Good baserunning there - stayed in the rundown long enough to get Encarnacion to second. Doubront made his throw too soon.

Lots of ugly swings already by the Red Sox. The Nasty version of Rogers there in the first. Hope he sticks around for a bit.

Watching Rasmus and Arencibia bat with a runner on third makes me sad.

Doesn't make me sad as much as sick to the stomach. Don't know how A.A. and gibby can tolerate it.

Rogers' stuff makes you want to believe in him.

Not sure why Davis is batting behind DeRosa here.

Rogers is looking good.... Arencibia, not so much. Does he need glasses?

Not sure why Davis is batting behind DeRosa here.

I don't understand why a player like Davis ever bats in front of hitters like Rasmus and Arencibia (or even hitters like Bautista and Enacrnacion). Rasmus and Arencibia in particular are all or nothing hitters - if they connect, you don't need Davis wheels to score. Davis' speed is much more useful when hitters like Thole, Izturis, Bonifacio, or Kawasaki are batting - guys who generally make contact but seldom hit anything other than a single.

Davis gets on base. It makes sense to bat the higher OBP first.

Not sure it makes a whole lotta difference, though Raj does seem hotter than DeRosa right now. (and that Cabrera injury is looking like a nice upgrade at this point - Davis looks flat out solid offensivey and defensively so far this year).

Vs. LHP this year (not including today):

DeRosa: 79pa, .254/.354/.463/.817
Davis: 58pa, .327/.362/.418/.780

Davis gets on base. It makes sense to bat the higher OBP first.

Except he doesn't, not really. His career OBP is .318, which is extremely average. Speed is his special skill.

Was Bautista really closer to that ball than Lind and Izturis? Can't really trust the TV perspective but it sure looked like he was coming from a long way away.

pretty crucial inning right here for Rogers. I'm scared.

oh my what a toss.

(and not a bad block by jpa either).

Butter, Butter, Butter. TERRIBLE decision to send a runner with nobody out, even if it weren't Bautista out in RF. I can't imagine what he was thinking.

E.Rogers: 6.0ip, 6h, 0r, 1bb, 6k

Agaist the hottest offense in baseball, and a couple of this hits were makeable defensive plays.

I'm starting to believe in you, Mr.Rogers.

I am starting to really enjoy the fact that we traded John Farrell for Esmil Rogers.

Looks like Gibbons is going to try to squeeze one more inning out of Rogers (7-8-9 coming up) and then go Delabar-Janssen for the 8th and 9th. Oliver will be ready in case Ellsbury or Ortiz come up with a runner on base.

Or maybe not...

safety squeeze with salty on 3B.

did I say how glad I am we traded Farrell?

Another nice block of home.... JP is a teaser, isn't he?

sigh.

great play by JPA to stop that throw, at least.

Maybe he should've, Magpie. I was surprised to see Rogers pulled at 98 pitches having struck out his last two batters, but I understand it. It's only his 3rd start as a stretched out starter, and it's possible he was told during the mound visit in the 6th this is it right here, lay it all on the table.

It says a lot about Oliver's spot in the pecking order when he's removed for Delabar vs. a left-handed batter who can't hit lefties.

Not sure who that poster was who said it...but I think I agree that Oliver may have to be removed from high leverage usage entirely.

he was told during the mound visit in the 6th this is it right here, lay it all on the table.

That's what I was thinking - Walker came out after the third batter (double-single-single), and it was certainly a stressful inning.

Gibbons may have been looking at Oliver's platoon splits when he went to Delabar, but I don't know if Delabar was completely warm when he got to the mound.

Kinda sad that it takes 2 homeruns from Joey Bats to get a chance a winning.

Any bets on Jose wearing high socks again tomorrow?

Kinda sad that it takes 2 homeruns from Joey Bats to get a chance a winning.

Today. And it also took outstanding starting pitching and fine defensive plays from Rasmus, Bautista, and Arencibia. That's just baseball. Tomorrow something will be needed.

Jose Bautista coming up huge at the plate and in the field in a pretty huge game.

Not sure if clutch exists, but that's pretty clutch.

I hope it's something like scoring a runner on third with no outs.

Emilio as a PH for DeRosa with a runner on third and one out? How much rope is Bonifacio going to get?

If you're going to suicide squeeze why wouldn't you bring in Kawasaki?

To bunt of course... not pinch run.

Just checked Fangraphs. There are 209 hitters with min 210 PA's in MLB. The worst hitter of those 209 has a 45 wRC+. Guess who it is?

Correct.

Didn't see the game, so went back to watch.  I thought that the Arencibia blocks of the plate were nothing special.  Good solid defence though.  Rogers pitched very well- strikeouts and ground balls when the wind is blowing out in Fenway... With Buehrle vs. Dempster tomorrow, I imagine that we'll see Arencibia and Bonifacio in the lineup again.  Arencibia has played 7 games in the last 8 days and his bat is suffering for it.   On the plus side, he has drawn 4 walks in the month of June.  Everything is relative.

He's going to be in the Canada Day game facing a lefty.

.179/.233/.214/.447  He's actually worse when batting right handed.

He edges Kawasaki in OPS against lefties by 31 points. That's something, right?

If you're going to suicide squeeze why wouldn't you bring in Kawasaki?

If you've decided on a squeeze, I'd have used Thole. Sending Bonifacio or Kawasaki up to pinch hit with a man on third is essentially telling the opposition, as loudly as possible, that "We are now going to try a squeeze bunt, there being no possible reason on earth for either of these guys to ever be used as a pinch-hitter."

Plus, Thole may be a better bunter than Bonifacio (for sure) and Kawasaki (possibly) anyway.

I wasn't 100% sure about Oliver, as I said on another Post window. He was worry-some prior to his injury and missing something when he returned. Back-to-back hits (first 3 on) is not normal for him. Delabar didn't look ready because he pitches better than that to first two batters always. Of course, with bullpen usage, options become extremely limited quickly.

Brett Lawrie played June 26 and 27 for Dunedin as part of his rehab. He hasn't played since but I haven't seen any news about a set back.

A sure sign of the apocalypse.

I was wondering about Lawrie, myself. According to his Twitter feed, he was attending a family wedding. Mystery solved.

If Dayton can do it, so can you Alex. Throw us a bone, please.

It took him a year and a half to pull the plug. So, at least another 6 months of Bonifacio?