like Kike and Refsnyder up, Duran stays on, Davis and Sanchez to Worcester.
The long arm of the law. The League suspended Pirates Rudolpho Castro one game. Bad optics - his cell phone fell out sliding into 3rd base last week. rofl
Quote from: longgame on August 16, 2022, 09:44:56 AM
Quote from: Sea Dog 23 on August 16, 2022, 08:49:30 AM
Looking at the Pirates last couple weeks, they went out to LA and swept the Dodgers iirc. I believe that was before they traded slugger Vogelbach to the Mets and a couple of pitchers to the Cards.
I think the bigger variable here is which Pivetta shows up.
Right on with that Ted, but Bogie and JD have to show up too, and we cannot take the Pirates for granted because we're not sending our 2018 out there and no team has been an easy mark for us. We had best remember that and start at long last go on a protracted win streak. It is getting late in the game.
Quote from: SeaBeachFred on August 16, 2022, 03:29:48 PM
Quote from: longgame on August 16, 2022, 09:44:56 AM
Quote from: Sea Dog 23 on August 16, 2022, 08:49:30 AM
Looking at the Pirates last couple weeks, they went out to LA and swept the Dodgers iirc. I believe that was before they traded slugger Vogelbach to the Mets and a couple of pitchers to the Cards.
I think the bigger variable here is which Pivetta shows up.
Right on with that Ted, but Bogie and JD have to show up too, and we cannot take the Pirates for granted because we're sending our 2018 out there and no team has been an easy mark for us. We had best remember that and start at long last go on a protracted win streak. It is getting late in the game.
Bogey just kills me some times like when we have two men on and one out and he can't even get a ball in the air. Seems like he always has his more than his share of missed opportunities. His numbers are always great and he does have some big hits, but he's not the guy you want to see up in a big spot. JD used to be, I just don't get how he falls in these streaks. He seems to be hitting better (he had to, he wasn't hitting at all for a couple of weeks), but the weak swings and no pop are hard to watch. He just doesn't drive the ball like he used to.
Strange that both teams are very late in posting lineups.
The game is in about 30 minutes and we still don't have a Sox lineup. Isn't there some rule about posting it?
Finally up.
I’m sure they were making sure everyone Kike was feeling fine before releasing the lineup, but strange that he’s starting at SS.
Good start. Sox up 4-0 after 1.
Even Enrique got himself an rbi. He made contact.
The good Pivetta is pitching. 75 pitches, no runs, one hit, 5 K’s, 3 bb’s in 5 innings. What we needed.
Pivetta through 7.
Gem from Pivetta. Need the BP to step up and close this out.
C'mon, Davis. Don't screw this up.
Dammit. I thought maybe Schreiber would get them out of that mess Davis created.
Anyone else nervous now? I understand the attempt.... 2 outs
Barnes (!) with a clean 9th to close it out. Somewhat worrisome that the Sox couldn't buy a run after the 2nd inning. Good thing Pivetta was sharp tonight.
Quote from: longgame on August 16, 2022, 09:44:56 AM
Quote from: Sea Dog 23 on August 16, 2022, 08:49:30 AM
Looking at the Pirates last couple weeks, they went out to LA and swept the Dodgers iirc. I believe that was before they traded slugger Vogelbach to the Mets and a couple of pitchers to the Cards.
I think the bigger variable here is which Pivetta shows up.
Pivetta showed up tonight to give us our second outstanding start in a row. Of course we had to have one bullpener try to screw things up for us in the eighth inning giving up three runs, but Barnes of all people pitched a great ninth to secure the win. These are the games we have to win and we have to keep it up. When we play our division rivals later in the week and early next week, this time we have to prevail, no excuses allowed. A very good start tonight to grab a 5-0 lead. We need to do more of that.
We'll take the win with the O's seeming to be on fire. A small ball game with I think all singles, coupled with walks and errors. If we can get Strohm and Houck healthy, we can have a steady September for a final run for the roses.
Sox continue their mastery over weak teams. Can it be that simple that they are "the best of the rest"? Struggle to beat the better teams, beat the crap out of the lesser teams.
Ok the Red Sox beat a Pirates team that would have trouble competing in the International League. In beating the Pirates Sox batters still struggled at the plate. JDM looks like he is auditioning to play the robot in Lost in Space. Devers is trying hit the ball to the moon on every swing. So long as the continue to play TripleA quality teams they should do well. If however they want to beat contenders their bats need to wake up.
Quote from: elktonnick on August 17, 2022, 08:30:42 AM
Ok the Red Sox beat a Pirates team that would have trouble competing in the International League. In beating the Pirates Sox batters still struggled at the plate. JDM looks like he is auditioning to play the robot in Lost in Space. Devers is trying hit the ball to the moon on every swing. So long as the continue to play TripleA quality teams they should do well. If however they want to beat contenders their bats need to wake up.
Need to work on averaging out JDs and Raffy's swings. At least when Raffy makes contact the ball is going somewhere.
I think it was amazing that they scored early, a lot based on bad fielding, and then couldn't manage a hit the rest of the way.
That was my take on the offense last night. Big gifts, 5 runs and another quick game with no hitting the rest of the way out.
I still can't decide if the base clearing double was more of a location miss or a bad pitch call. Had Schreiber made his pitch, would the batter have missed? The batter was waiting for it. Everyone knew it was coming. Still, miss your spot by 8 inches and you pay the price.
Quote from: elktonnick on August 17, 2022, 08:30:42 AM
Ok the Red Sox beat a Pirates team that would have trouble competing in the International League. In beating the Pirates Sox batters still struggled at the plate. JDM looks like he is auditioning to play the robot in Lost in Space. Devers is trying hit the ball to the moon on every swing. So long as the continue to play TripleA quality teams they should do well. If however they want to beat contenders their bats need to wake up.
Ouch. You’re talking about a Pirates’ team constructed by our own Ben Cherington! Ole Ben did bring us a 2013 title, but owes some of that to Theo, right? Congrats to Chavis, he is having a good year, by his standard, hitting.245, .695 ops. The return of Robles and Davis wasn’t a good one.
Quote from: Sea Dog 23 on August 17, 2022, 11:29:49 AM
Quote from: elktonnick on August 17, 2022, 08:30:42 AM
Ok the Red Sox beat a Pirates team that would have trouble competing in the International League. In beating the Pirates Sox batters still struggled at the plate. JDM looks like he is auditioning to play the robot in Lost in Space. Devers is trying hit the ball to the moon on every swing. So long as the continue to play TripleA quality teams they should do well. If however they want to beat contenders their bats need to wake up.
Ouch. You’re talking about a Pirates’ team constructed by our own Ben Cherington! Ole Ben did bring us a 2013 title, but owes some of that to Theo, right? Congrats to Chavis, he is having a good year, by his standard, hitting.245, .695 ops. The return of Robles and Davis wasn’t a good one.
Alex Speier of the Globe was hoping Chavis would pinch hit so they could get a matchup of him vs Davis.
As pointed out above, the key Sox are slumping. Some results from the start of August through the Yankee series last weekend,
Xander - .208-1 homer, 4 hits
JD - .205-0-6 - not including 0-2 Tues
Raffi - .167-3-7 - not including 0-3 Tues
Duran - .179-2-8 - not including 0-3 Tues
Hosmer - .192-0-2 - not including 1-3 Tues
Plawecki - .103-0-1