GAME #4 - MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2023 - PITTSBURGH PIRATES @ BOSTON RED SOX

[markj]

7:10PM Eastern

Red Sox

Kutter Crawford (R)

1. Alex Verdugo (L) RF
2. Rafael Devers (L) 3B
3. Justin Turner (R) DH
4. Masataka Yoshida (L) LF
5. Adam Duvall (R) CF
6. Triston Casas (L) 1B
7. Christian Arroyo (R) 2B
8. Enrique Hernandez (R) SS
9. Connor Wong (R) C

Pirates

Johan Oviedo (R)

1. Oneil Cruz (L) SS
2. Bryan Reynolds (S) CF
3. Ji-Man Choi (L) DH
4. Carlos Santana (S) 1B
5. Ke'Bryan Hayes (R) 3B
6. Canaan Smith-Njigba (L) LF
7. Jack Suwinski (L) RF
8. Rodolfo Castro (S) 2B
9. Jason Delay (R) C


Gametime Temp: 50°F
Chance of Precip: 0%

[elktonnick]

The ball is juiced.

[Sea Dog 23]

Thankfully Sox have played long ball to overcome the Pirat es lead.  5-4 in the 3rd.

[markj]

2-9 with RISP and 11 LOBsters. Same old, same old.

[markj]

Make that an even dozen LOBsters. Geez.

[BoSoxFanNY]

Good news and bad news.
The bad news is the Sox lost 7-6.

The "good" news - the bullpen let up NO runs.

[Sea Dog 23]

Good news and bad news.
The bad news is the Sox lost 7-6.

The "good" news - the bullpen let up NO runs.

Mark,  the other side of that equation, so far the Sox have zero starting pitchers of consequence.  Is Pivetta a lost cause as well?

[MongoLikeSox]

So, is it just me or does the ball look like it's jumping more this year? This is early April.

Verdugo missing a cutoff man, Kike throwing error on a failed easy as it gets pick, Devers new-found pop-up troubles and Yoshida's weird angle on the double by Cruz. I don't know how many runs, if any, this turned into, but these are the little difference makers we can't afford. Hopefully just some early season mishaps is all.

Can't blame Cora for sticking with Crawford for 4 innings. 93 pitches or he would have gone back out for a 5th. We needed innings and the BP is already being used too much.

Cora's got two favorite potential over-managing spots going already. Late game PH for Arroyo and Catcher. Not sure Refsnyder has done a damn thing to warrant a late game PH AB yet. Not this year, what with the bad ST and all. Would have preferred McGuire, the lefty, if he was available.

[longgame]

So, is it just me or does the ball look like it's jumping more this year? This is early April.

Verdugo missing a cutoff man, Kike throwing error on a failed easy as it gets pick, Devers new-found pop-up troubles and Yoshida's weird angle on the double by Cruz. I don't know how many runs, if any, this turned into, but these are the little difference makers we can't afford. Hopefully just some early season mishaps is all.

Can't blame Cora for sticking with Crawford for 4 innings. 93 pitches or he would have gone back out for a 5th. We needed innings and the BP is already being used too much.

Cora's got two favorite potential over-managing spots going already. Late game PH for Arroyo and Catcher. Not sure Refsnyder has done a damn thing to warrant a late game PH AB yet. Not this year, what with the bad ST and all. Would have preferred McGuire, the lefty, if he was available.

Sure seems like it Mongo.  I have to wonder if hitters are just ahead of pitchers at this point too.  The Devers pop up was a wind issue.  It was howling out there.  Yoshida will hopefully get the hang of LF. He doesn't seem to find good routes to the ball, which must be somewhat trickier in that left field. 

Duvall has been a real bright spot, let's hope he keeps it up. 

Watching the game yesterday I realized how weak the bench is.  There are no pinch hitting threats.  Not sure what the plan is there.  They have to decide of Arroyo is a real starter or just a utility guy filling a hole that Bloom didn't fill (and what happens to him when Story comes back and does Kike move to 2B since Story is a far better SS?)  Speaking of which, the throw from SS seems to be about Kike's range.  Not sure he gets anyone out from a deeper infield grounder.

But without starting pitching we're going to have an interesting season.  What a shame because these guys can hit, but can Raffy not overswing on the first pitch and pop out when there are men on base?  Hits it hard when nobody own and definitely pressing with men on.  Speaking of pressing, a lot of first pitch going for the fences swings late in the game. 

Hold on to your hats - either the pitching squares itself away or it doesn't. 

[MongoLikeSox]

Devers has never been bad with popups before. Glad to hear there was some wind howling.

This might be the most shallow LF Yoshida has had to play since Little League, and Cruz can hit lasers.

I've never, ever liked MLB Managers' over-managing the 1-2 guys they can push around act. Late inning Pinch runners, late inning defense and some obvious match-up advantages.

I agree with your bench assessment. Chang, Wong, Refsnyder and Tapia isn't all that string a set for me. Refsnyder still has to prove that 2022 was a breakout year and not his big extended hot moment. I do like Tapia just because he will be a professional AB. He's always hit decently. He did not sell out for power and is likely to maintain that 277 lifetime BA. Chang gives late inning defense for Kike or whomever. We start two of these guys on any given night and we're looking at the bottom of the lineup doing nothing.

Anyone else remember how awful Refsnyder was last year with RISP? I looked it up. He hit .212. I remember one game in particular where he could have won the game with anything but a strikeout. He swung for the fences even with 2 strikes. Looked awful. In a way, that was as much as a team MO than it was Refsnyder. Going back to last night, I sort of felt bad for Wong when he was PH for.