caulfield12

Almost can't watch. Please God NO Jones against Willingham match-up Ventura.

OF COURSE. That's just the way things have been going for us. Mauer probably hits a 2 run bomb here, lol.

Dammit. Thought he hit a duck snort that was going to somehow fall in but it carried out there. Sigh. RISP problems continue to bite the Sox the last 7+ games.

Can we PLEASE have a clutch 2 out RBI here?

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Sep 3, 2012 -> 07:29 PM) Give me production, thats what I look at. Runs scored and Runs driven in, thats what wins ball games right, runs?? That pretty much flies in Marty34's theory that we should dump Alexei Ramirez, since he's been one of the most "productive" SS in the AL, leading the league at his position in RBI's despite hitting for a lot less power.

Somehow I have a feeling that despite 80+ pitches after not starting for most of the season that Ventura will try to push Santiago through Mauer, Willingham and Morneau next inning. Or will they go to Veal/Septimo? Interesting decision. Probably will stay with Santiago unless Mastro whatever his name and Mauer both get on.

GAS. He gone. Why did it take RV and Cooper so long to figure out he was SUPPOSED to be a starter, not a short reliever or LOOGY? Granted, this Twins' line-up isn't exactly going to scare much of anyone in baseball, but they're pesky and have been hotter in the 2nd half of the season. Wow. 95 MPH. Wish Sale had that velocity yesterday to keep the hitters more honest. Of course. Start praising someone and they give up a bomb to Jamey Carroll. Battle of light hitting 2B tonight.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/pos.../OPS/order/true Beckham's ahead of Carroll, Ackley and Weeks (demoted) in OPS out of the top 20 qualified. Behind "All Star" Darwin Barney. Now at .648, .700 would be much better, .725 a dream.

What the hell is going on with Konerko? Jesus of Nazareth. It would be very 2005ish if Axelrod and Santiago end up mirroring Brandon McCarthy down the stretch...but who is our Contreras? FWIW, Santiago also made his debut against the Twins last year in relief....maybe both of his appearances were against them, but at least one. I remember starting a thread about Hector as a 2012 starter that day...only for him to end up our closer in ST.

Except Gordon, Alexei and Dayan hardly walk...so really low OBP's. Not unlike Crede.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Sep 3, 2012 -> 03:01 PM) That's how 2005 worked for the Sox. Someone forgot to tell Iguchi, Uribe, Dye and Pods that they are suppose to roll over against the Twins. But eventually they buy into it. That would also depend which 3 are batting for the Tigers in the 8th. I haven't seen anyone lately do a good job of keeping Fielder or Cabrera off the bases past the 7th. any why couldn't Delmon Young save that choke job for last night? Ozzie's fault! Cue robo-post Greg Ozzie defense.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 3, 2012 -> 03:01 PM) Sox bullpen pitched 10 innings this last sweep and gave up 3 runs. Most of those innings were "blowout" innings, where the game wasn't really in doubt. After the Young ball against Thornton with the bases loaded Friday night...and Saturday's no show...well, let's just say you'd rather see your bullpen hold a tie game at even or hold a one run lead in the 7th/8th than record good stats in games the Sox had little chance to win on those occasions. Of course, the offense has to show up and put a little pressure on the opponents too.

That article isn't so biased, actually. Points out that our television viewership has increased, more families attend Sox games (theoretically leading to more 2nd/3rd generation fans)... There's not such a HUGE disparity in the numbers as one would have thought...less than 10% for college graduates, etc. To boost excitement and attendance, the Sox are offering aggressive ticket discounts for the upcoming 10-game home stand, which includes what likely will be a playoff-critical, four-game series with the Detroit Tigers. Tickets are priced as low as $7 for upper deck seats and $18 for lower-level reserved seats. Gee, great Brooks....finally. But I guess it's better late than never. Maybe they didn't want the embarassment of NUMEROUS empty seats for a first place team playing home games in September. And it's a bit hard to fault fans after all those consecutive losses to DET. All Sox fans are discouraged, to an extent. But the real fans will be out there again tonight. Every day is a new day in baseball, that's the beauty of a 162 game season.

Just goes to show you kids like Esmil Rogers can show up from the NL, have no prior history against the Tiggers, and go out and put goose-eggs on the scoreboard. Kid has an 8+ ERA for the Rockies and they gave him away for cash considerations. Do we have anyone you would trust with a 1 run lead in the 8th inning to get 3 outs against DET? I don't think so...MAYBE, just MAYBE, Myers. But trust? No way.

Please, better bullpen management. That would be nice. No more Myers ending games needlessly. Clutch hitting with RISP. Someone besides DeAza and Wise looking hitterish. Middle of the line-up actually wakes up, and YOUK decides to start playing well again since we're at USCF, where he's a monster. Healthy Sale and Q. Floyd to come back and pitch like an ace, not like the bed wetter. Same with Liriano, next time out.

Good old fashioned home cooking for the Sox tonight. Thank god we're back off the road and STILL in first place, at least temporarily.

Was the actual bet just that the Indians wouldn't beat the Tigers? Or Sox would lose and Tigers would win? Just goes to show you he wasn't around at the end of 2005, 2008, 2009, etc. Teams with nothing to play for almost always gives contending teams fits because they're so loose and relaxed...and lots of younger players trying to make an impression on their new manager. And, the Indians had that early season history of owning Detroit. I think it was something like 6-1 or 7-1 in their first 7-8 games before the wheels came off. Betting baseball is almost always a sucker bet...unless you picked the Tigers yesterday, and that wouldn't have paid you hardly anything at all.

Great play by Chicago boy Kipnis saves the White Sox... Would have been bases loaded, 2 outs.

Wow....that pitch had a TON of movement bearing inside there. Wish Jones could throw that type of FB, or Reed.

Drilled Boesch with 0-2 count, 1st and 2nd, one out. DP saves them, double scores 2 for Tiggers walk off win.

Choo misplayed that, should have held him at 1B. One out, no advance on aggressive Young swinging bunt. Boesch now.

Just perfect. Not. Fielder with leadoff double.

Grounder right at Fielder, he came down the line and tagged Kipnis....then Lillibridge somehow got caught in no man's land between 3rd and home and quickly got tagged out in a rundown. He was running on contact...and became indecisive and left himself out to dry instead of going home right away or going right back to 3rd.

Dadgummit. Now the Tigers have all the momentum back for a 9th inning rally again. Crap. Lilly was never a particularly SMART baserunner in the Jose Valentin/AJ mold. Lots of silly, careless errors out there mentally. Still continuing as a trend, it seems.

Looks like the same Tigers team that couldn't beat the Indians at all the first three series or so of the season.