tray

The calculation may have been that Liam Hendriks at 96-98 mph with a sore back may have been better than whoever was left in the bullpen, plus Hendriks did not want to be taken down. It was clearly not some major injury, like an injury to his arm or elbow that would jeopardize his season by continuing to pitch. That was not a "managerial mistake." More like managerial discretion that you and some others can feel free to disagree with. Hendriks was the best option at that time albeit not a very good one. The Sox may need to look elsewhere for a Closer if this guy continues to struggle. Listen, Hendriks is very emotive on the mound so it is hard to tell where he is at. Recall Hendriks "huffing and puffing" before he gave up a home run to Aaron Judge....and then wincing before he gave up another one to Stanton.

Did Hendriks complain to Tony that he was having back spasms before or during the game? If he did, I agree that he should not have been employed or should have been pulled from the game. Sometimes players tell coaches and managers that they some issue but tell them it isn't impacting their performance. If Hendriks was throwing 98, it is hard to discern from the bench whether it had any late movement. Setting that aside, the issue with Hendriks control and/or getting mashed seems to predate back spasm complaints (Recall the Field of Dreams game for one, or his struggle closing out this years Home Opener). I see the same pitcher Liam has been for the last two years. He needs to get ahead in the count and if he doesn't, even 98mph strait as an arrow could get turned around by the better mlb hitters. That ball was pasted by Buxton. Mercy.

That was Tony's fault? Come on. IMHO, Hendriks has given up HRs because he gets down in counts to good fastball hitters and needs to throw a strike,. Unfortunately, Hendriks fastball no longer seems to have movement. When it is center cut up in the zone, it gets mashed. OK, let's assume Hendriks has some physical issue or that his fastball has just flattened out for whatever reason. .What are Tony and Katz supposed to do for a Closer now? Bummer? ReyLo?

I don't really care what some think of Eloy or his injuries.. Without him in the line-up, this team is less interesting to some fans (including those who go to a lot of games, like me) , and more importantly, Eloy will be missed by certain WSox players including Abreu, Moncada, and Robert.

Sox may have been overrated coming into the season while other teams in the division have improved more than some expected.

It's always been pretty clear that you hate Eloy Jiminez.

We don't know that. It is a different kind of injury.

Feel terrible about thus. Eloy is my favorite player on this team and also I think his bat was critical to any chance the Sox have to go deep in the playoffs. Set aside the numbers, the guy has been a clutch hitter. So Eloy was busting it down the line. He did that on Opening day and was safe on an otherwise GIDP which then allowed the winning run (Robert) to score. We have have seen countless MLB players, including guys on our current roster, who hit first base awkwardly and sustain hamstring and other injuries. Going all out to make a play is not always the best idea. I saw Vaughn coast in LF today and allow a bloop to drop instead of charging t and diving to try and catch it. I was not mad about that at all. In fact,, I thought Vaughn showed good judgment. He looks like he has learned a valuable lesson about self-preservation vs making one play. Eloy hasn't or maybe he has now. Having said all that, players should practice how they hit first base according to their stride to avoid that common injury. Maybe make first base flatter or let the runner run past it and have a video ( like they have at horse tracks) to see if a runner got past the base in time. Absent some physical changes at first base, this kind of injury will continue to be part of the game.

Why didn't the Manager pinch hit Grandal for McGuire or Burger ? Yes, of course, now that you know they didn't get a hit maybe Grandal would have. Maybe anybody would have.

Hindsight is 20/20. A lot of that here, especially after every close loss.

Silver lining on a dark cloud - Vaughn key HR, Eloy clutch double in the 9th, Sheets two hits and good contact, Great start by Kopech . OK shabby 8th inning D with two errors on a cold night in an empty stadium in (Minnesota). And no, Grandal would probably have done nothing more than McGuire or Burger, especially with an ump calling marginal pitches for strikes so he could go home., Anyway, I would like to start seeing what we got in AJP for 16 Million. , Something more than 0 for 3 ,2 Strike-outs and 3 LOB.

My take away after the last few series: 1. Vaughn should not be in the outfield... ever. He flipped Harrison who was injured trying to avoid him. It is only a matter of time before Vaughn injurs himself diving into the ground or bulldozes Robert. 2. Burger might be as good of a hitter as Vaughn. Jake has been one of the bright spots on the team thus far. 3 Super Joe should be reigned in in terms of his aggressive "sends" . I did not see whether he put up a stop sign for Leury when he rounded 1st base, but he should have. If he did, Leury should have heeded it. 4. Bennetti needs to work on his tone of voice when a player hits a fly ball into the OF. His call often raises the expectation that a ball has a chance to leave the park, and then it ends up being a 300 ft deep fly-out. 5. Stone is just awful. I wish he would retire so that the Sox could hire another color commentator.

TLR will ultimately be judged by the Sox W/L record. Unless the Sox play under .500 baseball, you are wasting your time criticizing him after every loss. Save your breath

Vaughn clipped and flipped Harrison pretty good.. Harrison is lucky he did not take the full brunt of that or he would come have come off on a stretcher. Injuries happen though so no excuses. Just try to win game 3 and get out of town.

I thought Sheets checked his swing but did not see the replay.

Why is Leury swinging on 3-1?

Fvk Keuchel.

We are still in this game...somehow.

Vaughn looks like he is a danger to himself and others. He just made himself a weak side DH for the rest of this season. Imagine Stone if Eloy almost took pout an infielder.

Worse case you squeeze Engel in from third.

Key superfukup by Joe. There were No outs. Geezus Chryst how could that decision be defended?

Huge momentum shift....for NO good reason.

Stone and Bennetti liked the send....LOL.

It's the same fans.only more of them at the Opener. Sunday day games are the exception. That's the day to go with kids.

I don't see as many kids at games as I saw in past years... for whatever reason(s). . Mlb ballparks have turned into open air bars. A lot of people come to games to drink as many beers as they can. I was filing through the outfield concourse during the Opener for food and to get in line at the bathroom. There were a lot of people chugging beers who were oblivious to the game...not even watching it on monitors As one might expect (even just experiencing animosity on sports fan forums) , bellicose fans in the stands spark up an occasional fight. Take me out to the ballgame is just not buying peanuts and crackerjack or taking the kids to Disneyland anymore. For a lot of fans, It's an outdoor bar with baseball.