7:10PM Eastern
Red Sox
Brian Johnson (L)
1. Mookie Betts (R) RF
2. Andrew Benintendi (L) LF
3. Mitch Moreland (L) 1B
4. J.D. Martinez (R) DH
5. Xander Bogaerts (R) SS
6. Eduardo Nunez (R) 3B
7. Ian Kinsler (R) 2B
8. Blake Swihart (S) C
9. Jackie Bradley Jr. (L) CF
Marlins
Jose Urena (R)
1. Rafael Ortega (L) RF
2. Brian Anderson (R) 3B
3. J.T. Realmuto (R) 1B
4. Starlin Castro (R) 2B
5. Derek Dietrich (L) DH
6. Austin Dean (R) LF
7. Miguel Rojas (R) SS
8. Isaac Galloway (R) CF
9. Bryan Holaday (R) C
Gametime Forecast: 90°F • Clear • 1% PoP
CHANGES are good ….. HOPE that we all show up to PLAY !!! iono iono iono
With Johnson on the mound any opponent has a shot. We need to put up 6 runs.
Moreland has become useless with a bat in his hands. Where's Pearce?
Need runs here, Xander. Don't GIDP!!!!
Ok, there's one. Sox up 3-1.
Thought we'd get more but ahead 3-1 for the moment.
E-Rod pitching Saturday when rosters expand.
Johnson and Workman do not make a confidence inspiring pair. So far, so good, but...
Yanks/CWS game into the 5th with no score. I really thought the Pale Hose would collapse against the Yanks.
Perfect throw by Swihart to gun down a base stealer. Nice.
Workman gets out of the jam. Sweet.
Nunez with a solo dinger to make it 4-1.
A Nunez sighting. Need more from him overall.
White Sox up 4-0 over the Yanks in the 6th.
Benin-DP-tendi does it again. So much for two on and no outs.
And Moreland ensures there will be no runs this inning.
Way to go, Meatball Matt. Make it a close game. We don't mind.
W.T.F????
Get this idiot off the mound!!
The BP is trying their best to blow this game.
Well, they've done it. 5 runs and counting this inning.
Argh! And the Yanks have tied it up in the bottom of the 8th. Things are suddenly looking very bad.
Bases loaded, one out. Here comes a GIDP.
Well, a K is better than a GIDP.
Up to JBJ to do something with base loaded.
And to make my evening completely miserable, MLB.TV keeps locking up at critical times.
But JBJ does it! Game tied. Hallelujah.
OMG, wild pitch and the Sox lead 7-6. Almost took Mookie's head off.
Benintendi has been a minus tonight. Yanks win in a walkoff. And MLB.TV sucks!!
Now even Kimbrel is risking the win.
Dammit!!!!
Kimbrel stinks. Has no feel on his curveball.
Kimbrel isn't doing his future salary any favors here. He looks pathetic.
Throw strikes you moron!!!
Lucky the batter swung on ball four.
Quote from: markj on August 28, 2018, 09:31:41 PM
Kimbrel isn't doing his future salary any favors here. He looks pathetic.
I'd have a hard time signing him unless he improved a lot over rest of season!
Pure luck win. What should have been an inning ending DP is blown by the Marlins to give the win to the Sox. Lucky, lucky, lucky.
Sox need to play .500 ball from here on out to force NYY to play .700 to catch up. Right now the Sox are playing .400 ball, so that's not going to cut it. If the Sox can win 14 more, the Yanks have to win 21 of their last 30 to catch up.
Quote from: markj on August 28, 2018, 09:44:09 PM
Pure luck win. What should have been an inning ending DP is blown by the Marlins to give the win to the Sox. Lucky, lucky, lucky.
Win anyway you can. This was big because the Yanks came back to win their game. Another day got wiped off the schedule without losing ground. I'm very concerned with Kimbrel. He has no command. I couldn't even consider giving him a big contract after the season as it stands right now.
A couple of takes here. One is that Kimbrel cannot be effective when he goes a week without pitching. He needs to get an inning in here and there to stay sharp and Cora for some reason doesn't understand that. When your closer misses a week on the mound. certainly his pitches may be a bit off. On Sunday he could have thrown an inning to stay sharp for two days later (today. Cora says he is learning things every game, but his use of his bullpen and especially his closer needs some real improvement. Dollars to donuts, it Kimbrel pitches in a closer situation tomorrow he will be much more effective. Get that Cora?
Now you all know why markj and I call Barnes a meatball. Very hard to have confidence in that guy because he seems to fade badly as the season wears on and maybe Cora should use some of the younger relievers more and bring up Poyner. I'd like to see Joe Kelly strap it up and become a credible middle reliever. He has too much good stuff to keep flailing away.
Quote from: markj on August 28, 2018, 09:44:09 PM
Pure luck win. What should have been an inning ending DP is blown by the Marlins to give the win to the Sox. Lucky, lucky, lucky.
Well a little luck markj can't hurt the way we've played the last week or so, but if the meatball did his job we would have had a cleaner win. I hope David Price pitches tomorrow as he has the past couple of months----and, yes the team supports him with solid hitting and run producing.
The "other" headline reads: "Wild Pitch And Error Doom Marlins' Comeback" I'll take the luck if it wakes up these guys but that was another ugly game. At least we got the W....
Concern, DEEP CONCERN ……. Workman, Kelley, Barnes, & Hembree …… Changes coming for the PLAYOFF B P ……… That's if we make it ?? iono iono
Cora's mismanagement of this ballclub over the past two weeks has resulted in the current state of affairs. He rests position players too much so for my tastes but burns out bullpen pitchers. The current state of affairs in the pen is because Cora has over worked Hembree and Barnes. Fred is right he has not kept Kimbrel fresh. They may have the best record in baseball but the seeds of Cora's inexperience are beginning to show. They will obviously make the playoffs but I am increasingly doubtful they will make it to the world series. The fear of a 1978 collapse is also in the back of my mind.
Getting very concerned about this bullpen and it's not going to be stronger with Eovaldi in it either, never mind Pomeranz. The regulars in the pen have been getting hammered consistently lately and you have to wonder if they're burnt out. A couple of bad starts and the pen crumbled under the workload and are now toast.
By the way, I wonder who Kimbrel will play for next year?
Quote from: elktonnick on August 29, 2018, 08:09:33 AM
Cora's mismanagement of this ballclub over the past two weeks has resulted in the current state of affairs. He rests position players too much so for my tastes but burns out bullpen pitchers. The current state of affairs in the pen is because Cora has over worked Hembree and Barnes. Fred is right he has not kept Kimbrel fresh. They may have the best record in baseball but the seeds of Cora's inexperience are beginning to show. They will obviously make the playoffs but I am increasingly doubtful they will make it to the world series. The fear of a 1978 collapse is also in the back of my mind.
You know Elk, we seem to be able to get a good look at what is hurting our club right now, but why can't Cora see that? It seems so simple to keep your closer sharp for when he is needed but Alex seems totally oblivious to that idea and his constant resting of players has hurt as much as helped. I have noticed every time he gives Betts a breather he comes back cold. Hell even Dave Roberts, who is being second guessed out of his shoes by the press and critics out here in Los Angeles, has insisted that his closer Kenley Jansen must be kept sharp by pitching an inning in games that are off the charts. Yet Cora is out to lunch on this. My question is are managers so inferior today compared to the past because they are being hindered by new era metrics or simply aren't astute enough to see the forest from the trees. Hell sometimes I wonder if Cora can even see the forest and the trees. He is costing us games of late.
A lot of validity to the comments about Cora messing things up. Our bullpen isn't fantastic by any means but even Barnes and Hembree aren't as bad as they were last night. Kimbrel can't find the K zone any more. It's worrisome. Yes, Kimbrel needs to play more appearances and we'll need to rest Barnes and Hembree from the load.
But, as someone said, who do you got to take up some of the load: Pomeranz, Workman, Thornburg and Eovaldi? Scary propositions. Brasier looks good so far,
At the trade deadline: a good record, a monster offense, and darn good starting pitching clouded the need for picking up a real good 7th or 8th inning reliever.
Quote from: SeaBeachFred on August 29, 2018, 10:13:47 AM
Quote from: elktonnick on August 29, 2018, 08:09:33 AM
Cora's mismanagement of this ballclub over the past two weeks has resulted in the current state of affairs. He rests position players too much so for my tastes but burns out bullpen pitchers. The current state of affairs in the pen is because Cora has over worked Hembree and Barnes. Fred is right he has not kept Kimbrel fresh. They may have the best record in baseball but the seeds of Cora's inexperience are beginning to show. They will obviously make the playoffs but I am increasingly doubtful they will make it to the world series. The fear of a 1978 collapse is also in the back of my mind.
You know Elk, we seem to be able to get a good look at what is hurting our club right now, but why can't Cora see that? It seems so simple to keep your closer sharp for when he is needed but Alex seems totally oblivious to that idea and his constant resting of players has hurt as much as helped. I have noticed every time he gives Betts a breather he comes back cold. Hell even Dave Roberts, who is being second guessed out of his shoes by the press and critics out here in Los Angeles, has insisted that his closer Kenley Jansen must be kept sharp by pitching an inning in games that are off the charts. Yet Cora is out to lunch on this. My question is are managers so inferior today compared to the past because they are being hindered by new era metrics or simply aren't astute enough to see the forest from the trees. Hell sometimes I wonder if Cora can even see the forest and the trees. He is costing us games of late.
Excellent article in today's Wall St Journal (of all places) about the Braves and Cardinals managers who both came up through the ranks and earned their managerial strips the old fashioned way.