optimistredsox

[optimistredsox]

25 June, BOS @ LAA, 2-5, loss

Whilst there is deep and terrible shame in getting swept by the Angels, that was the game we were meant to lose. We got stupid lucky in the first inning. Kikuchi is an awesome pitcher and, with no offence to our rotation and bullpen, we just didn't have that sort of arm quality to follow up, sadly. Kikuchi's rough first, aided by an error (neither of the runs were earned), didn't phase him at all: he went seven innings and struck out twelve. Those are games I throw my hands up and say, hey, their guy is good. This isn't our day. The problem is all those fuckups along the way - where we BEAT the good pitcher in SF and still blew the game, where we walked or beaned in the runs that beat us in the meantime. Ugh. Swept by the Angels . Ugh. Still, some bright sides.

Zack Kelly allowed two hits and struck out four in an inning and two-thirds. Welcome back, Zack.

We scored two runs whilst being held to three hits. Yeah, there was an error, but that's pretty efficient and possibly the only way to put a positive spin on getting held to three hits.

We didn't make an error.

We have a day off to hopefully get our shit together. Feel those trying to underplay the Raffy deal will be looking at the Sox hit totals on this road trip and having a word with themselves.

Let's win at home, pals.

[optimistredsox]

24 June, BOS @ LAA, 2-3, loss (10th inning)

Wasting a Garrett Crochet start is a sin. Especially when you had the lead. Last night was one of those enraging Sox games where you kind of figured you needed a real slugger in the lineup. The Sox only managed five hits and three of those were Marcello Mayer. We've slipped under .500 again and maybe that's just who we are? Doomed to bounce up and down over and under for long enough to give hope that we're finally stabilising only to slip again and lose four in a row. The bullpen is tired and, this is going to shock you all, trading Raffy Devers didn't solve that problem. The front office making the team worse so long before the trade deadline seems to put Cora and the players in a particularly difficult situation. They'll only get help if they show they can win, but they've taken the only real threat out of the lineup. What the fuck? I am grumpy about this. Anyway, there are some bright sides.

Crochet was great. He went a full seven innings, struck out seven, walked three and allowed only three hits. He also shut out the Angels for his seven innings. That we wasted that is a crime.

We didn't make an error.

Marcelo Mayer, bouncing between second and third base, went 3-for-4 with a run and a RBI. I really want to see this kid rising up to his potential.

We struck out the Angels 15 times in 10 innings. Which is good.

Fifteen of our losses are one-run losses. We're not terrible. Which is far more infuriating than being terrible.

I think the idea that this is a mediocre team undermines its success against some good ball clubs. It's inconsistent, but I reject the accusations of mediocrity.

I really don't want to get swept. Let us channel the spirits of so many ALDS successes against the Angels and give them a smackdown tonight.

[optimistredsox]

23 June, BOS @ LAA, 5-9, loss

Back to .500 and once again we get beat 9-5. Was it as ignominious? Well, there were no unearned runs at least (though still the one error), but we did force in four runs with the bases loaded on walks and hit batters. Which is, coincidentally enough, the amount of runs we lost by. Which, and let me be perfectly clear, is unacceptable for a major league baseball team that, like swept the Skanks a week ago. I am struggling with this one. At least Cora got thrown out again, which totally doesn't indicate how much his own team is frustrating the shit out of him. Or at least I hope it is. They're certainly frustrating the shit out of me. So let's look at the bright sides.

Trevor Story hit a dinger, scored a couple of runs and was 2-for-4

Every starter got a hit bar Marcelo Mayer. That's nice. I mean, not for Mayer, but for everyone else.

Wilyer Abreu knocked in a couple of runs.

Considering the Angels took ELEVEN walks, we could've lost by a lot more.

Ugh.

We'll get 'em tonight. Please.

[optimistredsox]

22 June, BOS @ SFG, 5-9, loss

There is not a lot of that game I want to see again. So much went well, but the stuff that went poorly went very, very poorly. We've been on a hell of a run, still making the odd error but not suffering for them. Of the nine runs the Giants scored against us yesterday, only four were earned. We held the lead twice and gave it away. We wasted a decent but not great start by Giolito but, and I would say this is more damning, we wasted a bunch of runs scored AGAINST one of the best starters in the game, Robbie Ray. When you do that well against someone it is so fucking hard to beat, chucking it all away is kind of a crime against baseball. There's no shame in not being able to hit against pitchers that good. But we didn't suffer that problem. Similarly, this was the first game that the lack of Raffy Devers really struck me in that we don't have someone in the lineup I can pin my hopes on. There was a moment in the ninth that Wilyer Abreu was up and I thought about the amazing start he had to the season and how, in spite of injury and falling down to earth a bit he's perfectly serviceable and could come through, but I didn't feel it. There's no one in that lineup that brings hope of changing the game with a swing of the bat. I should clarify: any of those guys on any day can change the game with a swing of the bat. But with the potential exception of Rob Refsnyder against a lefty, none of them bring hope along with chance. Does that make sense? Manny brought hope, Papi brought hope, Pedey brought hope, Mookie brought hope, and Raffy brought hope. We need a hope bat on the team. Will one of these young 'uns become a hope bat? Or will it be Bregman (assuming he's healthy)? I don't know. But the Red Sox need a hope bat. Preferably more than one. Because you don't want to be shrugging and crossing your fingers for hitters one through nine. Especially when those hitters have made so many errors on the field their bats are their only hope at redemption. Anyway. That was a bitter game to watch. But there were some bright sides.

Giolito went 6 and had a better start than the line suggests. He was let down by bad fielding (Duran's error) which meant 2 of the 4 runs he gave up were unearned. He struck out five and walked two.

Cora stacked the lineup with his lefty-killers and they did their job. Rob Refsnyder and Romy Gonzalez, the anti-southpaw platoon (even though they were not actually platooning), both went deep on Robbie Ray. Romy ruined it all by making the fatal error that began the slippery slope of misery, but hey. It's cool when you see lineups working, especially against such a great pitcher.

Ceddanne Rafaela is continuing to do stuff. He went 2-for-4 with a dinger. He also continued to make amazing catches.

Roman Anthony seems content to take walks whilst working out which pitches he wants to swing at. He took another two yesterday so even though he had an 0-fer, he scored a run.

Even though it was against us, it was nice to see Mike Yaz hit a dinger. Wish we'd drafted him.

We kept fighting until the end.

Ugh, I hated that game.

Let's go kick the shit out the Angels.

[optimistredsox]

21 June, BOS @ SFG, 2-3, loss

Well, the wait is over, Raffy kind of beat us (with the help of his new team). His two run dinger was the difference maker, and obviated our late comeback in the top of the ninth. That he hit it off his pal Brayan Bello kinda hurt too (though Bello had another good start). David Hamilton made another error but did not make up for it with a two-run dinger this time. And whilst we technically outhit the Giants (6-4), half of our hits were Trevor Story with Roman Anthony and Wilyer Abreu accounting for the other half. Lot of 0-fers on the Red Sox yesterday, and that's not a good sign. Still, we didn't give up and we kept it close. So let's grin and bear it and look at some bright sides.

We got the first Raffy dinger against the Sox out of the way. Like ripping off a bandaid, it hurt, but it was over quick. The third inning as it happens.

Other than that Bello had a good outing. He gave up three runs on four hits and only one of those fucking runs was earned. What the fuck is wrong with this team? How can we give up so many unearned runs. Where are these fucking errors coming from? This promising young pitcher is finally getting his shit together and we can't defend behind him and can't fucking hit to support him. He struck out six and walked one. Also how do you give up two home runs but only one earned run? Baseball is confusing sometimes.

Trevor Story woke up a bit from his bat's slumber. He went 3-for-4 and scored a run. That run was on a heads up play in the top of the ninth, capitalising on an error (apparently other teams make those too!).

Roman Anthony walked twice and hit a double, going 1-for-2 with a run scored. It was the first and penultimate run of the Sox evening all at once.

The bullpen had two clean innings. Always grateful and hate to be wasteful.

We didn't quit.

Sad it didn't work out.

We can still win the series, which would be awesome, because winning series is good.

[optimistredsox]

20 June, BOS @ SFG, 7-5, win

I never knew true emotional confusion until I watched Aroldis Champman in a Red Sox uniform strike out Raffy Devers in a Giants uniform with a 102mph fastball. I knew not what to feel. Lost, in a sense. Which is odd as the Red Sox categorically DID NOT lose, which I think surprised a whole bunch of folks, possibly including themselves. Of course we made an error and it cost us a run, and it wasn't the prettiest game in the world, but after considerable amounts of speculation, we won. Huh. So let's look at the bright sides.

After a shaky start by Dobbins, the bullpen locked down the Giants' bats (including THAT bat) and allowed the Red Sox bats to do their thing.

Including Ceddanne Rafaela's bat, which is still above .250. He was 3-for-4 with a dinger, 2 runs and 2 RBIs.

David Hamilton, whose error cost us a run, more than made up for it with a two-run dinger off Birdsong in the third. He was 2-for-4 with the run and two RBIs.

Wilyer Abreu, who is back, also went 2-for-4 with a run and a RBI.

Roman Anthony, whose batting average is almost .100 but not quite, knocked in a run.

Jarren Duran stole a base, had a couple of hits, and scored a run.

We won a game that was weird and felt awkward. It's hard to win games like that. I know it's their job, but it's also their job not to make a million errors a season and that doesn't seem to be working out well for them.

I miss Raffy. That's not a bright side, it's just a thing.

Maybe we'll win again?!

Let's win again!

[optimistredsox]

18 June, BOS @ SEA, 3-1, win

I miss Ortiz and I miss Pedey (both the Red Sox Pedey, Dustin Pedroia, and my Pedey). I don't know why I'm thinking that right now (I do), but it feels particularly pertinent at the moment, with our fourth series win in a row. I can't stop thinking about how much of the anti-Raffy backlash is just fucking bigoted. How it feels like opinions are going from shocked to disappointed and too much of the void left by that vacuum is filled with the front office narrative as opposed to balance and curiosity. And how I just fucking hate baseball as much as I love baseball and I just fucking love the Red Sox as much as I hate the Red Sox. Sometimes. But I love them. Maybe that little bit more than I hate them. Not the ownership (fuck them), not the front office (autonomy uncertain), not the history of club ownership... seriously all a steady succession of predatory dipshit racist grifting fucking douchebags... but I love that team. Maybe it's the last of my sense of home for a city I've not lived in for 36 years but was born in and where my dad was born and he handed a bat to Ted Williams as a batboy and I am not going to throw those things away because these particular owners and this particular front office are fucking shit. I can't do it. The team is bigger than those who own it and those who run it. And is still a long way from making amends for the crimes of its very dark past. And progress is incremental. I can no more abandon the Red Sox than I can my absentee ballot in American elections. Though I wish I could do both.

Anyway. There was a rubber game and we didn't lose. There are some bright sides to examine.

Crochet is on a roll. He wasn't quite as mesmerising as he was against the Skanks, but he was good and managed to get out of trouble and it is arguable that his one run given up was due to a ball lost in the light to Jarren Duran. He allowed only one run on six hits and struck out eight. No walks. Six innings.

Trevor Story hit a two-run dinger! That was particularly important on a day when the top three of the lineup did fuck all and Abraham Toro (possibly predictably) fell below .300.

Marcelo Mayer hit another dinger and scored two runs because he was on base when Story hit his dinger (because he took a walk! his only hit was his dinger!). They were, between them, all of the Red Sox offense. It's almost as though something or someone was missing.

Sorry, Conor Wong got a hit too.

We won!

We won another series!

We have a day off!

*checks who's next* oh fuck...

[optimistredsox]

17 June, BOS @ SEA, 0-8, loss

All good things, even confused and conflicted things that you question whether are good at all, come to an end. And thus ended the Red Sox longest winning streak of the season. Not with a whimper (unless you count the whiffs of Sox bats) but with the bang(s) (not in the hair sense) of multiple Mariners runs with fuck all answers to them. Would Raffy managed a run off Bryan Woo Tuesday night? It doesn't matter at all and torturing myself with that question is pointless. But I'm still torturing myself with it and now I've shared it. So. Sorry, pals. But you were torturing yourself with it already anyway because I'm posting this late. So. You're welcome. I don't know what for. Oh yeah, finding the bright sides!

Walker (not Ferris) Buehler gave up all the runs, six of which were knocked in by Cal Raleigh (he scored two too), a name that comes close to rivalling "Hunter Dobbins" in baseball nominative determinism but still doesn't quite get there. Or maybe a competitive slalom skier. Some fucking shit. Anyway, our starter who is determined to look as inversely awful as his last great start, absorbed all the fucking runs, which means...

The bullpen, with a lot of work to do, threw zeroes. Thanks, dudes.

I no longer have anxiety about when the winning streak will end.

We got beat by a really fucking good pitcher. There's not much shame in that.

We'll get 'em Wednesday.

I hope.

[optimistredsox]

16 June, BOS @ SEA, 2-0, win

As John Cougar Mellencamp said, "...life goes on..."

The thrill of living still seems to be there though, at least for the 2025 Red Sox, in spite of a departure I am still thoroughly shocked by. I feel in the heady rush of a 6-game winning streak I should point out that in spite of their win last night, the Sox still struck out a whopping twelve times and walked a disappointing three times. Granted, the Mariners have a strong staff. And splitting hairs at the moment seems dumb when we're facing a team we are apparently in a heated Wild Card race with (spoiler alert: the Wild Card race is not heated in June... that's not a thing). And we won - in the haze of weirdness, shellshock and not having our baby-faced basher, we won. So let's look at the bright sides.

Giolito continues to be more and more the pitcher we thought we got in the first place. He struck out 10 and walked one, giving up three hits over 6 innings.

The pitching staff totalled 15 strikeouts in total!

Roman Anthony hit his first dinger. Youngest Red Sox to do that since Raffy, who also did it in Seattle. Raffy was younger. Anthony did it in the first inning though, which is always a flex when you're playing away.

Abraham Toro knocked in a run. I genuinely have no idea who this dude is or where he came from (not looking it up - I like the mystery), but he's hitting over .300 (.317) and seems to show up in a lot of bright sides.

We won a game with only 4 hits over nine innings. That's not easy.

We won!

We've won 6 in a row!

Let's try for 7!

[optimistredsox]

15 June, NYY @ BOS, 0-2, win

The Red Sox Rollercoaster seems hellbent on ruining my blood pressure. How a team can sweep their arch rivals after a weekend of joy and happiness only to slap their fans in the face whilst kicking them in the shins and trading away one of the best hitters in the game shortly thereafter? Carita. Raffy. Gone. To San Francisco. There are obviously a bunch of folks claiming this is the end of all things good in Boston and the Red Sox deserve what they get etc etc. Then there are those who have a chip on their shoulder that Raffy didn't get with the program after Bregman was signed and they're glad to see the back of him (I have no time for the anglophone whiners who criticise his "refusal" to speak English as some sort of indicator that he wasn't a team player - learning new languages is HARD and the fear of being misunderstood whilst in the public eye is huge). There are a lot of folks who (probably correctly) say that it was actually the disastrous Mookie trade that got us here. Me? I loved Raffy. He was frustrating. He wasn't a great third baseman. But when he was in the zone, watching him hit was a joy. And watching the joy he took in hitting was wonderful. I will miss watching him smack his helmet and talk to himself between pitches. I don't understand the "business" of baseball, nor do I want to. It seemed by the end that Raffy wasn't happy in Boston anymore. Do I blame the team? A little? Do I blame Raffy? A little? I'll still never forget when he burned himself into my brain as the bat of the future. I wrote about it here. Tying the game in the ninth against Chapman with a home run I can still see. Nobody from that 2017 game is left on the team. And I still haven't quite come round to the idea that the dude Raffy hit the dinger off is now a Red Sox. Find it harder to come round considering that now Raffy isn't. I don't feel I'm expressing myself as precisely as I'd hope. So many people use events like this to prove their "narrative" of what they think is right or wrong with Sox but I don't really have that desire. I'm just sort of sad it got to this. And I haven't even written about the game yet. So I should probably do that.

The pre-2004 Red Sox fan in me frequently views potential sweeps of the vile Skanks with as much trepidation as excitement, due to my firm belief that there's always a chance they could fuck it up. But they didn't! They didn't score a bunch, but they scored enough! And they beat a really good pitcher, handing Max Fried (fried what, exactly?) only his second loss of the season. Anyway, plenty of bright sides which I am determined not to let be overshadowed by the loss of Carita.

Brayan Bello was great. He went seven innings, threw 114 pitches, gave up only three hits and three walks and struck out eight. And he's not normally a strike out pitcher. This makes me happy. Bello has so often been spoken of with regards to his potential. It now looks like he's close to realising that potential and I am here for it.

Trevor Story knocked in another run, the first of the game in the bottom of the first.

Romy Gonzalez (who scored that first run) slid so violently into third base he got a bloody nose. Is that a bright side? Not for his nose, I'm guessing, but I like the dedication.

Garrett Whitlock was brought on to face Judge and got him to ground into a double play. Beautiful.

Raffy Devers hit his last Red Sox dinger in the bottom of the fifth off Fried. I watched it. I didn't know it was his last while I watched it.

We won!

We're over .500!

Let's stay that way and win a bunch more fucking games!

[optimistredsox]

14 June, NYY @ BOS, 3-4, win

Gosh. Hunter Dobbins might've not got the story exactly correct about his dad and the Skanks, but he still had the Skanks number last night. Also, I have a theory that if you name your kid "Hunter Dobbins" he basically has to become a professional baseball player. Or maybe a sports fishing type dude. Nominative Determinism is alive and well in the MLB. Anyway, punching the Skanks' clock two nights in a row is an amazing feeling. Especially as there was some very fun baseball played last night. So let's not mess about with prolonged intros, let's get to the bright sides.

Hunter Dobbins went six innings, blanking the Skanks, holding them to 2 hits over six innings, striking out five and walking only one. If you're going to talk shit about the Skanks, you've got to back it up, and he certainly backed it up.

Trevor Story knocked in a run in the fourth and managed to turn a single into a double by clocking that the Skanks weren't paying attention to the field. He was 2-for-4 with a run scored and the RBI.

Narvàez was 2-for-3 with a run scored and made an amazing heads up throw-out in the seventh (the Skanks had already put up two runs in the inning), after a second strike call that confused the runner, Carlos fired the ball to Story who got it to Mayer who tagged Domínguez who looked very confused and, I'm guessing, pretty fucking embarrassed. That's the sort of heads up fielding play this team wouldn't have made a month or two ago. It shows confidence and trust in each other.

Jarren Duran, who's struggled at the plate, made an awesome catch in left field. And took a walk.

We won another one-run game!

We won another series!

We are back at .500!

We might sweep the Skanks! How cool would that be?!

[optimistredsox]

13 June, NYY @ BOS, 1-2, win (10th inning)

I have a confession to make. Whilst I've been paying close attention to the Sox, I have, in the interest of sanity, well-being and maintaining optimism, I've not been looking at the standings. Not the AL, not the division, nothing... I had no impression of where any other team in the East was. Considering how close it was early on, before that bad stretch, I didn't think it was worth stressing about. The news is fraught enough these days without worrying about games back. Besides, slipping under .500 for such an unbearable stretch is deflating enough without putting it into context. So the revelation of just how much better the Skanks' record was than ours stung a bit, and made our success last week in the Bronx that bit sweeter. And, considering how things are looking of late, made me hopeful for Friday night's game. And it didn't disappoint. It terrified me. Having a one-run lead for that long against a team that has Aaron Judge on it is heart-attack inducing. Garrett Crochet was electric but the bats seemed a little on the quiet side. Which is fine. They were very loud last week. As long as the rotation and bullpen keep the other bats quieter than ours, it's all going to work out in the end. Anyway, I'm blabbing on. Let's look at those bright sides.

Garrett Crochet deserved the W but damn he certainly won my heart after that game. He went eight and a third and out duelled the whole of the Skanks lineup, including Judge, right up until the ninth. He hit 100mph a few times, struck out Judge three times. Yeah, Judge got him the fourth time to hit an absolute bomb but he was still a hero to me. And to the Sox. He struck out 7, allowed one walk, the one run, and only four hits. It was the longest he'd ever gone in a game. When he came off the mound after the 8th Alex Cora gave him this awesome pokerfaced fist-bump that spoke a million words. It was a joy to watch.

Narvàez knocked in the walk-off run in the tenth, for a brief moment vanquishing the seasonal heartbreak we've suffered throughout extra innings this season. And putting the boot in once again to his old team. He's come up big in such great moments.

Ceddanne Rafaela, still over .250 (.254 to be exact), knocked in the first Sox run, scoring Trevor Story in the bottom of the second.

We made one error but it didn't do us any damage (except for pride).

We won!

We beat the Skanks!

We won in extras!

We won a one-run game!

Let's do it again!

[optimistredsox]

11 June, TB @ BOS, 3-4, win

Hey folks, we won two series in a row, and they were against teams with *checks notes* better records than us! Here's the thing about the 2025 Red Sox: they can beat any team in the league. Here's the other thing about the 2025 Red Sox: they can get beat by any team in the league. And there's a part of me that sort of loves that. It drives me fucking crazy. But I still sort of love it. In part because I feel the team is still a work in progress and at the moment it feels like it is, finally, progressing. Not only that, but they won a one-run game! When was the last time that happened? Don't answer that; it'll ruin my vibe. Anyway, a cornucopia of bright sides in the wake of that game, so let's get to it.

Whilst there are certain fresh-faced rookies to heap praise upon, I am going to start with starting pitching, because we had another starter go deep (for us) in a game and keep the score low. Walker Buehler (yes, I think of Ferris every time I see his name) went seven innings and gave up three runs on six hits, striking out seven and only walking one. He was aided by a big ZERO in the "error" column, which is as lovely as it is rare.

Marcelo Mayer became the youngest Sox hitter to have two dingers in a game since a kid named Raffy Devers in 2018. That was a good year. And last night was a good night. He was 2-for-4 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs. The kids are alright.

Jarren Duran led off with a dinger on the first pitch of the game, which is what you want leadoff hitters to do.

Ceddanne Rafaela went 2-for-3 and nudged his batting average up to .254, which for him is basically batting .400. Kinda.

Abraham Toro (great name) went 2-for-4 with a dinger. Gosh. All our runs were dingers. That's kind of fun, isn't it?

The bullpen locked it down, kept the lead safe and made Boston very happy.

They made me happy too (I am not in Boston).

We won!

We won the series!

We won two games in a row!

We won two series in a row!

We have a day off before getting the chance to kick the shit out of the Yankees again!

[optimistredsox]

10 June, TB @ BOS, 1-3, win

I'm actually quite relieved to have a break from the relentless back-and-forth bare-knuckle slugfests. In part because it wrecks the rotation and bullpen and we don't need anymore of that shit. They're wrecked enough as it is (though, as Alex Speier notes, there are some signs of improvement) and could use a break, find a groove, that sort of thing. The Rays got off to a worse start than we did, and that made me feel good. They irk me as a team. It irks me when they are above us in the AL East. It irks me when they beat us in extras. It irks me when we have to go to their dumb stadium and it irks me they don't have their dumb stadium so they have to play in a dumb park owned by the Skankees. Losing the first game of the series irked me too. But last night fucking rocked. Neither team hit a ton, the pitchers did their job and the runs the Sox scored were awesome. Am I getting ahead of myself? Those sound like bright sides. They are. Let's look at those bright sides.

After a truly awful start against the Angels, Giolito finally looked like the pitcher the Sox thought they were getting way longer ago than I like to think about. He went 6 innings, gave up 1 run on three hits, struck out four and walked three. He was backed by some decent fielding too. It wasn't Cy Young stuff but holy shit I want more starters to do six plus innings and we've got to start somewhere.

Roman Anthony got his first major-league, and it was a sweat inside-out-er along the left field line to the Monster which ended up being a stand-up two-run double. He also made an awesome sliding catch in right. All in front of his family, which is nice. I also just really like the energy his call up is bringing to the place.

Trevor Story hit a monstrous dinger. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but he's continuing to get back up on his feet. He was the only Sox with a multi-hit game.

We won!

Someone sent me a nice note about this blog!

We can win the series!

Let's do that!

[optimistredsox]

Tagline for the 2025 Red Sox thus far:

It's the hope that kills you.

And yet, that's what keeps us coming back.

Just wanted to say I love your blog and particularly your commitment to optimism. It's a daily-ish bright spot for me, win or lose, because I will always be an optimistic fan of sports in general and Red Sox fan in particular.

Thank you so much for the kind words. This is a team with a lot of talent but still sort of all over the place. You genuinely never know what's going to happen, which leaves you hopeful but also with a sense of doom. Sort of like the pre-2004 Red Sox. They keep us coming back.

[optimistredsox]

9 June, TB @ BOS, 10-8, loss (11th inning)

One of the fun things about calling up a top prospect is that stories tend to dwell on the call up, and not the loss that happens on the same night. I'm a little grumpy about that one. Losing in extras sucks and shouldn't happen with the frequency that it is. Also, managing to only win two in a row before stumbling sucks as well. And losing to the Rays is rubbish. If I were a more cynical, juvenile, pessimistic person, I would make a joke about Roman Anthony truly joining the big leagues with the 2025 Red Sox only when he made an error in the outfield that cost a run. But it wouldn't actually be funny, no matter how true it's felt during this frustrating start to the season. It wouldn't be funny because it's his big day and he's a kid, a kid that looks crazy talented but still just a kid. And whilst the team itself certainly deserves to be made fun of for their cack-handed dipshittery with regards to their endless errors, I feel Roman Anthony, at this nascent stage, should be given a bit of a break. It's good to see him up. Which brings us to bright sides regarding what from all accounts was kind of a cold, shitty June night at Fenway.

Bello wasn't bad. He's been kind of weird this season. He allowed 4 runs, only three earned, but went six and a third, which seems pretty good for our rotation at the moment.

Raffy Devers had an 0-fer but scored twice because he walked thrice. Good eye, Raffy.

Trevor Story's continued his climb out of the cellar with a couple of hits.

Romy Gonzalez is still a super utility dude, going 2-for-4 with a couple of RBIs. Not sure how he's able to turn it on or off at will, but it's cool.

Ceddane Rafaela had a couple of hits and scored a run.

Toro knocked in another run and scored a couple to boot. Even contributes on what looks like a quiet day for him.

Marcelo Mayer was 1-for-1 with a hit and a run and a walk.

We didn't make it easy for them (we don't make it easy for ourselves either, tbh).

We'll get 'em tonight.

Roman is going hit a bomb 200mph and 600ft. Or something.

[optimistredsox]

8 June, BOS @ NYY, 11-7, win

Not going to lie, in spite of misgivings about how many runs the Sox gave up this weekend, I kind of love that it just turned into a big old slug fest with shitloads of runs. I also kind of love that we didn't make an error on Sunday but the Skanks did. That's delightful and brings joy to my heart. We also won two games in a row for the first time since Bregman hit the IL. Which is great but also a little depressing. Let's focus on the great though. Like the bright sides.

Hunter Dobbins had a solid start, going five innings and giving up three runs on four hits. He also went on the record saying he would never play for the Skanks. Love that for him.

Narvàez, having spent 10 years in the Yankees system, seemed to have no trouble inflicting damage on them. He went 2-for-4 with a dinger and three RBIs.

Abraham Toro also continues to hit the shit out of the ball. He went 3-for-5 with a dinger, two runs scored and 2 RBIs.

Trevor Story also had a dinger, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

Kristian Campbell had a dinger too, going 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs.

Raffy had a dinger too and scored twice.

We won!

We won the series!

We won two in a row!

Let's win more!