Red Sox v Orioles Series Review
Back At Fenway! And Now Its Time To Leave Fenway
I asked baseball insider Matt Rosen for his thoughts on this series. His response speaks for all of Red Sox Nation.
“Shite”
Overall Takeaway
I wish they weren’t playing the Orioles the day they celebrabrating the 2004 team, got murdered in game one. But the ceremony and tribute to Tim Wakefield was beautiful. If you didn’t shed a tear when his daughter threw out the first pitch, then you must be a Yankee fan.
Look, the West Coast trip was a beautiful fever dream. Right now, this team isn’t built for Fenway. They can barely field a team, and I am sorry, but when Connor Wong is playing 2B in the 9th inning of a tie game, it is a problem.
Game 1: Baltimore 7-1
Game 2: Baltimore 7-5
Game 3: Baltimore 9-4
What I Loved
The ‘04 Team
This might be the only thing that keeps me going this season. Feed me all the highlights.
Duran Bouncing Back After Game One
Tough game for him in game one. He bounced back in game two and scored a run tonight. I heard he might be punching walls in the clubhouse, screaming that he sucks. Hopefully, that gets figured out.
Jackson Holliday's debut.
Yeah, he isn’t on the Red Sox. But I am a sucker for a moment like this. Look, this wasn’t a Stephen Strasburgh-type debut. He didn’t get a hit and played “mid” defense. Regardless, it is great for baseball.
What I Was “Mid” About
Relievers
Can’t blame the starters for any loss when they give up *checks notes* .. two earned run all series.
Isaiah Campbell needs to shave his ugly mustache.
Starting pitching
The 37-1 K/BB ratio would never last, but watching Bello and Crawford gave me chest pain. It was fantastic to see Crawford get out of two bases-loaded situations in a row. However, how long will luck go that way? Whitlock looked solid today, but it looked like he might have tweaked something in his leg. I'm hoping that doesn’t turn into anything.
A lot of walks in this series.
What I Didn’t Love
Rafael Devers Shoulder
This injury happened after game one of the season. He should have been put right on the IL if he was hurt. He is hitting below .200 and has not looked great at the plate. Cora came out and said, “It’s too early to be grinding. He’s too important for us to for him to be grinding with his swinging and making it worse.”……. So what is it? I said this in a blog last week. If he is hurt, just sit him.
Defense
I was hoping the team would be a little better defensively this year. With the loss of Story, there has been an immediate shift. Wednesday night’s game was a crap shoot. The team only had two errors, but it felt like there was a botch in every play.
Not touching second base cost them game three.
Six errors across the series. No bueno!
Grayson Rodriguez Getting Pulled
As a fan of baseball, I thought this was stupid. One out needed to go six innings. Man is on first, but he is on a roll…. and…. they pull him. Let these guys finish the start. Grayson was clearly frustrated, and he should have been. It was bush league.
Ghost Runner
I hate this rule.
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