– To be frank: it just wasn’t the Sox’s night. You can’t leave a leadoff triple on third base and hit into inning ending double plays in the eighth and ninth and expect to win. Lance Lynn was terrific (who, by the way, made a believer out of me tonight), but the Sox still had plenty of opportunities to win this game. One more ball hit into the outfield, and this game might still be going.
Photo courtesy ESPNcdn.com
– In the fifth inning when Peavy was up, I would have tried to get more creative if I was Robin. Rios has good speed on third base, there is two outs, the pitcher is up and the third baseman is back. To me, I would have thought about trying out a suicide squeeze there. Sure, all they had to do was throw to first to get Peavy, but you never know what STL’s thought process would have been on such a high-pressure play. They very simply could have thrown to the wrong base. If you aren’t buying that, there’s also the ol’ getting the man on first in a rundown trick (like we saw Houston do to us on accident last week). Basically, all I’m saying is both of those situations may have had a higher probability of working than Peavy getting a hit off the NL leader in wins.
– Speaking of Peavy, he’s now 6-2 and both of his losses were 1-0 games. He could easily be 8-0. Another great outing from that guy, and really, he matched Lynn pitch for pitch with the exception of Beltran’s home run. The scoreboard at Busch Stadium listed that one at 442 feet by the way. Yeah, that’s an EXTREMELY generous measurement!
Photo courtesy CBS Chicago
– Alexei Ramirez: I think the Sox need to sit him down for a series and give him a mental break. It’s very obvious to me that he’s pressing and trying to do too much, and he’s also taking his bat out into the field with him now. Yeah, he made that nice leaping play today, but he also has misjudged two dives in the past two games. These plays for Alexei are normally routine. I’d give him a break in the Dodgers series and maybe he will come back refreshed mentally.
– The game ball for the Cardinals shouldn’t go to Lynn or Beltran. It should go to Rafael Furcal. Him stopping Viciedo’s hit in the ninth from going to the outfield kept De Aza at third base and saved the game.
Photo courtesy Chicago Now
Well, the Cubs couldn’t help us out tonight (figures), but the Reds were able to trounce the Indians. It’s Gavin Floyd against Jake Westbrook tomorrow, a guy the Sox know well from his Cleveland days. Floyd has been very bad of late, but with his stuff, he can easily go out there and throw a shutout tomorrow. It’s a big game, as Kershaw will be tough to beat Friday night in LA even with Sale on the mound.
************
This post was by @lstanczyk, Editor for GSB!