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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 11, 2021 2:01:28 GMT -5
Dan Roche @rochiewbz 5m Things have to get going in the other direction soon, right? #RedSox have lost 10 of their last 12 games...They are 10-14 since the All-Star break. @wbz
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 11, 2021 2:15:10 GMT -5
Rays @ Red Sox Wednesday 11th August 2021 7pm @ FenwayFleming 9-5/4.12Working in a dynamic role this season with Tampa Bay, the 25-year-old left-hander has pitched to a 4.12 ERA, 1.179 WHIP, and 57/22 K/BB ratio in 10 starts and eight relief appearances covering 87 1/3 innings. Eovaldi 9-7/4.07Nathan Eovaldi was roughed up by the Blue Jays on Friday, surrendering seven runs in 4 2/3 innings. Eovaldi pitched four scoreless innings before the Jays pummeled him and Hansel Robles for nine runs in the fifth. Eovaldi also gave up five earned runs last time out, so his ERA has jumped from 3.49 to 4.07 over the last week. The Red Sox have lost each of his last five starts.Tampa Bay Rays vs. Boston Red SoxWednesday, August 11, 2021 at 7:10pm EDT Written by David Delano On Wednesday, the Boston Red Sox will host the Tampa Bay Rays in the second game of a three games series. These teams last met July 30-August 1 in a three games series that the Red Sox went into holding a 1.5 game lead over the Rays for first in the American League East before the Rays swept that series. Now entering this series, Tampa Bay holds a four-game lead over Boston. The Rays have now won six out of the 10 head-to-head match-ups against the Red Sox this season. Tuesday's series opener was not yet complete at the time of this preview. The Tampa Bay Rays have won eight of their last 10 games and hold a four-game lead in the American League East with a 68-44 record. The Rays are currently on a four-game winning streak after beating the Baltimore Orioles 9-6 on Sunday. The Rays have been strong all around, ranking third in MLB with 48 defensive runs saved, fourth averaging 5.1 runs per game, and fifth with 63 stolen bases. Brandon Lowe leads the team with 24 home runs on the season and is second on the club with 61 RBI. Austin Meadows has also been a force in the lineup, ranking seventh in MLB with 77 RBI and second on the team with 21 home runs. The Rays also made a big trade before the deadline acquiring 40-year old slugger Nelson Cruz from the Minnesota Twins. Cruz is batting .281 with 23 home runs and 60 RBI on the season, with four of those home runs and 10 RBI coming since the trade. Josh Fleming could likely make a start on Wednesday for the Rays. In 18 games, including ten starts, Fleming is 9-5 with a 4.12 ERA. As a rookie in 2020, Fleming went 5-0 with a 2.78 ERA in seven games, including five starts. This season Fleming is 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA in one start against the Red Sox. Rays at Red SoxWednesday, at 7:10 PM EST Partly Cloudy According to Forecast.io, it's expected to be 81° F with a 0% chance of precipitation and 10 MPH wind blowing out in Boston at 7:10 PM EST. Hourly Forecasts: Weather.com Forecast.io
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 11, 2021 6:17:54 GMT -5
Peter Gammons @pgammo · 1h Building and winning simultaneously is complex in a big market division, hence the luxury tax/all in conflicts. Hence these Red Sox realities:--9 starts of 7 IP all season. ---P acquired since Opening Day, 4:Robles, Davis, Brennan, Rios. Positional players used as P:4..
--Team Defensive Efficiency:.658, 30th in MLB --Runners on 3B, less than two outs.220 PA, AB 166, H 40, BA .241(30th in MLB), Runners Driven In 109, Strikeouts 60(most in MLB). Since July 9:45 AB w/ R@3B, 4-for-33, 17 K, 19 runners scored.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 11, 2021 8:37:50 GMT -5
Tony Massarotti @tonymassarotti
We don't pay much attention to it anymore, but the Red Sox have allowed the second-most SB in the AL while allowing opponents a success rate of 81.4 percent. That smells.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 11, 2021 9:19:57 GMT -5
The Red Sox simply didn't read the room Current Time 0:09
By Rob Bradford 12 minutes ago
After experiencing one of his tougher outings, Garrett Whitlock was forced to reflect. Within the Red Sox' dagger of an 8-4 loss to the Rays Tuesday night, the rookie gave up two runs on four hits over 1 2/3 innings. It was only the third time this season he had surrendered up multiple runs.
Lesson learned. Stuff like that happens to any first-year big-leaguer.
“I did not learn quick enough in the outing," Whitlock reflected. "Going into the second inning, gave up the first hit and as I was walking to grab the ball from (Xander Bogaerts) Bogey, Bogey looked at me and told me, hey, they’re ambushing fastballs, start mixing it up. I was like, that makes a lot of sense. I’ve got to be better about learning quicker and picking that up earlier and not just trying to force my best pitch in there. I’ve got to read hitters better and I’ve got to learn quicker in an outing and if I’d have done that, it could have been different but yeah, it’s just something I’ve got to learn a lot quicker than that.”
Whitlock gets a pass for not correctly the reading the situation. The Red Sox front office does not.
The Sox are now 3-11 since July 28, sitting five games in back fo the Rays for the top spot in the American League East, and just one game up on the Yankees and Blue Jays in the loss column. In a results business, results have not been good.
But what Tuesday night's debacle continued to remind us was the Sox' failure in seeing this sort of discomfort was on the horizon.
At the top of the list is their inability to get some sort of fail-safe when it comes to late-inning relief help. Matt Barnes simply hasn't been the same guy over the last 1 1/2 months. Yes, it's easy to say that after watching the closer blow three saves in four games -- including the four-run ninth-inning against Tampa Bay -- but the picture is bigger than that.
Barnes' strikeout rate since the beginning of July is just about 10 punch outs per nine innings. Leading up to that point it was at 15.17.
He still deserves a late-inning presence. But for the Red Sox to not see that they might need more of a backup plan than Adam Ottavino (whose stuff is actually better but can't prevent any runner from advancing from first to second), Hirokazu Sawamura, Josh Taylor or Ryan Brasier (who just threw his first minor-league rehab outing Tuesday) was a somewhat predictable miss.
And if they were actually projecting Hansel Robles to be an answer to this problem, that was a projection that was always going to fall flat.
There are also, of course, the issues when it comes to the depth of the lineup.
They can scream and yell about how Kyle Schwarber was the best hitter acquired. But here we are, 12 days after he was acquired, and a return to the field is still at least a week away. And while we wait, many of these Red Sox hitters are playing to the back of their baseball cards with others (J.D. Martinez) desperately trying to find that level.
Then there is the helpless feeling that accompanies this whole ball of wax.
It's one thing to circle the wagons, as the Red Sox proudly have done throughout the season. But when the wheels fall off a few of those aforementioned wagons and the repairman is a no-show, that's not a great feeling.
This Red Sox team - the 2021 Red Sox, not the 2023 or 2024 versions - needed a show of faith larger and more impactful than the one they got.
In a game built on projections, this team's round of educated guesses fell flat. Now they are paying the price.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 11, 2021 10:30:53 GMT -5
Simply shifting the deck chairs of the Titanic possibly coming
Christopher Smith @smittyonmlb 2m There have to be some roster moves coming today, right?
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 11, 2021 13:09:29 GMT -5
Lou Merloni @loumerloni · 1h Have the Sox announced a starter for Thursday yet?If not, wouldn’t mind seeing Houck close this game tonight. Last three innings. Go with Pivetta Thursday and start Richards game one in Baltimore. We’ll talk to @ac13alex at 2:30 @omfonweei @weei
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 11, 2021 13:19:56 GMT -5
Game 116: Rays at Red Sox lineups and pregame notesUpdated August 11, 2021, 10:39 a.m. For the second game in a row, the Red Sox got off to promising start, only to see the bullpen squander it. Tuesday night they jumped out to a 4-1 lead, only to see the Rays score the last seven runs for the 8-4 win. The two teams will be back at it again Wednesday night. Nate Eovaldi will look to bounce back from a pair of bad outings as the Red Sox try to turn things around. Lineups RAYS (69-44):1. Brandon Lowe (L) 2B 2. Ji-Man Choi (L) 1B 3. Nelson Cruz (R) DH 4. Austin Meadows (L) LF 5. Wander Franco (S) SS 6. Randy Arozarena (R) RF 7. Joey Wendle (L) 3B 8. Brett Phillips (L) CF 9. Francisco Mejia (S) C Pitching: LHP Josh Fleming (9-5, 4.12 ERA) RED SOX (65-50):
1. Enrique Hernandez (R) 2B 2. Hunter Renfroe (R) RF 3. Xander Bogaerts (R) SS 4. Rafael Devers (L) 3B 5. J.D. Martinez (R) DH 6. Kevin Plawecki (R) C 7. Marwin Gonzalez (S) LF 8. Bobby Dalbec (R) 1B 9. Jarren Duran (L) CF Pitching: RHP Nate Eovaldi (9-7, 4.07 ERA) Time: 7:10 p.m. TV, radio: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7 Rays vs. Eovaldi: Randy Arozarena 0-8, Ji-Man Choi 5-13, Nelson Cruz 2-9, Yandy Díaz 2-10, Wander Franco 1-3, Kevin Kiermaier 3-13, Brandon Lowe 3-14, Manuel Margot 1-4, Austin Meadows 6-15, Francisco Mejía 2-5, Joey Wendle 6-11, Mike Zunino 1-7. Red Sox vs. Fleming: Jonathan Araúz 1-1, Xander Bogaerts 3-4, Bobby Dalbec 2-4, Rafael Devers 2-3, Jarren Duran 1-2, Kiké Hernández 1-3, J.D. Martinez 0-5, Hunter Renfroe 1-2, Christian Vázquez 1-4. Stat of the day: The Rays are 16-7 (.696) since the All-Star break and 9-2 in their last 11 games. Notes: The Red Sox have lost 10 of their last 12 games, and are 10-14 since the All-Star break. They are 14-25 vs. the Rays since the start of 2019. … They Rays have an MLB-leading 36th come-from-behind wins, including each game of the current 5-game winning streak. … Eovaldi is winless in his last five starts, and 3-6 with a 5.24 ERA in 12 appearances (10 starts) vs. Tampa Bay. … Fleming has alternated between the rotation and bullpen this season, although his last four appearances have been starts, including a a win over the Red Sox on July 30 when he allowed three runs in five innings. Song of the Day: The Pretenders "Back on the Chain Gang"www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK3uf5V0pDA
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 11, 2021 13:44:09 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 7m Alex Cora on @weei says Garrett Richards will be available in the bullpen tonight
Cora on @weei says Schwarber could start a rehab assignment tomorrow
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 11, 2021 13:45:43 GMT -5
OMF @omfonweei · 7m #RedSox manager Alex Cora on Tanner Houck and if he will be available late in game tonight:
"No, he's not in the bullpen tonight. Actually, Garrett [Richards] is in the bullpen. We got Martin [Perez] and Garrett in the bullpen."
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 11, 2021 14:21:52 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 27s Cora suggested Sox could use Richards and Pérez in multi-inning, high-leverage situations when the team is narrowly trailing. He thinks that Richards’ stuff could tick up in the bullpen, and notes that Pérez has topped out at 96-97 mph in relief
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 11, 2021 14:24:27 GMT -5
Christopher Smith @smittyonmlb · 7m Garrett Richards has been sent to the bullpen
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 11, 2021 14:26:11 GMT -5
Chris Cotillo @chriscotillo · 4m Alex Cora: "I do believe, as the manager, my job is to cancel the noise."
Cora says Richards was disappointed. Can use him and Pérez in a variety of ways, including multi-inning roles obviously. Believes both guys' stuff will play better out of the pen.
Cora wouldn't give a percentage, but it's clear Kevin Plawecki's role is going to increase behind the plate in the coming weeks.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 11, 2021 14:27:45 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 4m Cora -- 'We're good. But we have to keep working on it. That's on me.'
'We're still doing the same things. It just so happens it doesn't look great on the field.' #RedSox
Cora -- 'I do believe as a manager my job is to cancel the noise. It gets loud.'
'We are not irrelevant. People care about this team.'
'If we are realistic, yesterday after the game, the emotions were very high.' #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 11, 2021 14:28:54 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 4m Cora on possibly using Plawecki more often going forward -- 'We need his at-bats. They're quality at-bats. It's not a knock on Christian, but it's where we're at.' #RedSox
Cora -- 'I feel for them. I feel for the coaches. I feel for the organization. But after the fact you have a bottle of water or you have a beer and you relax.'
'The last few games, they've been tough losses. The comebacks and all that, they're tough to swallow.' #RedSox
Cora on Schwarber's timetable -- 'We don't know. If it was up to him, he'd probably say hi to the guys and come back and perform.'
Cora said Schwarber should take less time to get going offensively. In terms of how he moves or plays first base, that's a different story. #RedSox
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