I agree. I have faith in EdRo. Pitch Sale on short rest and we’re probably into our bullpen early today, and that could be a rough ride.
Pitch sale on short rest and then either a short rest cascade starts (even if they win) OR EdRo has to start game 5 anyway. Other than as a security blanket to fans who see Sale or Rodriguez, there's no good reason for it. Especially not this version of Sale.
That's a stretch.
Yes, the only way last night’s loss flips the series is if the Sox overreact to it. If the Dodgers bring Kershaw back on short rest that’s understandable, because they can’t afford to fall behind 3-1. But the Sox really only need to win one game in LA, and I rather they save their bullets for Game 5, especially since Sale even on full rest is no guarantee to pitch deep into the game. That being the case, I really don’t want them to try to pitch him on short rest tonight.
That will be the fascinating thing. Will the Dodgers really put those guys back on the bench? If so, it's pretty good proof that the analytics guys really are running the team.
1. Even with the reduced contact rules of today's game, Bogie was in the wrong place and he'd probably tell you that himself.
And if not it’s an admission he screwed up the first two games of the WS.
That seems to be true of almost all the starters in this series thus far. Heck, it looked like Buehler was headed there after the first inning.
I think that's almost inevitable. Cora needs to conserve his bullpen just a bit, because Sale is unlikely to be Iron Man McGinnity tomorrow either, and they will need at least a couple of pitchers who haven't thrown an inning-plus two days in a row. I do not want to see all three of Kelly, Barnes and Brasier tonight. Even if that means Drew Pomeranz throws two innings, or even three (if he's getting shellacked, of course, all bets are off).
Yes
Yes, they added him to the roster because he sucks.
I don't think we will see it often but we will probably start seeing it on occasion. It makes more sense at a symmetrical field like Dodger stadium rather than places like Fenway or YS. I can't see the point in moving JBJ to LF even if it was JDM out there but here the stadium doesn't enter in to the equation so the batter/pitcher matchup can dominate the decision.
This is where I am. I'm really worried about the hitters - for some reason, they were completely thrown off their game plan last night and generally looked terrible. How easy will it be to clear their heads after such a gut punch and get back to being a patient lineup that hunts pitches?
I can see the reasoning for going after Puig, I think they assumed they could get him to chase high heat. On the other hand while I think Puig is overrated he's still a much bigger threat than Barnes.
Agree on the decision to bat to Puig - would have opened up an opportunity for a force at second.
I didn't like pitching to Puig there, so at the time I really wanted them to go after Barnes instead. The fact is, however, that Eovaldi got Puig to ground out.
This team is young and resilient. And hey, JD and Beni are extremely well rested. I really don't think an emotional hangover is a factor at all for the team. For the fans, hell yeah.
This! I strongly agree with the bolded part. The ground ball past Buckner in Game 6 in '86 was maybe the biggest nut punch in history , but what people tend to forget is that the Sox had a three run lead in Game 7 until Bruce Hurst ran out of gas. If the '86 Sox can come back two nights later and take a lead midway through the game, there's no reason to believe this Sox team will fold up after an extra inning loss in Game 4. I hope Cora doesn't overreact and screw up the pitching by starting guys on short rest.
The Turner slide was a clean a play as it gets, X was out of position and Turner went directly to the bag.
If Kinsler just puts that ball in his pocket I think we're up 3-0 today (and better rested for work today). But even just not catching his toe in the turf - I think he gets Puig.
That is not a problem with Erod so much as the entire problem with pitching Evoldi last night.
cora had no choice at that point..it was Eovaldi or Pom....Sox hitters didn't get it done.
The killing irony of last night's game is that the things that worked best were also poison pills. PItching to Puig worked -- except the tying run scored. Going long with Eovaldi worked -- yet in the end didn't make a difference, and leaves them now without their (arguably) best pitcher for presumably the rest of this road set.
I'm with this take. Hill's curveball is not the masterpiece it used to be and about half our lineup is pretty capable of smashing it. I'm predicting a big night from Pearce.
He’s better than at least four of the guys in that lineup
Cora said he was pitching well before the series which is why he was added. I choose to believe him.
Plus the biggest poison pill of them all — starting JBJ instead of letting Beni go 1 for 4 with a single and losing 1-0.
Yeah, great point. Putting JBJ in the lineup turned out to be genius -- and yet its only ultimate impact may well have been to cost them Eovaldi's availability until game 7.
I did not pick up on that during the broadcast. May have been one of the times I fell asleep. I saw him playing first and assumed he had experience there. He did a good job. Crazy game that could have gone either way.
You're judging the decisions based on the results. Kinsler makes that play properly -- either by eating the ball or taking the moment to steady himself -- and neither of those "huge mistakes" are mistakes
