Autumn Dreamin

Was topping out at 96 to start and still 95 in the second, but definitely dipped in this last inning. 93.3 average in the third is probably the lowest I've seen him in a while. His second was 30+ pitches followed by pretty long bottom half for the offense though.

Hagen still dialing in the fastball, but 2 grand slams through 2 innings have given him a 9-1 lead to work with lol

Most national attention for a Sox since...?

Pirates (pick 34) scouts were in attendance.

KC ended their L streak on a wild pitch last night, but dropped the rubber match today. Down to 8-17, 1-9 in their last 10. Garcia missing any time would be pretty rough for them. Carter Jensen looks very good though.

With what rotation spot? Burke and Martin look deserving of theirs, Schultz is up, and McDougal and the Smiths are still waiting in Charlotte. They already have Kay and maybe Fedde to flip. Both are doing well enough that cutting them for the chance Gio does slightly better doesn't seem optimal. Maybe you could move one of them to the pen, but why would Giolito, already getting a late start to the season, sign on to be a flip candidate rather than just joining a contender now? He clearly wasn't getting the type of offers he wanted, so he put himself in a good position to win on the team tied for the best record in baseball.

Barger and Springer close to returning, I wonder what their corresponding moves will be. Eloy cost them nothing and maybe has limited utility with no position and no power so far. Sosa can at least move around the IF and has some control left. Lukes/Schneider are outfielders with options, but I think are clubhouse guys for them.

9 wins before May for the first time since 2021. Date to beat for 10 is 5/4. Would you believe the Sox are 3 games back in the wild card race? Lots of early underperformances across the AL, and only six teams above .500. The 13-10 Pirates are last in their division but would be a top 3 team in the AL. There are 3 teams outside of the NLWC at 13-10, including AZ. Dbacks were pretty hot coming into this series, going 10-4 in their last 14 (before yesterday) including 4 straight series wins and a bunch of comebacks. Top 3 bullpen during that span and batting .300+ with RISP. Their Vargas is also on the longest hit streak in the league (19 games I think?), extended by that garbage time HR. Taking another one off them won't be easy. Slight break perhaps to be catching them when they have no lefty arms out of the pen, with Colson and Mune hot. In addition to Mune's chance to tie the Sox consecutive HR record, he also has a chance to tie another record if his next HR comes before his first 2B/3B:

FYI on Antonacci's HR: I guess it's different from a fan interference situation because the ball guy is authorized to be on the field. And the attempt for the ball was bad enough that they ruled it unintentional? Maybe didn't help that the fielder kind of moved to play it eventually instead of holding his hands up like you might see for a stuck ball. Sam did get the ball, apparently shortly after Bob smashed his phone camera with it:

Mune and Colson say they have a dugout HR celebration in the works and coming soon.

Thanks for eating a couple garbage innings, Bido. Fully expect a fresh arm recalled tomorrow though.

Honestly a nice play by McCann there lol Friendly reminder that there's no batter challenges vs. position players

Pulled ground ball just fair down the LF line, ball guy thought it was foul and tried to grab it. Left fielder assumed it was dead and didn't try to play it. Sam just kept running.

Hahahaha what a way to get your first HR

Ball guy trying to stop this wagon just like the HP ump

Huh? I don't see how that's comparable. The Wilson inclusion was always to flip him eventually, no?

David Keller was scouting Murakami (and Okamoto IIRC) back with the Mets in addition to his trip for the Sox last year. NY was also connected to him in the offseason, but ended up paying more for Polanco to try to convert him to 1B instead. One assumes money wasn't the problem, so I wonder if they just didn't like the profile. Or maybe Mune just turned them down.

Does Pereira go on the Cease trade tree since they got him and Murray for Steven Wilson + a waiver claim?

WOW PEREIRA

Mune flashing the leather at 1B tonight

Japanese call of the B2B2B

Nice catch Pereira! Solid 6 from Burke.