Checking In on the Celtics After First Two Weeks of Action

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Image result for kyrie irving

The Celtics 2018 season has been officially underway for about two weeks now, but with everyone focusing on the 2018 WORLD CHAMPION Boston Red Sox and the 5-2 Patriots lately, the C’s have gotten a bit lost in the shuffle.

Never fear! That’s why ya boy Mattes is here to catch you up to speed.

Off the top, the Green are currently sitting second in the Atlantic Division and fourth overall in the Eastern Conference with a 4-2 record. (The Toronto Raptors are 6-0, sitting in first place in the division and tied for first in the conference with the Milwaukee Bucks. Kawhi Leonard is absolutely dominating, and our neighbors to the north could definitely be a problem this year.) Besides a very disappointing loss to the Orlando Magic last week, I’m pleased with our record so far.

However, the offense, until Saturday night, has been a bit lackluster. Besides Marcus Morris (more on him in a minute), the team has really struggled shooting the rock, especially from deep. Both Jayson Tatum and Kyrie Irving are shooting less than 30 percent from behind the arc so far this season, and as a team the Celts currently rank second-worst in offensive rating. After two solid showings to start off the year, Jaylen Brown also had a rough three-game stretch wherein he shot 19 percent overall before getting back on track with 19 points against Detroit two nights ago.

Image result for jayson tatum

He may still lead the team in points per game (16.7), but Tatum’s yet to rediscover last season’s lethal three-point stroke.

On the flip side, their defense has been top-notch, ranking first in the league with a very solid 96.73 rating. (Basically, this is how many points they should be expected to give up per every 100 possessions, and it is pretty much spot on with the 96.3 points per game they have given up through the first six contests so far.)

In fact, the D has been so good that Blake Griffin – who was off to a ferocious start heading into Saturday night’s contest (33.8 points per game through the Pistons’ first four games) – was held to just seven points by Jaylen Brown this weekend. Opponents are also only hitting 28 percent of their threes against the C’s this year, which is the No. 1 mark in the league.

Image result for jaylen brown

Jaylen showed out in Motor City on Saturday night.

So, to sum it up: the defense has been phenomenal so far, and the offense needs to pick it up.

Now, here are few other noteworthy bits from the team’s first half-month of action:

  • Marcus Morris is now officially my new favorite player. I predicted he might very well ascend to such status during the preseason, when he was on a tear and making sure, through both his words AND his play, to set the tone for he and his fellow benchmates this season. Even though he’s technically coming off the pine, he’s currently second on the team with 14.3 points per game and shooting about 50 percent in terms of both field-goal and three-point percentage. This man is on an absolute mission this season, and there’s no doubt who the leader of the newly coined BWA is and will be moving forward.
Image result for marcus morris

That’s right, Marcus. You’ve certainly been backing up that big mouth so far.

  • Gordon Hayward has been solid but unspectacular so far, averaging 11 points on 42 percent shooting through five contests. (He sat out the team’s game against the Knicks to get some extra rest). Most importantly, however, he does not seem to be having any ill effects from the gruesome injury he suffered last year.
  • Another guy trying to make his way back into the rotation after a season-ending injury, Daniel Theis, exploded for 17 points in 19 minutes on Saturday night to go along with eight rebounds. His presence has been especially significant with Aron Baynes being out the past three games due to a hamstring injury. Once Baynes is back in action, the Celtics will have a pretty nice trio of bigs – the third, of course, being Al Horford – to use down low. (AND don’t forget about rookie – and 300s favorite – Robert “Bob” Williams and what he could potentially do, too!)

Again, it’s only been two weeks, so no need to over-exaggerate anything so far – either positively or negatively – as we still have a very long way to go. But, from what we’ve seen so far, I think Celtics Nation is going to be in for a good time this year, as expected.

That’s it for now. Be sure to keep checking in with The 300s for Celtics talk all season long!

Is Dave Dombrowski the Smartest Man Alive or Did He Kinda Sorta Get Lucky?

By on • ( 1 Comment )

This will be one of the most fiercely debated questions when we look back at the 2018 World Series. Is Dave Dombrowski the smartest man alive for the way he built this team or is he just lucky?

Before the playoffs started everyone, myself included, ripped Dombrowski for not making the “big name” move and getting an arm for the bullpen at the trade deadline. And it was a completely justifiable question as this team’s relievers were struggling bad down the stretch. The only guy that you could trust was essentially Craig Kimbrel, who ironically enough you could not trust in the playoffs. Then the playoffs come and they turned into the ’98 Yankees. Some real Freaky Friday shit.

Ryan Brasier, formerly of the Japanese League, became a dominant 7th/8th inning guy out of absolutely nowhere. Joe Kelly went from blowing the first game of the year to excellent to benches clearing brawl spark plug back to awful during the season and almost didn’t even make the postseason roster. Kelly morphed into a triple digit hurling shutdown setup man. And Nathan Eovaldi, who was coming off his SECOND Tommy John Surgery and who the Sox acquired for the immortal Jalen Beeks(!), became “The Rover.” The ultimate weapon out of the bullpen. I honestly don’t know if the Sox win the Series without Eovaldi. For my money (literally) he should have been World Series MVP, which he probably would have won if the Sox took the 18 inning affair in Game 3.

Now my main point is whether we’ll look back at this championship and praise Dombrowski for being a genius with moves like adding Eovaldi and World Series MVP Steve Pearce. Incredible moves. Or will we look back and say wow I can’t believe that actually worked out.

I can’t help but imagine Dealer Dave as Happy Gilmore after this championship run though. Looootta luck involved.

Dave Dombrowksi:

Plus I would argue most, if not all, of the credit should go to Alex Cora. The way he managed that bullpen was absolutely flawless, if not dangerous. I heard Cora use the phrase “All in, all the time” and it just perfectly captures what this team was doing. From the very first game in the ALDS, Cora was bringing out starters rather than trust it to a traditional bullpen guy. He had David Price starting, relieving, or warming up in just about every single World Series game, then brought in their ace in Chris Sale to close it out. You just don’t see that.

So yes ultimately Dombrowski’s moves paid off in the end, but without Alex Cora and all the shrewd managerial moves he made, I think this team falters much earlier on and Dombrowski is on the hottest of hot seats.

PS – Jon Wallach made a great point on Toucher and Rich this morning. It looks like Cora may have established the new norm for how to manage a bullpen in the playoffs. You never see this habitual usage of starters in the playoffs outside of Game 7 scenarios. Now, as Wallach said, you could very easily wreck your staff by the sheer amount of usage, but hey it worked.

The Top 5 Most Important People to This Red Sox World Series Win

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Some things really do feel pre-ordained. This championship is certainly among them. As soon as we crossed off the Yankees and, apart from an 18 inning long intermission, made fairly easy work of Houston, I just didn’t see a way we lost this. So here is my list of the 5 most important people to this championship, the five we owe it to the most.

5.) Nathan Eovaldi

I remember the first time we saw this guy get up in the pen in the fall and said aloud, “Our answer is Nathan Eovaldi, we are completely fucked.” He was a rolling stone of a pitcher who gave us a few good starts down the stretch but should  not have been anywhere near a bump come the playoffs. Well, all that rolling stone did was give us every drop of blood, sweat, and tears he could , eating inning after inning to keep the rest of our staff (somewhat) in tact.

4.) Jackie Bradley Jr.

Bradley has sort of been accepted for what he is. He covers an entire outfield on his own, has a rocket of an arm, but at times might as well head to the plate without a bat. That changed this post-season. Although he was played less in the LA series, JBJ had a number of key hits, including the game tying HR in the 18-inning  loss that will now be forgotten. We owe a huge part of this banner to the Sentinel in Center.


3.) David Price

David Price is a whiny, maddening, inconsistent weirdo. He also just won us the World Series. He got hot when he needed to get hot and because the ruthless, flame-spitting starter, the descendant of Schilling and Beckett, that we needed him to become. And not a moment too soon. Cheers, David.


2.) Steve Pearce

Think I forgot about him? Stevie Longball just refused to let his opportunity at a ring slip away, channeling all the magic his 35 year old body could and slugging his way to  eternal October glory.


1.) Everyone

This is sort of a cop out but needs to be said. The truth us the Red Sox are raising their 4th banner in 15 years because of a classic Boston sports effort. Everyone did their part, everyone had their moment. From Barnes to Nunez, from Kimbrel to Devers, from Kelly to, yes, Ian fucking Kinsler. They all came together when it mattered most.

 

Patriots Bills Week 8 Game Preview, Odds, and Things to Watch For

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Image result for patriots bills

So this might be one of the easiest previews I’m going to write this season, as I expect this one to be an absolute rout. With all due to respect to Papa Giorgio – our resident Bills/Islanders/Mets fan and apparent masochist – this is going to be child’s play for the Patriots and there’s really not a whole lot to talk about. Let’s hop right to it.

As always, here’s a quick look at where, when, and how to watch the game along with the latest lines:

  • Location: New Era Field (Orchard Park, NY)
  • Kickoff: Monday, Oct. 29, 8:15 p.m. ET
  • TV: ESPN
  • Odds (via Odds Shark): Patriots: -14 (spread) / Patriots: -1053 (moneyline) / 44 (total)

The lines for this game really tell the whole story: the Pats are two-touchdown favorites on the road; they’re expected to be responsible for over 60 percent of the game total; and there’s a FOUR-FIGURE moneyline. (For those who don’t know what that last part means, basically it means you would need to bet over $1,000 just to win $100 by picking the Pats to win on Monday night.)

I’m not going to sugarcoat it: the Bills (2-5) are pretty bad. For a team that made the playoffs just last season, it’s actually pretty incredible to see how far they’ve tumbled in such short order.

To be fair, they have at least played pretty well on the defensive side of the ball, currently sitting at No. 11 overall and No. 16 in points per game allowed. They’re also tied for eighth in the league with 19 sacks, led by defensive end Jerry Hughes (4.5 sacks) and the ageless wonder in the middle of the defensive line, Kyle Williams (3.5 sacks).

Second-year cornerback Tre’Davious White is also a criminally underrated player, as he is truly one of the game’s elite. (You might remember him as the guy who Gronk cheap-shotted – resulting in a one-game suspension – the last time these two teams played in Buffalo on December 3 of last season.) In fact, he was so good as a rookie last season that Pro Football Focus not only anointed him their Defensive Rookie of the Year, but they also went so far as to rank him as the No. 2 overall corner in the entire league. The Bills absolutely stole him with the 27th-overall pick in the 2017 draft, and he could be a problem for Josh Gordon this week.

Image result for tre'davious white

White is one of the game’s premiere young defenders.

On offense, it’s just a sad state of affairs. To start, Derek Anderson will be the Bill’s starting quarterback this week. He may truly be the only quarterback in the NFL right now who is a worse option than Nathan Peterman – the Bill’s only other healthy signal-caller, with a career 3-to-9 TD-to-INT ratio – but he’s still going to be the guy leading the way for Buffalo on Monday night.

There once was a time where it looked like Anderson might be something. Back in 2007, as a fresh-faced sophomore, he led the Cleveland Browns to a 10-5 record, which was by far the closest they have been to making the postseason since 2002. He also compiled over 3,700 passing yards and 29 touchdowns that season. You can’t ever take that away from him.

Image result for derek anderson browns

Derek Anderson – back in the glory days.

After that one season, however, he fell completely off a cliff. Though he ended up making 26 more starts over the next three years – two with Cleveland and the third with Arizona – he has spent the last seven seasons holding a clipboard as the backup for Cam Newton in Carolina. In just his fifth start since 2011 last Sunday, he threw three picks and could not even crack 200 yards. Simply put: there’s no need to worry about the Bill’s passing game this week.

The Bills do have a decent pair of guys in the backfield, led by LeSean McCoy. For all the flak McCoy gets for his injury woes, you might be surprised to hear that he has actually started at least 15 games in three of the last four seasons heading into 2018. The only problem is, minor ailments and game script have kept him from making much noise outside of two games this year; besides two solid 19-plus-touch, 90-plus-yard performances in Weeks 5 and 6, Shady has averaged just 7.8 touches and 31.8 yards across his other four games. The man is coming off of two straight 1,500-yard seasons before this, though, so he can definitely do some damage if he does play. Chris Ivory is a solid backup as well, and, per ESPN’s Mike Rodak, he’s expected to play after dealing with a hammy issue earlier in the week.

(MONDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: According to Schefty, Shady has cleared concussion protocol and will play tonight.)

Image result for lesean mccoy

I’m not sleeping on you, Shady. I know what you’re capable of.

Storylines

(Gronk’s Time to Shine): Per usual, Buffalo native Rob Gronkowski will be looking to feast in his old stomping grounds. He just seems to hit another level every time he’s in Buffalo. Per Rich Hribar of Rotoworld, in seven career games in Upstate New York, Gronk has averaged 9.6 targets, 6.3 catches, 104.3 yards, and one touchdown per contest. After not having Gronk for the Bears game last week, the big tight end returned to practice Thursday afternoon and all signs point toward him being ready to go on Monday night. Especially considering how last year’s game ended up there, Gronk will be chomping at the bit to get out on the field and dominate, feeding off of what is sure to be a rowdy Bills Mafia crowd that should be on his case all game long.

Image result for gronkowski eating

Get ready to watch Gronk feast on Monday night.

(Gordon to Slow His Roll): As mentioned above, Josh Gordon is very likely to see a lot of coverage from Tre’Davious White this week, limiting his upside and potential impact on Monday night. Since he will be taking up most of White’s attention, however, that should open things up for the rest of the offense – including for former Bill, Chris Hogan, who posted six catches last week against the Bears and has over 60 yards in each of the Pats’ past two games. I’m not saying Gordon is going to be invisible in this one, but do expect his red-hot play to finally cool down a bit this week.

(What You Got, Kenjon?): With Sony Michel very unlikely to play in this week’s contest, former Panthers and Eagles (and Oregon Ducks!) running back Kenjon Barner will serve as the between-the-tackles compliment to James White in Week 8. White will still dominate most of the backfield touches, but Barner will be called upon to tote the rock quite a bit, especially if the Pats go up big, as expected. Last week, he carried the ball 10 times for 36 yards after Michel went down and has averaged over four yards a carry for his career. Thankfully, Michel should be coming back at some point over the next couple of weeks, and hopefully Barner can get it done in the meantime.

Prediction

This will be an absolute massacre. The Pats will be up by at least two scores at the half, if not more, and Derek Anderson will demonstrate even further that it’s probably time to hang ’em up for good. The Pats win this one in an absolute blowout, 37-12.

I’m Making November 1st a Fast Food Holiday

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Business Insider – Taco Bell is giving away Doritos Locos Tacos on November 1.

Before the World Series, Taco Bell announced it would bring back the “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” promotion: If a player steals a base, Taco Bell will give away tacos across the US.

Taco fans didn’t have to wait long for the free tacos to be unlocked. On Tuesday, the first night of the series, the Red Sox’s Mookie Betts stole second base.

Taco Bell’s “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” promotion has always seemed a bit tacky to me. Has there ever been a World Series without a stolen base? Just one, actually. As Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune wrote last October:

Only once in 112 World Series has no one stolen a base. That was in 1944 when the St. Louis Cardinals downed the St. Louis Browns in six games.

Nevertheless, I’m not one to say no to free food.

Related image

I’m also not one to pass up deals. Right now there are plenty of deals in the fast food world, and I’m not talking about $5 boxes. I’m talking about even better deals. So on November 1st, in honor of Taco Bell giving out free tacos, I’m going to take advantage of all of them and hit for the fast food cycle. What is the fast food cycle, you ask?

Image result for burger king nuggets $1

Image result for wendy's fries $1

Image result for mcdonalds $1 soft drink

That’s 10 nuggets, a large fry, a large Coke and a Doritos Locos Taco all for three bucks (plus tax) on November 1. Name a better fast food meal with more variety for a better price. I’ll wait.

Before you complain about having to drive all over town to hit for the cycle, keep in mind that at least two of these four restaurants are probably right next to each other in your town. I have a Taco Bell literally next to a Burger King on my way home from work. The Burger King in my home town was across the street from the McDonald’s. Hitting all four restaurants will not be as challenging as you think. Even if it is a bit more challenging than just plunking down $8 for a Quarter Pounder meal at McDonald’s, how could you say no this kind of deal?

Image result for cheapness is not a sense george

Make no doubt about it, there has never been a better time in history to enjoy fast food in this country. And don’t look now, but the McRib will soon be back, too.

Top 5 Takeaways from Game 2 of the World Series

By on • ( Leave a comment )

The Red Sox took a commanding 2-0 lead in the World Series last night as the series shifts back to LA for the weekend. The Sox will look to do exactly what they did in 2004 and 2007 with a World Series sweep of the Dodgers. Last night was David Price’s night though as he proved his impressive start in the ALCS was not an anomaly. Lets breakdown the Top 5 Takeaways from Game 2 of the World Series.

David Price Learned How to Putt

Similar to Happy Gilmore at the Tour Championship, David Price has seemingly learned how to fix his biggest weakness and now the competition is shook. Admittedly a sentence I wasn’t sure I’d ever type, but numbers don’t lie. Price gave up 2 runs over 6 innings and struck out 5 while looking dominant at times. After going more than a decade without getting a postseason win as a starter, Price now has 2 in less than a week. Incredible.

The real question is, what did David Price figure out in that ALCS Game 4 bullpen session?

It was while going through his warm-ups that Price discovered a new trick — one he wasn’t divulging — that he believed helped his start Thursday.

“I threw 40 pitches in the bullpen [Wednesday],” Price said. “I figured something out warming up in the bullpen, and it kind of just carried over into the game.”

Who taught David Price how to putt? Who was his Chubbs?

The 2018 Boston Red Sox are Lethal With Two Outs

This is a very good Red Sox team led by statistically the best offense in baseball, but get 2 outs on them? They’re even better. After getting 2 quick outs in the 5th inning it looked like the Dodgers would be able to hold onto a mid-game 2-1 lead. You didn’t think it would be that easy did you? It’s like any horror movie you’ve ever seen. Always make sure the killer is dead because if you’re not sure, if you don’t see his cold dead body then he will come back to haunt you. The Red Sox have become Jason Voorhees this postseason.

So with two outs Christian Vazquez singled, then Mookie Betts singled, then Andrew Benintendi walked, then Steve Pearce walked, then JD Martinez singled to drive in 2 runs and put the Sox up 4-2. Bingo. Bango. Game over.

Joe Kelly Has Morphed into 2007 Jonathan Papelbon 

For the second night in a row, Joe Kelly was just blowing guys away. It wasn’t just his triple digits fastball either though, Kelly had impeccable control on his breaking balls. He was just dropping pitches in wherever he wanted and the Dodgers couldn’t touch him. Kelly finished the night with 2 K’s in his lone inning pitched.

Andrew Benintendi May Have Been the Smart Bet for World Series MVP

After racking up 4 hits in his first career World Season game, Benintendi came back and flashed the leather in Game 2 to continue building his case against my bankroll.

I’m still holding out hope for my guy Nathan Eovaldi who came in at +5000 to win MVP. He looked excellent yet again last night striking out one in a 13 pitch 1-2-3 8th inning, but with the way this series is going I worry he just might not get into enough games. Especially with Rick Porcello getting the nod for Game 3, it looks like Eovaldi has gone from Rover to setup man for Boston.

The Dodgers Are Softer Than Charmin

First we had the Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycut complaining that the Boston bullpen is too close to the fans. Dude it literally has not moved in over 50 years. Then last night we saw Ryan Madson come into a 2 outs bases loaded jam and proceed to immediately walk in a run and then give up a 2-run single before recording the 3rd out.

The final blow was this shot of Yasiel Puig:

This came after any and every Dodgers player went out of their way to say the chilly New England temperatures don’t make a difference to them. Picture’s worth a thousand words.

PS – The Red Sox bullpen retired 16 straight Dodgers hitters to end the game. Duct tape and bubblegum aside, this bullpen is money right now.

The MMA Apocalypse is Upon Us

By on • ( Leave a comment )

MMAFighting.com –  MMA history is about to be made with a shocking talent exchange.

ESPN reported Wednesday that the UFC and ONE Championship are in talks to trade former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson for recently retired ONE welterweight champion Ben Askren.

Straight off the top, what is basically happening if you don’t feel like reading is that the two organizations are going to release their respective fighters so that the fighters can sign with the other organization. So it’s not really a true, blue trade, but it is the kind of thing that quasi-happens on occasion in the NBA around the trade deadline.

This makes the most sense for ONE and DJ. “Mighty Mouse” has never been able to break through popularity-wise as his PPVs have sold poorly and Fight Night cards have had low ratings compared to other headliners. In ONE, he’ll have the benefit of a fanbase that loves smaller, quicker, more dynamic fighters and will be able to reap the rewards of sponsorship opportunities

I can’t rate the UFC’s side of the deal without bias unfortunately. I hate Ben Askren. He is entitled and big-headed without, in my mind, deserving to be. Don’t get it twisted, he has been completely dominant throughout his career. But he has fought literally no one of note. His first fight in ONE was against an unknown career middleweight with I think 8 fights. Woopdy do. The UFC seems to be desperate to add another marquee name in the wake of another McGregor loss and Daniel Cormier retiring imminently.  Like a baseball team that doesn’t build its farm system, the UFC did not do a good enough job building future stars.

Either way, this is the most batshit thing I can possibly think of happening in combat sports. Shipping two fighters across the world in opposite directions is laugh out loud funny especially when you consider this is being done because neither organization knows what the hell to do with the fighter they have under contract. Stupefying stuff.

-Joey B.

The 300s “No One Named Eli Has Ever Been Good At Anything” Fantasy Football Round Up – Week 7

By on • ( Leave a comment )

I’m busy at work and mad at fantasy football so all I have to say is go Sox and enjoy the fantasy takes.

Mattes

Having the second-least amount of points in the league and the most points scored against is just not a good combo. Got an almost 40-berger out of Mitchell Trubisky as a streamer and still lost by almost 80 to the league’s top scorer. At least I have an extra second-rounder next year, and it’s looking like Kerryon Johnson is going to be a stud sixth-round keeper (179 yards of total offense this week). I’m just trying not to finish last at this point.

Had a great week in my other league, but – you guessed it! – I ran into the week’s high-scorer. Got 70 points out of my receivers alone, though, and now that Arizona has someone competent running the offense I’m hoping David Johnson has a little second-half resurgence.  Also, it looks like I’m not going to lose Sony Michel for the year after all, and I was somehow able to snag Tarik Cohen last week, who has three-straight 20-plus point games. I’m 4-3 and feeling good about things to come.

 

Papa G

In a shocking turn of events, I continued my hot streak to go 3-0 again this week. Beat Red by a solid 3 points thanks to Julio Jones. A special thanks to the New York Giants for being a dumpster fire and making this all possible. In one of my other leagues I won by .14 points so luck was on my side this week. Fully expect to nose dive soon enough though.

 

Red

I would like to thank Ezekiel Elliott for murdering any chances I had this week in both of my leagues with a whopping 5 points. How bout them Cowboys indeed. Also, shoutout to Papa Giorgio for beating me by 3 points on garbage time stats in the 4th quarter of Monday Night Football. 

 

Big Z

Picked up a 98-81 win in Week 7 to improve to 4-3 and move into a tie for third place in my league. James White and the New England D/ST came up big for me. Of course it didn’t hurt that my opponent wasn’t up for the London game in time to bench Melvin Gordon who was out.

My only gripe comes from the TE position. I’ve got Eric Ebron and George Kittle. They both seem to be boom or bust, and I’ve yet to figure how to play the right guy any given week. At least it didn’t cost me a win in Week 7, and gets me a little bit closer to the Bench Points Championship

 

Joey B

My team is just awful and I lost by 20 to fall to 3-4. Whatever.

 

 

Top 5 Takeaways from Game 1 of the World Series

By on • ( Leave a comment )

The Red Sox took a 1-0 lead in the World Series after a thrilling Game 1 last night. After jumping on Clayton Kershaw early it seemed like the Sox were going to throttle the guy who had never pitched in a game below 50 degrees before. With 1 out and 2 runs already in, JD Martinez got picked off at first and Xander Bogaerts popped out to end the inning though and Kershaw settled in. The Sox were able to pull out the W with contributions from pretty much everyone, so lets look at the Top 5 Takeaways from Game 1 of the World Series.

1.) Alex Cora Practices the Dark Arts

Big Z and I joked on The 300s Podcast preview of the World Series that Alex Cora has a horseshoe firmly shoved where the sun doesn’t shine. This guy can do no wrong. It seems every move he makes, despite all evidence to the contrary, is the right one and he proved it again last night. Like most of Red Sox Nation I groaned at my TV when I saw Cora pinch hit for Rafael Devers with Eduardo Nunez. Devers was second on the team in batting average this postseason heading into last night, already had an RBI on the night, and Nunez had been struggling mightily. What does Nunez do? Proceeds to SMOKE a three run home run to put the Red Sox up 8-4. Incredible.

2.) Chris Sale Still Isn’t Right 

Don’t get me wrong, the guy was throwing gas to start the game and actually ended up with 7 K’s in 4 innings. But it took him 91 pitches, only 54 of which were strikes, to get through 4. His K/9 IP remain elite, but he doesn’t have the stamina or the health or whatever you want to call it to go deep into games. Perhaps the Sox can use Sale out of the bullpen in this series and just squeeze whatever magic they can out of him, but I am still concerned about his ability to bounce back considering everything he’s dealing with.

3.) The Red Sox Bullpen Continues to Feel Its Way Through the Dark 

As we all know, the Boston bullpen was a huge concern heading into the playoffs and Cora has made it work relying primarily on Ryan Brasier, Matt Barnes, Joe Kelly, and Craig Kimbrel. Last night it was those four guys once again leading the way. Joe Kelly was throwing freakin wiffleballs last night as he had arguably his best outing since he’s been in Boston. Oh and Craig Kimbrel was absolutely filthy with 2 K’s to shut it down (thanks Eric Gagne).

4.) We Officially Have a Name for the Swingman Starter/Reliever

Before Game 1, Cora officially gave a name to what I had been referring to as a swingman/super utility bullpen arm all month. The Rover. For guys like Nathan Eovaldi and Rick Porcello who have started games, pitched in long relief, emergency relief, as setup men; basically doing whatever it takes despite the role. Henceforth, this shall be known as The Rover.

5.) The Red Sox Remain Undefeated Against Instant Replay

Steve Pearce grounded into an inning ending double play and it was a real rally killer. Bummer. Only to come back from the commercial break to find out that Cora was challenging the play at first. And wouldn’t you know it, Pearce beat the throw by a hair and was safe at first to extend the inning. What happens next? JD Martinez absolutely smokes a ball to center field to score Pearce and put the Sox back on top 3-2.

Looking Ahead to Game 2

Tonight we get David Price back on the mound for his first start since his excellent outing in the ALCS. Has he truly exorcised those playoff demons and is he ready to give the Sox a commanding 2-0 lead in the World Series? Or will he revert back to the shaky guy we’ve seen all too much?

Either way, jump on the train now and buy a YUCK sticker before they’re all gone.

The Dodgers will counter with Hyun-Jin Ryu who is 1-1 with a 4.40 ERA this postseason. First pitch is tonight at 8:09 pm. Make sure to grab a coffee on your way home after work because it’s gonna be another long night!

PS – Don’t forget about your free lunch today.