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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 29, 2021 14:58:37 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 9m 4:20 first pitch in Cleveland.
Tanner Houck is warming up.
My flight to Tampa boards at 7. Play fast, fellas.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 29, 2021 15:26:34 GMT -5
Morgan tried to sneak a fastball by Devers and Raffy was having none of that needless to say, he just had a ride in the laundry cart
1-0 Red Sox
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Post by scrappyunderdog on Aug 29, 2021 15:43:14 GMT -5
The first strike for all four CL hitters was looking. It looks like (SSS) they might be taking strikes to run up the count. If that's the case, the counter move is take throw all first-pitch strikes.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 29, 2021 15:53:39 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 7m Dalbec many rows up in left field. 2-0 Sox.
23 RBIs in the last 22 games for Dalbec. 7 HRs, OPS over 1,200.
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Post by scrappyunderdog on Aug 29, 2021 16:17:36 GMT -5
That should be a bit deflating for CL. 1st and 2nd, no outs, and Rosario, Ramirez and Reyes coming. A DP and -0- runs.
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Post by scrappyunderdog on Aug 29, 2021 16:53:35 GMT -5
I'm not quite sure what CL is doing here. In the 3rd, Houck walked the first guy, and hit the second guy. Straw gets ahead 1-0 and starts swinging. IMO, you force the pitcher to start throwing strikes. In the 4th, it was almost identical. Ramirez and Reyes walk, Zimmer gets ahead 1-0, and is swinging. If these guys were big hitters, like Ramirez or Reyes, I would still preach patience, but those guys regularly go deep. Straw and Zimmer should be trying to simply get on.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 29, 2021 18:45:49 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 1h Houck pitching into the 6th inning was exactly what the Sox needed. Big-time start from the rookie.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 29, 2021 18:47:23 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 39m Kyle Schwarber played that ball like a guy who was drafted as a catcher. Brutal.
It's 5-4 in the 7th. #RedSox
Austin Hedges to deep left and it's 5-5 in the 8th.
Hansel Robles leaked a run. Austin Davis leaks a run. And none of it is surprising. #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 29, 2021 18:48:26 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 16m Yairo Munoz called for obstruction. Cleveland takes a 6-5 lead in the 8th.
No idea why he wandered that far over. He's not part of the relay on a ball hit to the corner in left. Oscar Mercado took his chance to force the umpires into a decision.
More bad fundamentals. #RedSox
Hard liner by Myles Straw and Xander Bogaerts can't glove it. Goes for an RBI single.
It's 7-5 in the 8th. #RedSox just couldn't get the third out in this inning.
BOS 5 CLE 7 Final
#RedSox are 75-57.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 29, 2021 18:51:11 GMT -5
Gas can gang strikes again
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 29, 2021 19:02:34 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 14m A difficult last three innings to watch from the #RedSox because it feels like we've seen it before: - Tanner Houck faltered third time through the order - Bullpen failed to shut the door - More shaky defense and fundamentals
August in a nutshell.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 29, 2021 19:03:36 GMT -5
hahahahahaha
Dan Shaughnessy @dan_Shaughnessy · 9m Wait . . . what? I just heard on NESN that the Red Sox had "got their swagger back.''
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 30, 2021 2:31:12 GMT -5
With thin 'pen again, Sox drop 'a tough one' August 29th, 2021 Ian Browne
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne
To have a realistic shot of a series-sweeping victory on Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field, the Red Sox were going to need six innings or more from Tanner Houck or an explosion from the offense.
They got neither in a 7-5 loss that put them eight games back in the American League East heading into a four-game series at Tropicana Field that starts on Monday.
Houck started fast with 5 1/3 no-hit innings, but hit a wall in the sixth. Manager Alex Cora had been open about the fact that his bullpen was depleted coming into this game, and that several members of the high-leverage crew were going to be rested.
This was why it hurt when Houck (0-3, 3.98 ERA in nine starts) couldn’t turn in his first six-inning performance of the season.
“Today was going to be a tough one as far as the bullpen, trying to survive in a sense. That’s why we were so aggressive yesterday with a few guys, and we ended up pulling that off,” said Cora. “But today, it had to be perfect, and it wasn’t.”
The offense produced in spurts (two solo homers from Rafael Devers, one from Bobby Dalbec), but never scored more than once in an inning.
Staked to a 4-0 lead, Houck hoped to get the Sox through the sixth. But the righty’s early fortunes quickly turned into misfortunes. He gave up a homer to José Ramírez and then hit two straight batters.
Ramírez is a star, so Houck was able to shake off that misfire. What bothered him most was hitting Franmil Reyes and Bradley Zimmer back-to-back on 0-2 pitches.
“It’s just a matter of learning from it and going back and looking at some video, and just continuing to move on,” Houck said.
Lefty Josh Taylor tried to rescue Houck and got off to a good start by inducing a groundout from Bobby Bradley for the second out of the inning. But Wilson Ramos then came up with a two-run single, and it was suddenly a one-run game.
“We had Wilson in an 0-2 count and didn’t execute a pitch, and they got back in the game,” Cora said.
Even when Devers blasted his second homer of the game -- No. 32 of the season -- in the seventh to make it a 5-3 game, it proved not to be enough.
The loss of the lead wasn’t entirely on the bullpen. There was a fly ball to deep left by Ramírez in the seventh that Kyle Schwarber probably should have caught. Instead, it landed on the warning track for an RBI double.
“Not a bad jump,” Cora said. “I think he hesitated at the end with the wall. I’ve got to see it again, but that’s the way it looked on the replay up there.”
In the eighth, with the game tied, Yu Chang hit a double down the line in left, and the Red Sox thought they had cut down Oscar Mercado at the plate. But Sox second baseman Yairo Muñoz was called for interference with Mercado on the basepaths in what proved to be the game-deciding play.
“It's always a difficult thing,” said Devers. “Obviously we want to go out and do our best to win the game. They did a great job. They battled, so did we, we never gave up. They ended up on top at the end of the game. Yeah, it's tough to lose those kind of games.”
It was a tough way to lose, but with 30 games left in their season, the Red Sox couldn’t do much but shake it off and hope for a strong series against the Rays.
Though their odds are long at winning the division, the Red Sox are right in the thick of the AL Wild Card race, currently in possession of the second AL Wild Card spot.
While a sweep would have been sweet, the Red Sox can at least take heart in the fact that they’ve won three straight series after losing five of the previous six.
“I think this team can recover better than anyone,” said Houck. “We went on a little bit of a rough patch there for a little bit, but like I continue to say, it’s about learning from those losses, and you learn from losses typically more than you learn from wins. So I think that this team is built for adversity and to grow, and I’m excited to see how we continue to grow.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 30, 2021 3:07:46 GMT -5
Red Sox unable to avoid late disaster, fail to complete sweep of Indians By Julian Benbow Globe Staff,Updated August 29, 2021, 7:43 p.m.
A three-hour rain delay made the Red Sox’ stay in Cleveland about three hours longer than they wanted it to be.
An eighth-inning Cleveland rally made sure their flight to Tampa would feel like a long one, too.
In what was supposed to be a matinee finale that turned into all-day slog, Cleveland was able to snatch a 7-5 win from the Sox, climbing out of a four-run hole to stave off a series sweep.
After exhausting the bullpen Saturday to pull out a win, Sox manager Alex Cora knew there was a thin margin for error.
“It was going to be a tough one as far as the bullpen trying to survive in a sense,” Cora said. “That’s why we were so aggressive yesterday with a few guys and we ended up pulling that out. But today it had to be perfect — and it wasn’t.”
The Sox were clinging to a 5-4 lead in the eighth when Austin Hedges homered off reliever Austin Davis to even the score.
Oscar Mercado followed up with a single to left and when Yu Chang shot a double into the left field corner, Mercado raced around the base paths looking to take the lead. Even though the throw from left fielder Kyle Schwarber easily beat Mercado to the plate, he was called safe after the umpiring crew ruled obstruction on his collision with second baseman Yairo Muñoz after he rounded second and headed for third. Cleveland tacked on an insurance run on an RBI single from Myles Straw.
Despite the loss, the Sox will travel to play the first-place Rays as a more stable team in the standings, but a more uncertain team when it looks at its roster. Related: Christian Arroyo tests positive for COVID-19, will quarantine with Kiké Hernández in Cleveland
The Sox still secured another series win, and have won six of their last nine. Those nine games were all against sub.-500 teams, which made the soft stretch an important one for the Sox as they push for a playoff spot and also try to stay within arm’s reach of the Rays in the AL East.
Starter Tanner Houck took a no-hitter into the sixth. Despite hitting three batters along the way, he went 5⅓ innings, holding Cleveland to one run on three hits and with four walks and three strikeouts.
“He knew he had to go deep into the game,” Cora said. “He threw the ball extremely well.”
The Sox lineup gave him enough runs to get comfortable early.
Rafael Devers (2 for 4) swatted a solo home run in the first inning, jumping on a 3-0 fastball from Eli Morgan and sending it over the right field fence for his 31st homer of the season.
Bobby Dalbec tacked on to the lead the next inning, tagging Morgan for another solo homer that gave the Sox a 2-0 lead.
Morgan lasted just three innings, giving up two runs on two hits and one walk.
Cleveland reliever Justin Garza came on in the fourth and immediately put himself in a tight spot, giving up back-to-back one-out singles to Xander Bogaerts and Alex Verdugo. After striking out Kevin Plawecki, he made things more difficult for himself by walking Dalbec after getting ahead 2-1.
With the bases loaded, Morgan still couldn’t find his command and the Sox capitalized. Jarren Duran worked a seven-pitch walk that allowed Bogaerts to trot home and push the lead to 3-0.
An RBI double from J.D. Martinez in the fifth gave Houck more than enough cushion.
Cleveland didn’t get on the board until the sixth when Jose Ramirez stung Houck’s 1-0 splitter for a one-out solo homer that cut the Sox’ lead to 4-1. After Houck hit Franmil Reyes and Bradley Zimmer in back-to-back at-bats, Cora called Josh Taylor from the bullpen.
“I didn’t have the best command in the world,“ Houck said. “But some days, it’s going to be like that. It’s about going out there and grinding with what you have and making those big pitches whenever they happen.”
Taylor was able to get Bobby Bradley to ground out to third for the second out of the inning, but gave up a single to Wilson Ramos that scored Reyes and Zimmer and made it a one-run game, 4-3.
Devers gave the Sox breathing room in the seventh, blasting a 3-1 cutter from Cleveland reliever Blake Parker to right-center for his second homer of the night.
But the Sox still had to hang on and they couldn’t.
Reliever Hansel Robles struck out Chang to start the seventh, then got Straw to ground out to first, but gave up a two-out single to Amed Rosario and then a RBI double to Ramirez that cut the Sox’ lead to 5-4.
The game unraveled from there, but as the Sox look to gain ground on the Rays, they’ll try to keep the roster together as best as possible.
“I think this team can recover better than anyone,” Houck said. “We went on a little bit of a rough patch there for a little bit but it’s about learning from those losses. You learn from losses typically more than you learn from wins. So I think that this team is built for adversity and to grow and I’m excited to see where they are that we continue to grow.”
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