746 replies to this topic

[patinorange]

A winning road series against a good team, in a place that has been hell.

Priceless!

Water.

Big Dirty Water.

[Wakefield's Heart]

Buh-bye, Trop. See ya in 2010!

[Rooster Crows]

The tide has turned at the Trop - nice series guys. Enjoy the swim.

[kmueller]

And that concludes the Rays season. Thanks for playing cocksuckers.

Elimination number at 22 for them?

[Dionysus]

Now we just need to have the Rangers drop back a bit further, give Beckett some extra days off (possibly a DL stint) and then... worry about October.

[teddywingman]

[Buddy Rabbit]

(meanwhile, after being down 21-0, Pats lead 38-27)

Wait . . .what ? . . . whoa.

Who is QB ?

[BucketOBalls]

A winning road series against a good team, in a place that has been hell.

Check!

Next task is to get Beckett back.

[bosockboy]

Really proud of this team for sacking up and finally taking down the Rays on the road. Just a huge, huge win.

I'd like to see the lead over them go one more to 7 before I call them officially dead, but I'm pretty fucking happy.

This team's gellin like a felon.

[pat3734]

Water. Nice game boys. On to the Windy City. Go Sox!

[moonshotmanny]

Yes!!! It is about time we took 2 of 3 from them in their house! A sweep would have been sweeter, but I will take it!

Paps looked great again!

[TFisNEXT]

Brian Daubach is definitely an upgrade over Jim Ed.

I like Dauber in the studio. I agree...much better than Jim Ed.

[Sox-and-Bees]

Wait . . .what ? . . . whoa.

Who is QB ?

Hoyer. Lawfirm (Green-Ellis) just scored a TD. Giants w/ the ball ~2m left.

[Doooweeeey!]

This team's gellin like a felon.

I agree. I think it started when Adrian Gonzalez got here.

[86spike]

Now we just need to have the Rangers drop back a bit further, give Beckett some extra days off (possibly a DL stint) and then... worry about October.

no need for the DL now that rosters are expanded.

[Kilgore A. Trout]

Hoyer. Lawfirm (Green-Ellis) just scored a TD. Giants w/ the ball ~2m left.

Against the scrubs and all, Lawfirm has looked pretty damn good out there.

[smastroyin]

6 games on the Rays with 29 to play.

Despite the disappointment of last night, a great series win.

Will still be a stressful week, Rangers get O's and Indians, probably not going to do much stretching of that lead this week.

[bosockboy]

Cool Standings just shot us up to 84.5% on playoff probability.

Rays? 4.3%

[SoxFan234]

It's a beautiful thing.

Dirty Water.

[Dionysus]

I agree. I think it started when Adrian Gonzalez got here.

Sure seems that way off hand. Either way, it's nice. I also credit the arrival of Wagner which not only legthened our pen to Super Deadly Depth levels, but seems to have snapped Papelbon out of whatever lala land he's been in all season. Its like he suddenly realized "oh shit, they might give my job away" which - true or not - has motivated him to step it up.

[Sox-and-Bees]

Against the scrubs and all, Lawfirm has looked pretty damn good out there.

I thought he looked decent last year, too. He's a decent little runner--quick and runs north/south with some wiggle.

[TFisNEXT]

Buchholz really sacked up tonight after struggling early.

IMHO that was a great mental step for him...to win a huge rubber game in September on the road vs an important team.

[86spike]

And now we don't have to hear the Buchholz can only beat Toronto BS anymore.

[Tudor Fever]

This win probably increased their chances of making the postseason by about 3%. Not bad at all.

[bosockboy]

Buchholz really sacked up tonight after struggling early.

IMHO that was a great mental step for him...to win a huge rubber game in September on the road vs an important team.

Yeah the old Clay crumbled with the bullshit strike zone shenanigans in the first and the Texas Leaguer festival by the Rays.

He's really maturing (finally).

[Rick V]

Love that we essentially ended the Rays season tonight in front of all 8 of their fans.

Despise that low-class organization.

The bullpen of Wagner, Bard, Oki, and (a rejuvinated) Pap is golden.

And we actually have an offense when Tek is not in the lineup.

[Dionysus]

And now we don't have to hear the Buchholz can only beat Toronto BS anymore.

Really if Beckett can be even halfway effective, then him combined wtih Lester and Buchholz and the insanely deep Pen shouldbe enough to get us through at LEAST the ALDS. Using people freely, you could theoretically send out MDC/Rameriz, Saito, Oki, Bard, Wagner, Paps in sequence and give up only 1 run. Maybe 2. Thats basically a starter.

And yes, I know that'll never happen, but... still.

[teddywingman]

Buchholz really sacked up tonight after struggling early.

IMHO that was a great mental step for him...to win a huge rubber game in September on the road vs an important team.

Retiring the last 9 batters and holding the new lead in the 6th has gotta be a confidence builder for Buchholz and for the team.

Edit: by the way, I'm a Billy Wagner fanboy.

Edited by teddywingman, 03 September 2009 - 09:47 PM.

[Dionysus]

This win probably increased their chances of making the postseason by about 3%. Not bad at all.

6.4% via coolstandings. Probably even more on PECOTA.

[czar]

And now we don't have to hear the Buchholz can only beat Toronto BS anymore.

Unfortunately, while that may be true, the next time Buchholz let's another couple guys on; we'll still have to hear the MELTDOWN!!111 from the usual suspects again.

[smastroyin]

A lot of those odds are based on the six games the Rangers have remaining with Anaheim. Those don't start for another two weeks, could get tight before then.

[bosockboy]

A lot of those odds are based on the six games the Rangers have remaining with Anaheim. Those don't start for another two weeks, could get tight before then.

True....but they are on thin ice. 3 back with 29 to play; they have to be pretty perfect from here on out. You lose a game tomorrow and its 4 with 28 to play and the noose starts tightening. A couple bad days and it can be over.

They were really banking on the Rays helping them here.

Hopefully Baltimore brings the sticks this weekend and can outscore them.

[smastroyin]

I am fairly confident that the Sox will be better than the runner-up in the West, but I do think we could see the lead dwindle to one game or a tie in the meantime. From now til the 17th the Sox play @CHW(4), @BAL (2), TBR (3), LAAA (3). Texas plays @BAL(3), @CLE(3), SEA (3), OAK (3). The only team playing decent ball amongst those is SEA. LAAA is @KC (4), SEA (3), CHW(3), @NYY(1), @BOS(3).

Going into that LAAA series I can see people being worried. But, if they come out of that tied or better against both LAAA and TEX then they are in really good shape to beat at least one of them.

[Buddy Rabbit]

I may have agreed with you a week ago....but not this week.

Guess I woke him up. . . . his girlfriend, however, is pissed.

[Plympton91]

Going into that LAAA series I can see people being worried. But, if they come out of that tied or better against both LAAA and TEX then they are in really good shape to beat at least one of them.

As I type this, the Sox are only 1/2 game behind the Angels. If they can get ahead of the Halos before that Tex/LAAA series, then it's basically over. That would mean that every one of those 6 nights the loser at best keeps pace in the Wild Card race.

[paulftodd]

See you later Rays, your season is over. With Hamilton and Young down, so are the Rangers. The MFY will be tough to catch now, so nothing to do but rest the guys up for the playoffs.

And now we don't have to hear the Buchholz can only beat Toronto BS anymore.

It's actually more like Clay has looked great against Toronto, ( 1.35 ERA), and ok to lousy against everyone else, at least so far. Point being not to read too much into how he performs against Toronto, not that he can't beat anyone else.

What does a win for a pitcher mean anyways, you pitch 6 IP and rely on your BP for 9 outs and while your team scores 6 runs before you leave the game. In another game, a Penny can give up 3 runs in 6 IP and the BP gives up 3 runs, and the Sox lose, and Penny is a bum because he can not go 7 and "he lost the game", and the QS is said to be a BS stat.

Tonight was a bit shaky to start, but he got out of it and put up a QS, 6 IP, , 6 H, 3 ER, 3 K, 1BB, ) HR, 4.5 ERA. As, mentioned, Penny put up a few of those.

That said, big game to win against a decent team on the road, and ended the Rays run at the WC. Clay is making progress.

[Doc Zero]

so nothing to do but rest the guys up for the playoffs.

I really hope you're kidding.

[rembrat]

Game, blouses.

Very nice. Very nice.

[SemperFidelisSox]

Papelbon was hit with a $5,000 fine for a pacing violation. I guess homeplate umpire Paul Nauert wasn't kidding around the other night when he yelled at him.

Meanwhile, Joe Maddon made a pitching change during an inning 12 different times in this series. He used 4 relievers to complete the top of the 8th inning on Wednesday night.

[Deweys New Stance]

I hope somebody remembered to give Dewayne Staats a wedgie on the way out.

[Al Zarilla]

Papelbon was hit with a $5,000 fine for a pacing violation. I guess homeplate umpire Paul Nauert wasn't kidding around the other night when he yelled at him.

Meanwhile, Joe Maddon made a pitching change during an inning 12 different times in this series. He used 4 relievers to complete the top of the 8th inning on Wednesday night.

Did Maddon get yelled at for delay of game? I wonder if Rafael Betancourt ever gets fined like Paps did.

I have MLB Network now and got the Sox game last night, NESN feed. So, dumb question, Don Orsillo is the Sox TV play by play announcer? Color guy should be Remy but he's still in and out? Maybe they need Remy a lot because Orsillo and whoever the color guy was sound pretty average, even being kind. JMO.

[mikeford]

That'd be Dave Roberts and there have been a literal mountain of posts this season talking about how much he sucks.

[trekfan55]

Chiming in today. Coming off the great feeling I had celberating my son's Bar Mitzvah I thought that for once al loss would not matter that much to me. Yet they pulled out a win even after it did not look good for a while.

Thank you for putting a cherry on to of my great day.

[Al Zarilla]

That'd be Dave Roberts and there have been a literal mountain of posts this season talking about how much he sucks.

Thanks, mikeford. I have seen all the Dave Roberts sucks posts. I didn't hear the Sox announcers identify themselves last night, but I was bouncing back and forth with the Giants - Phils, Lincecum - Pedro game. Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow called that game (CSNBA) and those guys are hard to match. That was a frantic watch last night for me...watch one game for a while, while DVRing the other, and then switch. The Red Sox outcome was suwwwweeeeet, Giants not so much for me.

Edited by Al Zarilla, 04 September 2009 - 01:36 PM.

[SoxScout]

Wags, Bard, Pap

[Bucknahs Bum Ankle]

Cool chart. What are those offspead pitches that Papelbon was throwing last night? Gameday had them as changeups I believe, but I don't think he throws an 89 mph changeup, does he? The two slowest are labeled as changeups on Jnai's site, but the other two are grouped together with the rest as four seam fastballs. Doesn't seem right to me. Could they have been cutters?

[nevermind]

Commenting on Drop The Trop:

I hate that place. The empty sections behind third and first base. The cowbells?? Who came up with that ? The rally monkey was a better dumb thought.

Saw in SI they did a best stadium piece and of the 30 stadiums the only one not to get a vote was the Metrodome. I would love to know who voted for the Trop. The field has always been terrible such a joke.