How anybody of a creative sort came up with the notion of clothing ma team WHOSE NAME EXPRESSES COLOR AND A CLOTHING ITEM, in pastel yellow and Kentucky Wildcat blue is preposterous. How the team actually utilized that design is incomprehensible. Taht the players seem to like them because of a “good jinx,” is even more bizarre. Last night was a night when I could see the game, but I had to look at that? Is there some type of historic or mystical connection between the city of Boston and those colors? Is it parochial school girls in raincoats?
for 5 innings it was a pitcher’s duel. Spencer Strider with only 41 pitches through his first 4 innings. But also Brayan Bello (beh yo! , kind of like day oh). He had faced 2 over the minimum. The Sox got a walk and a single in the 5th, but the Strider strikeout machine was humming. Bellow faced the minimum in 5.
Well, the Braves finally got it going in the top of the sixth. I suspected that was going to finish it with Strider in good shape on pitch count and dealing. Well, I was wrong. Michael Harris II started it with an in the gap double that his speed turned into a double. Then, Ronald Acuna, Jr. was hit by a pitch. Then, Ozzie took one to the back part of the right field bullpen and it was 3 for the good guys and zero for the scums. But obviously, the home run killed the rally. In the bottom half, Strider continued to look good, mainly, but Rafael Devers took one out to right pretty close to where Ozzie hit his. Obviously (by reading the final score above) the Braves didn’t score in 7. Something known as Triston Casas hit a home run with one out. Then, Connor Wong singled and Snitker had seen enough. Strider was at 91 pitches. I saw it both ways. Was he wobbling and about to fall down, or was that just smoke. Snit decided it was time to look at the new guy, so Pierce Johnson came in. Then, the freaky play of the night happened. Yu Chang hit an infield looping liner over Johnson’s shoulder and it short hopped into Ozzie’s glove as he was stepping on second (breaking to cover because the runner was going. Ozzie got it in his glove, but dropped it out. If he holds on, that is already one out and a 99% probability of an inning ending double play. It was a tough error for the scorer to hang on Ozzie, but that turned out to be the play of the game. So instead of out of the inning (or maybe 2 down, runner on first), it was now 1 out and runners first and second. Jarren Duran grounded to first and Olson flipped to Johnson covering to get 1 more out. But then Justin Turner doubled and all of a sudden, the Braves were behind.
Top of 9 featured a stupid baserunning move. If they wanted to use Forrest Wall that badly, they should have pinch run for Murphy. d’Arnaud was on the Bench. But when Kevin Pillar singled, Murphy got to 3rd. I thought that Wall pinch running for the probably slightly above average speed Pillar was a little strange anyway. Well, first pitch Wall takes off and is out, probably by a hair, but he was out (like Buster Posey, but unlike Buster Posey, he SHOULD have been called out).
Meanwhile, that was game 100. There are 62 more. The lead is still 10 games. The “first playoff seed lead” is 7.5 games. Max Fried has an “immune issue.” Fortunately, we are off today and get the Brewers again at home tomorrow. Somebody needs to be the jump start to getting momentum going again. Dare we risk Phil Collins again so soon? Inquiring minds want to know.
Thanks for recapping a somewhat listless game, Cliff. The team’s momentum could use a jump. So here’s something that ain’t Phil Collins:
I love that Phil Collins has a bref link. A true Renaissance Man.
Fidgety Phil!
I had no problem whatsoever with the Forrest Wall move. We were trying to get the tying run into scoring position. Maybe I’d have liked him to wait a pitch to get a slightly better read, but the man had 45 stolen bases this season in Triple A and the pitcher was Kenley Jansen. Yeah, trying to steal was a good idea.
And pinch-running him for Sean Murphy would’ve helped exactly zero, unless you’re gonna run him to keep out of a double play, and for all Snit knew, they might’ve just given Murphy second base anyway. His run doesn’t matter, and there’s no point in wasting the pinch-runner on him, especially with no runner directly behind him.
I think you have to stop thinking of stolen-base attempts as giving away an out. This year, it’s essentially a free base. The catcher made a good play and those are the breaks, but it was absolutely worth trying to put the tying runs into scoring position.
The Strider move was far, far dumber.
Tucker Davidson was DFA’d. Betting he’d be available on the cheap, though he doesn’t appear to have options left, so AA may not particularly want him.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/07/angels-designate-tucker-davidson-for-assignment.html
New piece by Christian for the bar.
Just saw this hunting around for some Sox trade news and thought I’d respond. This is the Sox’ “City Connect” jersey and the color scheme comes from the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The Marathon is a huge deal around here and the finish line was the site of the bombing in 2013 so it’s meant in part as a recognition of that tragedy.
Not sure that makes it better or worse but there is at least a reason for it.