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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 30, 2021 14:22:43 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 3m Garrett Whitlock throwing in the outfield again. Doesn’t look like arm strength will be an issue.
Whitlock now throwing in the bullpen. That suggests he could be ready as soon as Saturday.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 30, 2021 16:41:44 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 1h Per MLB: The AL Wild Card Game on Tuesday will be at 8:08 p.m.
Cora made it clear they're riding with Iglesias at second base.
.358/.414/.528 since he signed. How could they not, right?
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 30, 2021 16:42:33 GMT -5
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne · 1h The earliest the Red Sox can now punch their ticket to the postseason is Saturday. The magic number is four, and the Mariners don't play today, so the lowest they can get today is 3.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 30, 2021 16:46:15 GMT -5
dear jesus
Chris Cotillo @chriscotillo · 11m Dalbec has been taking grounders at second base before a few games this week. Could the Sox get creative in October?
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Post by scrappyunderdog on Sept 30, 2021 19:35:37 GMT -5
T. Nevin: Ball, Ball, Ball, Ball, Nevin walked P. Valaika: Pickoff attempt, Ball, Pickoff attempt, Strike looking, Pickoff attempt, Foul, Pickoff attempt, Ball, Nevin to second on wild pitch, Foul, Foul, Valaika singled to center, Nevin to third ========================================= Two things worry me about this.
1-Nevin has 5 ML ABs. And it's not like he is a top-10 prospect. You can't walk the guy. In addition, he is their #7 hitter. You need to get the 7/8/9 guys out so you don't run into Mullin and Mountcastle. If you give up a single or a 9-pitch walk, that's baseball. But you can't walk a guy on 4 pitches. 3-0 has to be right down the middle and take your chances that a minor leaguer doesn't take you deep.
2-Why 4 pickoff throws? He has a 24/19 SB/CS in the minors. If I were the pitcher, I'd be hoping he'd try to run on me.
The 3-run HR for Mountcastle was all too predictable.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 30, 2021 21:13:52 GMT -5
Matt McCarthy @mattmccarthy985 · 44m The last time the Red Sox had an implosion close to this, they fired the greatest manager in team history, smeared him on the way out, and chased a Hall of Fame GM out of town too.
But I guarantee you nobody will be held accountable for this. Everyone is safe on Jersey St.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 2:13:05 GMT -5
Sox lose chance to get ahead in WC race 12:28 AM ADT Ian Browne
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne
7 seconds remaining
BALTIMORE -- The Red Sox could have put themselves in the drivers’ seat for a postseason spot simply by winning a series against the Orioles, who have the worst record in the American League.
That mission was not accomplished, as the Sox suffered a difficult-to-stomach 6-2 defeat in Thursday night’s rubber match of a three-game series that has put them in a mad scramble with their AL Wild Card competitors heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
The Red Sox (89-70) trail the Yankees (91-68) by two games for the top AL Wild Card spot, and they are tied with the red-hot Mariners (89-70) for the second spot. The Blue Jays (88-71) are a game behind Boston and Seattle, and the stage is set for a drama-filled conclusion to the 162-game slate.
Now it’s on to Washington for a Boston squad that has lost five of its past six games.
“Obviously we have to win,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “We’ve been talking about winning series and we haven’t won the last two. This one wasn’t good at all. Obviously the Yankees one wasn’t great. But I think we still control our own destiny. Just show up [Friday], play a good game, go over there to D.C. and we have to win. There’s no more, I don’t want to say, excuses; we don’t make excuses. But we have to win out. We have to win this series and see where it takes us.”
The 65-94 Nationals are another opponent the Red Sox should handle if they play up to their potential. But that didn’t happen in Baltimore, as the bats went uncharacteristically quiet against the team with the worst ERA in the Majors.
“I think we’re ready to go to Washington, to be honest,” said Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts. “They outplayed us here. It’s a bad time for us to be doing that, playing worse than the Orioles. Obviously we need it more than them at this point. Let’s get it out of here, man, get some good sleep and come back at it tomorrow.”
Bogaerts will likely be the first one to the batting cage on Friday. The veteran leader has just two hits in 23 at-bats during this 1-5 stretch by the Red Sox, and he hit into two double plays to short-circuit the offense on Thursday.
For a player as prideful as Bogaerts, this is tough to swallow.
“It sucks, bro. It sucks. I have three more games to get going and try to help this team turn it around,” said Bogaerts. “I take responsibility for it, because you’re going down the stretch like this, it’s not a good sign when you’re playing bad baseball. Sometimes it happens, man. It happens to the best of ‘em, but you can’t keep a good guy down for too long.”
It seemed like Thursday would be a good night for the Sox when Kiké Hernández roped the first pitch of the game for a home run.
Instead of that being a moment that propelled the Red Sox, their offense went silent against a lefty starter in Alexander Wells, who came into the game with a 7.61 ERA.
After coming to life late in Wednesday’s 6-0 win, this type of futility in the series finale at Camden Yards was a surprising step back for Boston.
“A little surprised,” Cora said. “The way we started today, we started off fast, and we were putting good at-bats. And then all of a sudden, just kind of like two days ago, we put together some empty at-bats.”
Cora suggested his team lost control of its approach offensively.
“We weren't able to slow down the game. And that's the beauty of this game, right? There's not a clock,” Cora said. “You can slow it down as long as you want to, work counts, grind at-bats and put pressure on the opposition. And for a while there, we didn't do that. All of a sudden, you look up and you’re in the sixth inning.”
The Red Sox can right themselves by having a big final weekend in the nation’s capital.
“We are a really resilient club,” said starter Nick Pivetta, who took the loss. “You just have to forget what happened in the past and move forward to the next game. That’s what’s most important, to really show our resilience and go out there and compete. And that starts with Game 1 against Washington.”
The motivation is quite obvious now for the Red Sox. They know that if they don’t snap out of this slide immediately, Nationals Park will be the last venue they play at this season. Their leader will try to set the tone for a turnaround.
“Tomorrow I’m going to get to the field and go to the cage again early and continue to work,” said Bogaerts. “I’m not prepared to go home yet. Better start turning it around.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 2:23:08 GMT -5
Jon Couture @joncouture · 6h I mean, we all already made the 2011 "going to Baltimore" comparisons. Matching the L-W-L is just polite. #RedSox
A reminder: Schedules don't save teams near as well as playing up to the moment does. #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 2:25:04 GMT -5
In need of wins, the Red Sox instead dropped 2 of 3 to the last-place Orioles By Alex Speier Globe Staff,Updated September 30, 2021, 9:45 p.m.
BALTIMORE — An autumnal chill swirled through Camden Yards on Thursday night, though for the Red Sox its significance was unclear. Did it foreshadow October baseball beyond the 162nd game of the regular season? Or did it represent a mockery, hinting merely at a time of year during which the team will be homebound?
That remains unclear, awaiting three more games that will provide some form of resolution. But the Sox did achieve a measure of painful clarity on Thursday night in a lackluster 6-2 loss to the Orioles.
With a three-game series in store against the Nationals, the team is not guaranteed a postseason berth even if it wins all of its remaining games. With Thursday’s loss, the Sox fell into a tie with the Mariners at 89-70, one game ahead of the Blue Jays for the second wild-card spot. The Sox must not only stop their ill-timed plummet but also hope for help from other teams to avoid a 163rd game or elimination.
A wild-card berth nonetheless remains a real possibility. But the Sox have played in a fashion — a 1-5 record in the last week against the Yankees and Orioles — that hardly seems worthy of such an accomplishment. They recognize the need for a drastic reversal.
“We have to win. We’ve been talking about winning series and we haven’t won the last two. This one wasn’t good at all,” said manager Alex Cora. “We have to win out. We have to win this series [against the Nationals] and see where it takes us.”
To reassert themselves, the Sox will need to solve the Mystery of the Disappearing Offense.
All season, the Sox have ranked among the best teams in baseball when scoring at least four runs, going 79-18 (.814). But they have rarely won low-scoring games, going just 10-52 (.161) if held to three runs or fewer, the seventh-worst mark in the league.
Thursday marked the fifth time in six games that the Sox have been thusly stifled, though the struggle hardly seemed preordained or even likely at the outset.
Kiké Hernández jumped on the first pitch of the game from Orioles lefthander Alexander Wells and drilled it to left-center field for his 19th homer of the season and sixth when leading off the first. The lineup seemed poised to add quickly with a one-out walk and single. Related: Abraham: The Red Sox look like a team ready to go home
But on a 3-and-0 count, J.D. Martinez swung at a cutting 87-mile-per-hour fastball. He popped up weakly to center, an out that permitted Wells to reset and after which the Sox saw their early confidence disintegrate.
Wells, who entered with a 1-3 record and 7.61 ERA, faced the minimum number of batters over the five innings that commenced with the Martinez fly out. The lone Sox hitter to reach in that span was Kyle Schwarber on a third-inning single, but he was immediately erased on a Xander Bogaerts double-play grounder, one of two Bogaerts at-bats that ended in twin killings.
“Just not getting it done. The quality of my at-bats has been bad,” Bogaerts lamented of his 2-for-23 rut over the 1-5 stretch. “It’s just been very unproductive at-bats. It sucks ... Sometimes it happens, man. It happens to the best of ‘em, but you can’t keep a good guy down for too long.”
The inability to add to the homer by Hernández left Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta vulnerable to any misstep. And on a night in which the righthander’s fastball/curveball combination proved at times overpowering, he had one stumble.
Pivetta dominated through two innings, striking out the side in the first and tacking on another punchout in the second. But he opened the third by issuing a walk to the No. 7 hitter (Tyler Nevin), then permitted a single to Pat Valaika.
Pivetta nearly worked out of the jam, striking out the next two Orioles. But with two outs, Ryan Mountcastle crunched a first-pitch fastball into the Baltimore bullpen in left-center for a three-run homer, the rookie’s 33rd of the season, giving the Orioles a 3-1 lead.
That inning overshadowed the strong work that Pivetta (9-8, 4.56 ERA) delivered on either side of it. He made it through 4⅔ innings without further harm, and he struck out eight, his most since an Aug. 13 start against the Orioles. But Wells was better. Related: Yankees beat Blue Jays to extend AL wild-card lead
For the first time in his big league career, the lefthander completed six innings, allowing one run on three hits. He pitched to contact, striking out just two, but flummoxed the Red Sox with a zigzagging pitch mix.
After Wells’s final inning, the Orioles tacked on three more runs in the sixth against Sox reliever Garrett Richards. As was the case against Pivetta, the rally was keyed by unlikely sources of offense, with a two-run single from Nevin and a sacrifice fly from Valaika putting the Orioles ahead, 6-1, and leaving the game out of reach for the languid Red Sox offense.
Will the lineup awaken in Washington against the Nationals? The fate of the season rests on the answer. The Red Sox, after 159 games, must try to catch a final gust of wind over the remaining three, one that, unlike Thursday’s, they hope to find at their backs.
“Let’s get out of here, man,” Bogaerts exhaled. “We’re ready to go to Washington, to be honest. They outplayed us here. It’s a bad time for us to be doing that, playing worse than the Orioles. [Friday] I’m going to get to the field and go to the cage again early and continue to work. I ain’t prepared to go home yet. Better start turning it around.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 2:34:20 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 7h Over the balance of this series thus far -- 22 1/2 innings -- the #RedSox look every bit like a team that's 26-29 in its last 55 games.
#RedSox are 89-70. They've lost this series to the Orioles. Schedule alone will not save them.
The #RedSox were 63-40 and leading the AL East on July 28. They're 26-30 over their last 56 games and now share a playoff spot with (at least) the Mariners.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 2:35:30 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 3h That’s Robert Andino. Orioles with a well-timed jab.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 2:38:31 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 6h Schwarber has reached base three times. Bogaerts has followed by grounding into two double plays and hitting into a groundout. Rough performances in the last two series for him.
Bogaerts: ‘I’m just not getting it done.’
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 2:40:07 GMT -5
Red Sox Notebook: Bobby Dalbec cooling off, Alex Cora goes to Kyle Schwarber
By Jason Mastrodonato | jason.mastrodonato@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald PUBLISHED: September 30, 2021 at 7:45 p.m. | UPDATED: September 30, 2021 at 7:51 p.m.
Bobby Dalbec has appeared to cool off and the Red Sox have taken notice.
The rookie first baseman was held out of the lineup on Thursday night, despite the Sox playing against a left-handed pitcher, Orioles southpaw Alexander Wells.
Dalbec had started every game against a lefty since Aug. 27 and had only been on the bench against a lefty five times all year.
But he’s just 1-for-16 with 10 strikeouts over the last week and manager Alex Cora isn’t liking Dalbec’s at-bats.
“I think he has been chasing pitches up in the zone and at the same time that bullpen is very heavy right-handed so we kind of switched it up with Kyle (Schwarber) in there,” Cora said.
Dalbec is hitting .277 with an .864 OPS against lefties this year, but just .213 with a .736 OPS against righties. Schwarber hits left-handed but is still hitting a respectable .271 with a .794 OPS off southpaws while demolishing right-handers with a .263 average and .983 OPS.
“I think it will be good having Kyle hitting second, grinding out at-bats and getting on base,” Cora said. “He hasn’t slugged vs. lefties but his on-base percentage is high, so that’s the thought process. I think obviously you always think about, yeah, Dalbec might run into one and hit a homer against a left-handed pitcher, but at the same time, I think the last few days he has been chasing pitches out of the zone so it will be good to take a breather and we went with that lineup.”
It’s not a good time to be falling out of favor with the manager, seeing as the playoffs are just around the corner. This weekend, the Sox finish the regular season with three games in Washington, where they’ll be without the designated hitter while playing with National League rules.
It could be tough for Dalbec to get in the lineup.
“We’ve been talking about it and we’ll see how we do it,” Cora said. “Obviously we’ve got some good offensive players that can change games with one swing and at the same time, we have to create the balance with the defense but we’ll see.
“It’s a tricky one. It’s not perfect. But we’ll prepare. I think we can be creative in the early part of the game and then make adjustments throughout games.” Who is the closer?
The big question as the Sox try to lock up a playoff spot is who will close games for them if they advance to the postseason.
Matt Barnes threw his best appearance in weeks on Wednesday night, working a one-two-three inning on just nine pitches to close out the Sox’ 6-0 win.
“I think at one point before, until Sunday, somebody is going to have get big outs for us including him,” Cora said. “He did a good job yesterday, I think, fastball-wise, to be able to throw it in the strike zone, and also that swing and miss by Trey Mancini on the breaking ball. That was another positive. We’ll keep working with him. He’s feeling better about himself. Let’s see how the games play out and how we’re going to use him.”
Ryan Brasier has a 1.86 ERA in 10 appearances since making it back to the big leagues and Hansel Robles hasn’t allowed a run in 13 appearances, with a sparkling 16-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio in that span.
Cora said Brasier is looking as good as ever.
“I guarantee you it’s that F-U attitude” Cora said. “Like, ‘you guys sent me down and somebody got hurt and I’m back, I’m going to prove to you that I belong here.’ I’m glad that he’s doing that. He did a great job last week. Yesterday, he was good. It feels like the fastball of 2018, the fastball of last year, those are good signs.” Scoreboard watching
The Sox entered Thursday a half-game up on the Mariners and a full game up on the Jays for the second Wild Card spot.
“I stayed up all night watching Seattle and Oakland,” Cora said. “It’s been a fun ride. It’s been a fun year with all the obstacles. I think the guys understand you have to enjoy it. You have to actually enjoy every moment because you never know what can happen next year.
“They came from a season last year where they came from a 60-game season with everything we were living with in the world. So you can’t take a day for granted and I think they are doing an outstanding job of staying in the moment and having fun with it.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 2:41:21 GMT -5
Lou Merloni @loumerloni · 6h Xander is killing this team the last week
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 2:46:37 GMT -5
Red Sox Stats @redsoxstats · 5h Red Sox are 26-27 in August and September.
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