G130: Mets 5, Red Sox 4

Red Sox - 000 002 200 - 4  9  1
Mets    - 010 003 10x - 5 11  0

Wade Miley / Noah Syndergaard

Betts, CF
Sandoval, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, 1B
Holt, 2B
Castillo, RF
Swihart, C
De Aza, LF
Miley, P

G129: Red Sox 3, Mets 1

Red Sox - 000 002 100 - 3  7  0
Mets    - 000 000 100 - 1  5  1

Joe Kelly (7.1-5-1-2-2, 102) outdueled Jacob deGrom (6-4-2-2-10, 109) and Mookie Betts singled, homered, and scored two runs.

deGrom blinked in the sixth inning when Betts singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored on Pablo Sandoval's double. After Xander Bogaerts's fly out moved the Panda to third and Travis Shaw walked, Brock Holt's fielder's choice grounder scored Sandoval with Boston's second run.

Betts homered with two outs in the seventh.

Gordon Edes notes that Red Sox starters have allowed two or fewer runs in 11 of their past 15 games.

Joe Kelly / Jacob deGrom

Betts, CF
Sandoval, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Shaw, 1B
Holt, 2B
Hanigan, C
Bradley, RF
De Aza, LF
Kelly, P

G128: Red Sox 6, Mets 4 (10)

Red Sox - 000 000 300 3 - 6  9  1
Mets    - 000 110 100 1 - 4  8  0

Henry Owens / Matt Harvey

Betts, CF
Sandoval, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, 1B
Ramirez, LF
Holt, 2B
Castillo, RF
Swihart, C
Owens, P

Thoughts On Orsillo Leaving NESN

I feel like I should write something about the news that Don Orsillo will not be returning to NESN as the Red Sox's television play-by-play announcer in 2016. But I find that I am indifferent to the news, which is perhaps tied to my diminished connection to the team the last two years.

My issues and complaints with NESN's Red Sox broadcasts - both the actual production and direction, as well as the announcers - have been well-chronicled. Nothing much has changed in the three years since that post. When I watch the Red Sox now, I use the "ballpark sound" option that is available with the home team feed.

Despite his catch phrases, predictable descriptions, and incessant reading of the day's Media Notes, I will miss a few things about Orsillo. One is his refusal to moralize about the game, its players, and its history. Orsillo never gets up on his soapbox to lecture the audience about How The Game Should Be Played. And he doesn't gossip about players. He focuses only on the game on the field - which seems to be quite rare - and I find it incredibly refreshing.

Unfortunately, from what I have heard of O'Brien - mostly recently, during the 2013 World Series - he is the opposite. He gossips about players in the news and pompously tells fans how they should feel about this or that issue. Where Orsillo is self-deprecating, O'Brien comes off as a little too in love with his own thoughts. O'Brien is no Bob Costas in this regard, thankfully, but it remains a fault of his game-calling persona.

G127: Red Sox 3, White Sox 0

Red Sox   - 000 000 021 - 3  7  0
White Sox - 000 000 000 - 0  6  0

Travis Shaw broke a scoreless tie with a two-run homer and Rick Porcello (7-5-0-0-5, 94) was magnificent in his first start since coming off the disabled list.

In the top of the eighth, Xander Bogaerts (2 singles and a walk) singled with one out. Shaw belted a line drive dong (#7) to right field with two outs. Robbie Ross pitched a perfect eighth.

Boston added an insurance run in the ninth, as Josh Rutledge's sacrifice fly scored Blake Swihart. In the bottom of the ninth, Junichi Tazawa allowed a leadoff infield single to Melky Cabrera (3-for-4) before getting the next three outs: Avisail Garcia forced Cabrera at second, Adam LaRoche flied to center, and Alexei Ramirez grounded to shortstop.

AL East: Toronto won big while the Yankees lost to the Astros, so the Blue Jays have a 2-game lead.

Rick Porcello / Chris Sale

Dave O'Brien talks about taking over as the Red Sox's TV play-by-play man:

It's very exciting for me personally because in this situation to be able to continue to do the Red Sox, which has been a dream of mine. ... I didn't expect it. I didn't anticipate that happening at all, so I'm kind of in a state of shock.

Jerry Remy comments on his relationship with Don Orsillo:

For the last 15 years it's been an absolute pleasure to work with Don. ... He's been an outstanding partner for 15 years and I'm truly going to miss him — on a work-related side, and I'm going to miss him on a personal side because he's also become a very, very close friend of mine. ... He's terrific at what he does. He's been absolutely fabulous to work with. I love him.

Gordon Edes writes that in an extremely disappointing season, the news about Orsillo "came without any warning whatsoever ... [and] felt like the worst loss of all".

Hanley Ramirez is open to playing first base (he worked out there yesterday): "I think with me at first, we're going to have a better team on the field, competing every day." ... David Ortiz says Ramirez has received a bad rap this season: "Hanley has a good attitude about everything. It sucks that people are criticizing him, a guy who is trying to learn a new position. ... Playing in the outfield is more difficult than what people think it is."

G126: White Sox 5, Red Sox 4

Red Sox   - 002 002 000 - 4  8  0
White Sox - 010 100 30x - 5 15  2

Wade Miley / Jose Quintana

Betts, CF
Sandoval, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Shaw, 1B
Ramirez, LF
Hanigan, C
Bradley, RF
Rutledge, 2B

AL East: Toronto and New York are tied for first at 69-55. [Astros/Yankees & Blue Jays/Rangers]

Don Orsillo Out As Red Sox Announcer At End Of Season

Red Sox play-by-play announcer Don Orsillo, who has been with NESN calling Red Sox games since 2001, will not be offered a new contract at the end of this season, according to multiple reports.

Chad Finn, Boston Globe:

[Orsillo] is expected to be replaced by Dave O'Brien, who currently is part of the Red Sox radio broadcast team on WEEI and also has a high-profile, multi-sport play-by-play role at ESPN. ...

Orsillo signed a contract in November 2011 that included an option for 2015. NESN showed no urgency in picking up the option last summer, making Orsillo wait out his fate. The deal was quietly picked up late in the season, without any fanfare. ...

According to industry sources, Orsillo was never a favorite of Joseph Maar, NESN's vice president of programming and production/executive producer who arrived at the network in July 2012. ...

Though the writing was on the wall for a while regarding his status, it was made clear over the weekend to Orsillo that he would not be returning. According to industry sources, consideration was given to removing him from broadcasts immediately. NESN was not planning on announcing his departure until January.

Curt Schilling: His Racism Is Staggering

Curt Schilling's anti-Muslim tweet, posted this morning, has been deleted.

Which makes perfect sense, since most racists are cowards when their repugnant opinions get exposed (according to the "true #'s"). If Schilling had any guts, he'd stand up for and defend this particular belief.

I find it interesting that Schilling - who, judging from his public statements and voting record, is in full support of the torture, rape, and murder of innocent men, women, and children - has the lack of insight to label someone else as an evil extremist.

After ESPN removed Schilling from its Little League World Series broadcast team, Schilling tweeted: "I understand and accept my suspension. 100% my fault. Bad choices have bad consequences and this was a bad decision in every way on my part."

G125: Red Sox 5, White Sox 4

Red Sox   - 030 002 000 - 5 11  0
White Sox - 100 001 002 - 4  8  0

Rusney Castillo drove in all five Red Sox runs: 3-for-4, single, 2-run double, 3-run home run.

Hanley Ramirez and Brock Holt scored twice. ... Holt and Ryan Hanigan had two hits apiece.

Joe Kelly / Jeff Samardzija

Betts, CF
Sandoval, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Shaw, 1B
Ramirez, LF
Holt, 2B
Castillo, RF
Hanigan, C

G124: Royals 8, Red Sox 6

Royals  - 001 201 004 - 8 14  0
Red Sox - 020 002 200 - 6 11  3

Jackie Bradley continued his torrid performance at the plate. On August 6, his batting average was a lowly .102. Since then - in fifteen games - he has hit .404 (21-for-52), boosting his average to .257. Bradley's 21 hits: seven singles, seven doubles, three triples, four home runs.

Bradley (3-for-4) doubled twice and singled on Sunday, scored two runs, and drove in two. He also threw Omar Infante out at the plate leading off the ninth inning (which was great, but then Junichi Tazawa allowed five additional hits and a walk, and four runs). Before Bradley's single in the ninth inning, his last 11 hits all had been for extra-bases.

Rusney Castillo had two hits and a walk. ... Pablo Sandoval singled and doubled. ... Eduardo Rodriguez (6-7-4-0-1, 104) allowed two earned runs in six innings.

Edinson Volquez / Eduardo Rodriguez

Betts, CF
Sandoval, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Shaw, 1B
Castillo, RF
Hanigan, C
Bradley, LF
Rutledge, 2B

G123: Royals 6, Red Sox 3

Royals  - 200 003 010 - 6 12  0
Red Sox - 000 001 101 - 3  9  1

David Ortiz reached base five times: two singles and three walks.

Mookie Betts homered in the seventh.

Yordano Ventura / Matt Barnes

Betts, CF
Sandoval, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Shaw, 1B
Ramirez, LF
Holt, 2B
Swihart, C
Bradley, RF

Millions Of Baseball Cards Found In Abandoned Detroit Warehouse

Roc Morin, Daily Mail (UK):

A collection of sports cards estimated to be worth more than $1 million has been discovered in an abandoned warehouse in Detroit.

Millions of the Topps cards were packed away in dust-covered crates, with thousands more strewn over the floor of the derelict building.

The mint-condition collectibles, dating from the late 1980s and 90s, were discovered by a team of urban explorers whose hobby is to venture into forgotten man-made structures. ...

At least one man, who goes by the name of Slanks, regularly frequents the factory to find cards to sell, claiming it has been his primary source of income.

G122: Red Sox 7, Royals 2

Royals  - 000 101 000 - 2  4  2
Red Sox - 030 202 00x - 7 14  1

In only his fourth major league start, Henry Owens shut down the team with the second-best record in baseball: 8-4-2-1-4, 103. One of the runs was unearned.

Jon Shestakofsky notes that in the last 15 games, three Red Sox rookies have had outings of eight innings and one earned run allowed: Steven Wright (August 5), Eduardo Rodriguez (August 18), and Owens (August 21).

On the other side, the Red Sox battered Johnny Cueto for 13 hits in six innings (6-13-7-0-3, 96). It was the bottom of the order that did the most damage with the sticks, with Boston's 7-8-9 hitters going 8-for-12 and scoring six of the game's seven runs.

Blake Swihart went 4-for-4 (with two doubles), scored three times, and drove in two. ... Mookie Betts went 3-for-5. ... Josh Rutledge had two hits, including his first home run of the season, and two RBI. ... Rusney Castillo singled and tripled, and scored twice.

Johnny Cueto / Henry Owens

Betts, CF
Sandoval, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, LF
Shaw, 1B
Castillo, RF
Swihart, C
Rutledge, 2B

Jackie Bradley's last nine hits have all been for extra bases. JBJ is slugging .527 this season. (For comparison purposes, David Ortiz is at .515).

G121: Red Sox 4, Royals 1

Royals  - 000 010 000 - 1  6  0
Red Sox - 103 000 00x - 4 10  1

Ryan Hanigan's two-run single in the third gave Boston a 3-0 lead. Hanigan then scored on Jackie Bradley's triple.

Travis Shaw, Xander Bogaerts, and Mookie Betts each had two hits.

Wade Miley: 7.1-6-1-0-6, 114.

Danny Duffy / Wade Miley

Betts, CF
Sandoval, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, LF
Shaw, 1B
Hanigan, C
Bradley, RF
Rudledge, 2B

David Ortiz: In his last 11 games, he is 21-for-42 with five doubles, five home runs, seven walks, and 15 RBI. A slash line of .500/.538/.976 for a 1.515 OPS. ... And his season averages are almost identical to what he produced last year. ... Once again, rumours of Flo's bat's death have been greatly exaggerated.

Kansas City (73-46) leads the AL Central by a whopping 14.5 games.

In the East, the Yankees host Cleveland, while the Blue Jays (2 GB) are off.

Some Articles Re Hiring Of Dave Dombrowski As Red Sox's President Of Baseball Operations

Dave Dombrowski's Past Suggests A Bright Future In Store For Red Sox
Joon Lee, Over The Monster

On the surface, it's easy to understand why some people think Dave Dombrowski is not the right man for the Red Sox. He never won a World Series with the Tigers, he signed some big money contracts that haven't panned out, and he's often been cited on the opposite end of the Red Sox in terms of organizational philosophy, depending heavily on scouting and less on analytics. ...

Criticizing Dombrowski simply on the outlook of some of his more questionable moves ignores the context and setting in which such deals were conceived. To understand Dave Dombrowski, an overarching evaluation of his tenures with the Expos, Marlins, and Tigers is necessary. ...

But right now, Dombrowski's strengths — player evaluation in particular — is where the Red Sox front office have really needed help in recent years. The Red Sox' organizational depth is greater than any other team Dombrowski has inherited and during his previous three stops, he has proved time and time again that he can build the foundation of a perennially competitive baseball team. That reason alone made him the most qualified candidate to try to turn around the Red Sox.

Red Sox Hire Dave Dombrowski, Signal Change in Philosophy
Dave Cameron, Fangraphs

Given that the Red Sox have been among the most aggressive teams in terms of implementing analytics and using data to drive their decision making, this looks like a pretty monumental shift in organizational philosophy. Given that nearly every move Cherington and his staff made last winter has turned out as poorly as possible, it's not a huge shock that he's taking the fall for the team's second consecutive losing season, but it is a bit surprising to see the team apparently change course so aggressively. Dombrowski certainly has a strong track record of building contenders, but it looks like the Red Sox may be pivoting away from data and more towards scouting in response to their recent failures.

What Led To Downfall Of Red Sox GM?
Dave Cameron, Just A Bit Outside (Fox Sports)

To be fair to Cherington, the bets on Ramirez and Porcello were the same kinds of gambles he made prior to winning the 2013 World Series. The team won a championship with short-term contracts for players perceived as mid-level talents, stockpiling guys who were underrated by traditional metrics. Porcello and Ramirez cost more than Victorino and Dempster, but they followed from the same philosophy of using the team's resources to build a deep roster of good players rather than betting on a smaller group of highly compensated stars. Except Ramirez and Porcello haven't been good players this year, and when you compound that with Sandoval's disastrous season and the failures of Wade Miley, Justin Masterson and Joe Kelly in the rotation, it's hard to sustain belief that the process is sound in the face of so many bad results.

I'm generally of the opinion that the Red Sox general philosophy was sound enough ... But signing Ramirez to play the outfield, necessitating the trade of a similar-and-cheaper player who you knew could at least field his position, was likely an unnecessary risk.

And failing to have a backup plan available — not just in place, but even possible in case Ramirez as an outfielder didn't work — is on Cherington. Every GM has to take risks in this game, but this was too big of a risk to not have an out for. Apparently, in this case, the backup plan for the experiment not working was to find a new GM.

Sox's Move To Dombrowski The Right One, But Not Cause For Celebration
Ken Rosenthal, Just A Bit Outside (Fox Sports)

Not that this is the wrong move for the Red Sox — Dombrowski is one of the best GMs of this generation. But Sox officials signaled for weeks that Cherington was safe, even as the team stumbled toward its third last-place finish in four years. In fact, owner John Henry said in June that he expected Cherington to remain GM for "years to come." I know what Henry will say now: "Well, we offered Ben the chance to stay." Offered him the chance, with his legs cut off.

For all the Red Sox's misdirection, we all should have seen this coming, given that Dombrowski was Henry's GM with the Marlins from 1998 to 2001. Even the Sox's statement on manager John Farrell's diagnosis of lymphoma four days ago portended change. The statement made no mention — none — about Farrell possibly returning in '16.

This is Dombrowski's show now, a sea change from the Theo Epstein-Cherington succession that produced three World Series titles in 10 years. Henry is a strong proponent of analytics; Dombrowski historically leans more toward scouting. His replacement with the Tigers, longtime assistant Al Avila, said upon taking over that the team needs to "catch up with the industry" in its use of data. ...

The Red Sox will not completely abandon the numbers; these days, all teams blend the subjective and objective, only to different degrees. Dombrowski's first task will be to undo some of the mess that Cherington created, whether it's dumping Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval, just one of them, maybe others. But once Dombrowski gets rolling, the Red Sox could be formidable again quickly, considering their vast resources and wealth of young talent.

John Henry:

I have known Dave very well for a long time. [Chairman] Tom [Werner] and I have no doubts that Dave is the right person to strengthen our baseball operations group going forward. He is one of the most highly regarded executives in all of baseball, and had options to go with other clubs. We feel very fortunate that he wanted to come to Boston, and wanted to further his career — now with the Red Sox — as one of the great architects of winning baseball clubs.

Tom Werner:

Although we have achieved tremendous success over the last 14 seasons, we had reached a clear internal consensus that we needed to enhance our baseball operation. In nearly four decades in the game, Dave is a proven winner and he can restore winning ways to Yawkey Way and help to fulfill the Red Sox goal, every year, to be playing meaningful games into October.

G120: Red Sox 6, Cleveland 4

Cleveland - 000 010 030 - 4  8  0
Red Sox   - 020 400 00x - 6  7  2

The Red Sox hit four home runs and Joe Kelly (6-5-1-3-3, 100) allowed no earned runs.

David Ortiz (#26) and Travis Shaw (#6) went back-to-back leading off the second inning and Jackie Bradley (#5) and Ryan Hanigan (#2) went back-to-back in the fourth. Bradley's dong was a three-run shot.

Ortiz now has 492 career home runs (regular season only).

Corey Kluber / Joe Kelly

De Aza, LF
Holt, SS
Sandoval, 3B
Ortiz, DH
Shaw, 1B
Castillo, RF
Bradley, CF
Hanigan, C
Rutledge, 2B

G119: Red Sox 9, Cleveland 1

Cleveland - 000 000 100 - 1  6  1
Red Sox   - 141 010 20x - 9 16  0

Rodriguez: 8-6-1-0-5, 114.

Travis Shaw: 4-for-4. ... Brock Holt: 3-for-5. ... Mookie Betts: 3 RBI. ... Daid Ortiz: 2 doubles.

Trevor Bauer / Eduardo Rodriguez

Betts, CF
Holt, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, LF
Sandoval, 3B
Shaw, 1B
Castillo, RF
Swihart, C

While the Yankees were in Toronto last weekend, CC Sabathia tried to get involved in a street fight outside a nightclub. ("I just flipped out.") Far from criticizing the hefty pitcher, the Daily News informs us that Sabathia is "human".

G118: Cleveland 8, Red Sox 2

Cleveland - 000 511 001 - 8 10  0
Red Sox   - 001 000 001 - 3  6  1

Matt Barnes made his first major league start: 5-6-6-3-7, 102.

Travis Shaw went 2-for-4, with a home run and two RBI. Hanley Ramirez doubled and walked in four trips.

AL East: The Yankees won in 10 innings and lead the Blue Jays by one game.

Danny Salazar / Matt Barnes

Betts, CF
Holt, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, LF
Sandoval, 3B
Shaw, 1B
Hanigan, C
Bradley, RF

G117: Mariners 10, Red Sox 8 (12)

Mariners - 304 000 100 002 - 10 18  0
Red Sox  - 001 210 202 000 -  8 13  2

Vidal Nuno / Henry Owens

Betts, CF
Holt, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Castillo, RF
Shaw, 1B
Swihart, C
Rutledge, 2B
Bradley, LF

G116: Red Sox 22, Mariners 10

Mariners - 002 000 044 - 10 13  1
Red Sox  - 055 104 43x - 22 26  1

The Red Sox took batting practice against Seattle's pitching staff for the second straight day, setting season-highs in both runs scored and hits.

The Red Sox had not had as many as 26 hits since May 28, 2005, when they had 27 in a 17-1 rout of the Yankees. The last time Boston scored as many as 22 runs? June 27, 2003, when they scored 10 times in the first inning before making an out and beat the Marlins 25-8. (That's the game where the Red Sox manager actually apologized to the other team for scoring so many times. That was, however, nowhere near the dumbest thing he ever did.)

It was the sixth time in Red Sox history that the team scored 15+ runs in consecutive games:

July 4, 1939: Swept the Athletics in a doubleheader 17-7 and 18-12
September 27-28, 1940: Beat the Senators 24-4 and beat the Athletics in G1 16-4
June 7-8, 1950: Beat the Browns 20-4 and 29-4
June 17-18, 1953: Beat the Tigers 17-1 and 23-3
July 2-3, 1998: Beat the Expos 15-0 and beat White Sox 15-2
August 14-15, 2015: Beat Mariners 15-1 and 22-10

(Most runs scored in each of three consecutive games? Boston scored 12+ runs in each of three games on June 28-30, 1946, when they beat the Senators 12-1, 12-8 and 15-8. ... So matching that is something to look forward to tomorrow.)

The Mariners had never before allowed 15+ runs in consecutive games.

Jackie Bradley went 5-for-6, with three doubles and two home runs, seven RBI, and five runs scored. Before his last at-bat, I found that, according to Baseball Reference's super-wonderful Play Index, Bradley was the first Red Sox player to have a game with at least 3 doubles, 4 runs, and 5 RBI. Then he banged a two-run dong to further separate himself from the pack of all Red Sox players. (More factoids in comments.)

Bradley finished the afternoon with 14 total bases. Only three Red Sox have had more in a game: Fred Lynn (16, June 18, 1975), John Valentin (15, June 2, 1995), and Dustin Pedroia (15, June 24, 2010).

Over his last five games, Bradley is hitting .591 (13-for-22), with 9 extra-base hits and 13 RBI.

Blake Swihart (4-for-5) doubled twice, scored four times, and drove in three. ... Xander Bogaerts also had four hits and David Ortiz, Mookie Betts, and Brock Holt each had three. ... Josh Rutledge scored four times. ... Pablo Sandoval and Alejandro De Aza hit home runs.

Mariners starter Felix Hernandez lasted only 2.1 innings and allowed 10 runs and 12 hits.

Wade Miley: 7-4-2-3-8, 113.

Felix Hernandez / Wade Miley

Betts, CF
Holt, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Shaw, 1B
Sandoval, 3B
De Aza, LF
Swihart, C
Bradley, RF