CentralChamps21

Luis cost Jose 2 RBI there.

Why was Cesar not bunting there?

That got changed to a hit, but there was another game where he didn't get one.

For as much as we've been complaining about too many balls on the ground and not enough in the air, in this ballpark with its fast infield and vast outfield, keeping the ball on the ground might be the way to go.

That depends. If more Howard Ankin commercials = fewer Illinois Lottery commercials with that annoying song, then I like him.

Dylan's jersey number is also his average pitch count through 4 innings so maybe next year he should switch to 57 or something like that.

Geez, Dylan, just throw that pitch you threw on 3-2 on 1-2 instead and then you can make it through 6 innings.

Not to suggest that Billy is good but those last two strikes were pretty unhittable.

I was all set to make a joke about Romy being a better pitcher than hitter but he just ruined that.

This is a big park. Cease needs to not be afraid of bats and attack the strike zone. No walks tonight.

That would have been a 3 run homer a lot of places.

That's two IL stints from now. He wants to know when Engel will be back from this IL stint.

I compiled World Series odds for the Sox and Astros from 538, FanGraphs and B-R, and using those odds as a proxy for the head to head matchup, Houston is about a 59% favorite against the Sox. I think that's fair, or at least not far off. If, before the end of the season, Lynn and Rodon prove to be healthy enough to pitch, Kimbrel gets his shit figured out, and Eloy comes out of this slump, I'd put the Sox closer to even or a slight favorite.

Day records: Sox 29-26, Hou 23-24. So go Yankees/Red Sox!

I wonder if it was because something was wrong with Sheets or because Tim insisted that he feels fine and wanted to play. Hopefully the latter.

I think you essentially have the entire playoff starting lineup vs RHP. Just missing Engel and Vaughn as guys who will start vs LHP.

Oh I agree it's a near impossibility, but that doesn't mean that we don't need it. If the 30 most moderate Republican Senators and the 30 most moderate Democratic Senators all got together and decided that they were going to get stuff done, they could accomplish a lot. The Democratic party has control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency and they can't get anything done because their most moderate and most progressive members are so far apart politically they can't agree on anything. At that point the party as it exists no longer works.

We need a 3rd party, but Yang sure isn't the one to start it. We need people who are between the two parties, not farther left or right than them.

I just noted in a different thread that it would be a bad thing to get Tampa in the ALDS. Their rotation is weaker and bullpen is stronger compared to Houston, and it takes a longer series to get to where their bullpen can no longer cover for their starters.

I would disagree about the matchups. Tampa's starting rotation is worse and their bullpen is much better. It's much easier for Tampa to mask their starter weakness with their bullpen strength in a 5 game series than a 7.

This season I don't put too much stock into team stats, especially when projecting playoff performance. Yermin Mercedes (262), Adam Eaton (219), Zach Collins (215), Nick Madrigal (215), Danny Mendick (186), Jake Lamb (131), Billy Hamilton (120), Sevy Zavala (104), Jake Burger (42), Romy Gonzalez (20), Nick Williams (13), and Luis Gonzalez (11) combined to account for 28% of the team's plate appearances to date, and these guys will account for either zero or a very minimal number of postseason PA. That said, I do think the groundball rate is way too high, and just my perception from watching games is that the 'A' lineup is just as guilty as the guys I've listed above. TA, Leury and Eloy are really, really bad at both average launch angle and GO/AO ratio. On the flip side, Moncada, Grandal, and (surprisingly) Goodwin are much, much better at both, and they're also three of the more patient hitters.

Friday's games in the AL playoff chase: CLE @ NYY 6:05 MIN @ TOR 6:07 BAL @ BOS 6:10 ARI @ HOU 7:10 SEA @ KC 7:10 OAK @ LAA 8:38

Sox were ahead after the 7th inning. Didn't fall behind until the 9th.

9/17: Magic number = 7 (still) Minnesota and Kansas City have been eliminated. Magic number to eliminate Detroit is 3, which could happen as early as Saturday. Lost another game to Houston so the Sox are now 3 back. Very unlikely that the Sox get the 2 seed at this point. In the Wild Card race we have Toronto and Boston tied for the two spots. New York is 0.5 back, Oakland 3 back, Seattle 4 back. Over in the National League, the Giants are in front of the Dodgers by 1, with both having clinched at least a WC spot. St. Louis holds the 2nd WC spot, with San Diego 0.5 back and Cincinnati 1 back. Philly is 2.5 out of the WC and 3 behind Atlanta in the East.

The link posted is for the games at Houston.