GAME #128 - WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2021 - MINNESOTA TWINS @ BOSTON RED SOX

[markj]

7:10PM Eastern

Red Sox

Nick Pivetta (R)

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

Twins

Bailey Ober (R)

1. Max Kepler (L) RF
2. Jorge Polanco (S) 2B
3. Josh Donaldson (R) DH
4. Luis Arraez (L) 3B
5. Miguel Sano (R) 1B
6. Nick Gordon (L) CF
7. Ryan Jeffers (R) C
8. Jake Cave (L) LF
9. Andrelton Simmons (R) SS

Gametime Temp: 80°F
Chance of Precip: 0%

[SeaBeachFred]

7:10PM Eastern

Red Sox

Nick Pivetta (R)

Twins

Bailey Ober (R)

Gametime Temp: 80°F
Chance of Precip: 0%

Hey Pivetta, pound the strike zone and get ahead of the batters---and no meltdown as you did in the second inning of your last appearance against the Yankees.  We need to get our starting pitching in order since our bullpen is suddenly in disarray.  Good defense has been hard to come by and running the bases looks like a foreign aspect to them.  If we don toughen up in all areas Bloom has a lot ofwork to do this winter.

[Sea Dog 23]

The booth guys last night were suggesting that Schwarber COULD be playing 1B in today’s game.  Cora said as much, but said - in this series.  With a righty throwing for Twinks,  a good opportunity.

[longgame]

I thought I had heard Thursday for Schwarber but could be wrong. 


On Pivetta, the other thing he has to do, unlike Houck last night, is not throw so many pitches in 4 innings, which of course throwing strikes will address.  He also has to go deep because who the heck are you going to run out in relief?  The press seems to be "excited" about Brasier sometime soon and I think the guy is a bum so go figure.  Robles looked good once, but I'll hold my breath until a pattern develops.  Ottavino and Sawamura are interesting because they are good but terribly inconsistent.  Ottavino simply loses the strike zone.  Sawamura all season has games where he looks like a 50-something year old guy in the hot sun doing yard work.  When he gets that way he falls off to 3B before he releases.  Whitlock, that one game notwithstanding has been the star of that group.

Barnes needs to go on the IL.  Permanently.  Too bad they signed him to a new deal - and he hasn't pitched well at all since - since the day he signed his deal he has 10ER in 10 1/3 for a 8.71 ERA but the real story is since that doubleheader against Toronto he has pitched 4 1/3 given up 11 hits, all 10 of those runs, 3 HRs and even 5 walks and an ERA of 20.79!

[longgame]

Schwarber at DH, JDM in the field, which I always hate.  Shaw at 1B. 

[Sea Dog 23]

Schwarber at DH, JDM in the field, which I always hate.  Shaw at 1B.

OK, now I’m convinced Cora is not playing with a full deck (not a baseball parlance).  I think Ron frikkin Roenicke could put up a better lineup card.
JD needs to DH, not playing the Monster, looking at film between bats. Verdugo struggles in CF, Kike’ is a natural CF. Renfroe is not the best RF in the ALE, but he’s a stud and has to play, period. I'll shut my mouth about who should have played LF all this year.

Ive read some things recently from other player interviews.  The Sox were considering Marcus Semian  as a free agent to play 2B/SS/3B.  Good average, has hit 30+ homers two of last three years.  Evidently he was not a good fit.  But Semian said they valued Kike' more because of his versatility, and signed him to a 2-year deal.

[markj]

Pivetta looks like crap tonight. He managed to get out of the 1st inning jam he created. Now he's in another one.

[Sea Dog 23]

Nick gives a walk and a HBP.  I think I heard Pivetta is #3 in the AL in yielding walks.  Just awful, but he has been resilient in most of his starts.  But once again, he's got runners on with just one out to show and 40 pitches in 1.1 IP.  A hit and it's 1-0.  A deep one with the bases juiced, but Verdugo hauls it in.  Escaped again, but 1-0 down.

[longgame]

Down early and a weak ground ball loads the bases.  I’m surprised they didn’t toss the throw in the stands.

[markj]

Wow, he lucked out and got out of it with just the one run. Still, 50+ pitches in 2 innings. Turn this over to the BP after the 3rd or 4th and it'll be a loss for sure.

[markj]

Shaw used up his allotment of home runs in his first two at bats with the Sox. Since then just K's.

[elktonnick]

Vazquez did not realize there were two outs so it wasn't running when the ball was hit so he did not score.  More stupid brain dead baseball, these guys heads are not in the game.

[elktonnick]

Verdugo gets thrown out at first after hitting a wall ball base hit.  (You can not make this stuff up)

[elktonnick]

OMG a Red Sox pitcher gets a 123 inning.  See what happens when you do not nibble and challenge guys.

[markj]

At least they won't get shut out by one of the worst teams in baseball.