LVSoxFan Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 How about our offense? I did a little math since the ASB and in the ten games since the ASB we are averaging 3.5 runs per game. The meat of our lineup has been atrocious lately, and as Hawk and DJ point out on what seems like every night now, we are dependent on the long ball. Well, dependent to lose, because while the homers just keep coming, they're solo shots (Konerko, Uribe last night) or too little, too late (Anderson--AND a solo shot, of course!). Clutch hitting sucks, we finally started bunting and excuse me: when did we last steal a base? Only Pods apparently can steal a base on this team, so nobody even bothers to look at first when anybody else is there. And Pods hasn't even been doing that! We also have a maddening habit of jumping out to an early lead and then blowing it, and then never coming back. When I was at Friday's game and the Rangers went up 5-2, the wind was sucked out of the crowd and, apparently, the team. We were only then down three runs, people! We can't make that up?!?! Last night the crowd gave up and apparently so did Javy when we went down 3-2. A one-run deficit, and everybody's throwing in the towel. In the sixth. What kind of defeatism is that? The pitching has NOT been bad lately. Contreras threw a two-run game in Detroit and we lost. Freddy through a good game, and we lost. Buehrle gave up one bad inning, but we were only down three runs. And we lost. Last night we managed to score all of two runs. So while I understand people are questioning Javy (what UP with that third-time around sheet?) and Ozzie (what UP with leaving him in that long?), I think you need the pitching to boost the offense and vice-versa, and that's not happening right now. When Javy gives up the inning and we're only three runs down, the offense should go out and shoot right back. We don't do that these days. What's the solution? I don't know. But I also believe that this streak is so absurd, and so bad, that that's all it is: a streak. If Minny and Detroit can just be cruising almost on auto-pilot right now and we can be this bad, surely things can reverse themselves as the season winds on. Which is why I'm not even close to calling it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackie hayes Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 QUOTE(LVSoxFan @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 10:45 AM) The pitching has NOT been bad lately. Contreras threw a two-run game in Detroit and we lost. Freddy through a good game, and we lost. Buehrle gave up one bad inning, but we were only down three runs. And we lost. Last night we managed to score all of two runs. What team have you been watching? Yeah, there have been good pitching performances (though I wouldn't count Mark's among them). But since you bolded the runs per game since the ASB, don't forget the 5.61 era our staff is sporting over the same period. How about everything is bad lately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
santo=dorf Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Podsednik hasn't stolen a base in the second half and he has a line of: .242/.306/.455. We need OBP from him. As for Javy last night, I didn't think he should have been in the 7th after the crowd got all over him, but I had no problems with him in the 6th. As I posted in another thread, Vazquez through 6 innings had a line very similar to Josh Beckett last night. The difference was Beckett was getting run support and was the winner . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G&T Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Yes, the offense has been struggling, but that happens to every team at some point. The only reason the Sox are 20 games over, though, is because of the offense while the pitching has done little more than blow leads. Ocassionaly the pitching has to pick the offense for an extended period, and they've shown that they can't do it outside of Contreras. Luckily Garland has been good too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowand44 Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 09:52 AM) But since you bolded the runs per game since the ASB, don't forget the 5.61 era our staff is sporting over the same period. How about everything is bad lately. Correct. The difference is that this is just a few week dry spell from the offense, this has been a whole year thing for the pitching, especially Freddy and Javy. The offense will be fine, I have no faith in Javy and Freddy on the other hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LVSoxFan Posted July 25, 2006 Author Share Posted July 25, 2006 Well that's kind of what I'm saying. We had a powerhouse offense 1st half, and now they've gone AWOL. Should they wake up again, as I think they will, then maybe things aren't as dire as they seem. Also, people may remember that in '04 and even last year, Crede and Konerko weren't exactly good 1st half hitters and this year inexplicably they've been hitting around .300 since the get-go. So maybe their little "slump" has just moved later into the season. The point of this thread is not to be defeatist, the point is, we haven't "clicked" yet, and I think when we do things will happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackie hayes Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 QUOTE(LVSoxFan @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 10:59 AM) Also, people may remember that in '04 and even last year, Crede and Konerko weren't exactly good 1st half hitters and this year inexplicably they've been hitting around .300 since the get-go. So maybe their little "slump" has just moved later into the season. The point of this thread is not to be defeatist, the point is, we haven't "clicked" yet, and I think when we do things will happen. Well, if we're not gonna be defeatist, we better pray they didn't just see their slumps jump around. Considering how long the slumps of those 2 can linger on, that would be a world of trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LVSoxFan Posted July 25, 2006 Author Share Posted July 25, 2006 I guess deep down my point was: I'm tired of being down two runs and knowing that we won't come back from that. And I'm not the only one who gets that feeling. You could feel it last night when Javy gave up the lead; you could feel it Friday when I was there after Buehrle's five-run inning. Oh well. We'll see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxFan76 Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 QUOTE(LVSoxFan @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 10:47 AM) I guess deep down my point was: I'm tired of being down two runs and knowing that we won't come back from that. And I'm not the only one who gets that feeling. You could feel it last night when Javy gave up the lead; you could feel it Friday when I was there after Buehrle's five-run inning. Oh well. We'll see what happens. Actually, what bothers me more is being UP by 2 runs and knowing the pitching staff is going to blow it. How many times last year would the Sox come out of the gates with a 1 or 2 run inning, slap on a couple/few more, and call it a day. The pitching staff would allow 1-3 and we'd go home happy. I've seen the Sox jump out to 2-0, 3-0 leads and lose 10-3 lately. I was giving Hangar a hard time yesterday for jumping off that ledge, but last night really pissed me off. So sorry about that Hangar. haha Vazquez is brutal. He's so hard to watch. I'm going tonight, hopefully I leave happy because it's a long drive home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winninguglyin83 Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 This team is not as bad as it is playing now -- and it's not as good as it looked when it spanked the Reds, Cardinals, Astros and Pirates. This little funk will end soon and we'll have two months to grind it out to the finish. The offense will start generating more runs and take some pressure off the starters. (Looking at AJ and Jermaine, does anybody else think it would have been for them to skip the all-star game and chill. I know AJ didn't play in Pittsburgh, but he looks pretty tired at the dish these days.) There's no way the Twins can play .800 baseball for the next two months. They will return to earth and have a flat streak. And the Tigers are overdue for a funk. EVERY team has one. That's my story -- and I'm sticking with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LVSoxFan Posted July 25, 2006 Author Share Posted July 25, 2006 I second that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hangar18 Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 QUOTE(winninguglyin83 @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 11:45 AM) This little funk will end soon and we'll have two months to grind it out to the finish. There's no way the Twins can play .800 baseball for the next two months. And the Tigers are overdue for a funk. EVERY team has one. I disagree. Our division is much more competitive this year, and yes, the Twins will have a little Funk. Problem is, the SOX will outFunk the Twins. Tiggers? They already had their funk, and we couldnt gain any ground, and have now resumed Winning. shame on the SOX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winninguglyin83 Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 I missed the Tigers' funk. They lost three of four to Yankees and two of three to BoSox. That's no funk. That's getting outplayed. They'll have a bad 10-15 game stretch. We have to be in position to take advantage. I refuse to believe this team is finished. Too much talent, too much pride. I predict a win over Santana tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LVSoxFan Posted July 25, 2006 Author Share Posted July 25, 2006 Yeah I wouldn't say the Tigers have had a "funk" yet either. Losing a series isn't a funk. Not saying that they will for sure, but I can't imagine they're going to go all-out all season. Even we had our September swoon last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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