6/7-6/9 Red Sox vs. Rays Series Thread

Critical series for the Red Sox coming up. Actually, I thought this whole stretch of having Houston twice, Indians, Yankees and Rays was important and they managed to lose every single series, but now they have a 4 game set at home against the Rangers.

Current WC standings:
Yankees - 6.5 up
Rangers - 1.5 up (WC2)
Indians - tied with you
A's - 1.5 behind you
Angels - 3 behind you
White Sox - 3 behind you

Red Sox can't afford a series loss. A 4-game series sweep is an end to this season.

This team loses in the most painful slowest imaginable way.

That's pretty revealing (Xander's statement). This poor playing streak is in their heads. The mental part of the grind is wearing them down. Mookie looks miserable too.

I wouldn't recommend punching people to get the blood pumping, that'll only get players suspended. I don't know what they need to play better, but it's not that.

Seems like we are pressing at the plate and not squaring up the pitches they would normally be turning into base hits.

The Good news...yes, there is always good news....we didn't get swept.   I will be here to the last out of the 2019 season....whenever that occurs.   

Behind em 100%.   Let's Go Sox !!!

I went to the game unfortunately and that lineup was about as much of a punt as you’ll see

At least Hernandez looks good

It did, although the numbers show that they were .500 for the next couple of weeks.

I remember feeling like it was the first time that season that the team really showed fight. I remember just before A-Rod was hit by Arroyo, the cameras panned to Theo Epstein who was yawning. Appropriate given the way the season was going.

That fight woke them up. They were determined to play the game - it was supposed to be rained out. They won the fight and perhaps it helped give them that extra to win the game. Who knows?

All I know is things felt different, something you can't quantify. For the first time that season I started to believe there was something special there. Didn't think it would result in the greatest comeback of all time or the most important championship in Boston's history, though.

Rather than assume every pitcher has to be either a starter or a reliever, a good Moneyball ahead-of-the-curve move would be to figure out the optimal number of innings for each pitcher and use them accordingly. Price and Sale are basically pitch-them-til-they're-tired guys. Rodriguez and Eovaldi are maybe 5-inning guys - good candidates for pairing with openers, maybe. And maybe Wright and Johnson are 2-3 inning guys? I don't know.

Anyway, this is the way the game seems to be evolving - Tampa Bay seems to have already figured it out - and it would be nice if they could just follow the logic to its natural conclusion.