fathom

The closer the game for Contreras, the more he tries to be perfect and not let the hitter beat him. Thus, it equates to more walks, and more hanging forkballs. Contreras is better when he just pitches, and throws whatever he wants.

Can the Tigers bring in Spurling now?

Our hitters sure get off-balanced on 2 strike offspeed pitches. I don't know why any pitcher would throw a Sox hitter a 2 strike fastball.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Jul 20, 2005 -> 01:08 AM) Great play by Uribe. Damn, if only Contreras pitched over that mistake earlier. He'd be looking great right now. I still can't believe they didn't give Crede an error on that play.

What's disappointing about the score right now is that Contreras actually looks good on the mound. He's looked a lot better than Bonderman has. It's going to be tough to score against Bonderman, who has almost a .80 pt bavg difference between righty and lefty, when there's 6 righties in the lineup.

I can't believe I'm actually sitting home wishing that either Timo or Gload were DHing tonight. At least Frank has made contact both times so far tonight, better than I thought he would do.

Rob Deer-esque. Frank doesn't even try to hit a single. Oh well, at least he's made most of his homers count.

Blah. One out away from a blown opportunity.

QUOTE(CYGarland @ Jul 20, 2005 -> 12:59 AM) Frank too, maybe. Why couldn't Pods lay a bunt down there Frank of the past. Frank this year is a K machine.

What is Hawk smoking? That pitch was clearly ball four.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jul 20, 2005 -> 12:55 AM) Uribe works a walk, don't see that everyday. Sox really need to score at least 1 run in this inning. Pods is the only one on the Sox who doesn't K on that pitch by Bonderman.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jul 20, 2005 -> 12:54 AM) If Konerko leaves as a free agent a guy like J.T Snow could be a stopgap option, but he's getting up there in age. Of course someone like Eric Chavez could have solved this problem. If PK goes, I'm all for trying Dye at 1b. We could either put Anderson in the outfield, and then use the saved money on signing our pitchers to extensions or even trying to sign a closer.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jul 20, 2005 -> 12:49 AM) Posters like YASNY have long said we need a Lefty power hitter in the lineup. A guy like Brian Giles who IIRC may be a free agent this off-season would be a good target. I think we need one more lefty, but Everett has been very good this year in that spot. We really could use someone like Gload to DH or play 1b in games like tonight where we want to bench Thomas and Dye. I used to love Giles, but his bat speed has sure diminished.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jul 20, 2005 -> 12:45 AM) It's hard to wish for the best of both worlds, but the Sox would probably be right up there in runs scored against opposing relievers in the league this season, which should always give up hope. The Sox hitters have just got to work the counts as much as possible against Bonderman. Agreed. Our pitchers have done a pretty good job all year of limiting the big innings, and giving ourselves a chance to win. The only pessimistic thing I feel about tonight is that I don't like some of our lesser hitters (vs RHP) chances against Bonderman. Rowand, Crede, and Uribe don't strike me as players that will hit Bonderman's tough slider very well. As scary as it seems, I would have liked to see Timo get a start in the OF tonight for Rowand.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jul 20, 2005 -> 12:44 AM) The only deal Contreras would probably be included at the moment is for Jason Schmidt, and that's if the Giants would even want Jose. The Giants would love to trade for a pitcher who might be over 40 years old. That's Sabean's dream player.

Yikes. That might be the ugliest all around inning we've had in a long time. One thing I'd like to see the Sox start doing is jump on teams early in the game at home. We seem to wait for the big inning at home more than we do when on the road. I can't remember the last home game where we jumped on the team early in the game, and gave our pitcher breathing room for the rest of the game.

Bonderman seems pretty sharp tonight. We're in for an uphill battle now, going to need to hope for another big rally inning.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jul 20, 2005 -> 12:39 AM) Well I'll put it this way. We're probably not going to make a major trade anyway, and would you rather keep El Duque or Contreras for next season? I'd rather have Contreras.....but trust me when I say Duque is much more liked within the organization.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jul 20, 2005 -> 12:36 AM) I wouldn't say KW is trying to get rid of him, especially after his last performance against the Tribe. From what I've been told, Contreras is the player being offered by KW in every major trade discussion we're involved in, FWIW.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Jul 20, 2005 -> 12:35 AM) That's Joe's fault. THis inning should be over. Tough to give a good team 4 outs. Agreed, but you have to be able to overcome that. With Contreras's stuff, he should never be giving up 2 out, 2 strike, 3 run homers.

And with that mental lapse by Contreras, that's a perfect example of why KW is trying to get rid of him.

That's the Contreras we all know and hate. The man just can't overcome defensive lapses. However, that Crede grounder should definitely be changed to an error.

That's comical that wasn't called an error on Crede. Hopefully, Contreras can pitch over the rare miscue by the left side of the infield.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Jul 20, 2005 -> 12:20 AM) second night in a row frank's left a guy on third with one out. He's not a #3 hitter anymore. Nope. But no way a change will be made unless you see a total collapse. Frank never has been a big situational hitter, and it's even more magnified now.

QUOTE(ScottPodRulez22 @ Jul 19, 2005 -> 04:25 AM) Im scared this might awaken the cubs chances I think the pathetic pitching of the Pirates and Reds has pretty much done that. With the Cubs starting pitching, they should have an advantage every game they play against those teams.