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When the Red Sox visit Toronto next week, they will be without pitcher Tanner Houck –– who is unvaccinated –– plus catcher Kevin Plawecki, who is vaccinated but tested positive on Monday, and two staff members, who tested positive for COVID. The Oakland Athletics played Toronto last weekend and placed catcher Austin Allen and left-handers A.J. Puk and Kirby Snead on the restricted list ahead of that series.
“A lot of times you’ll see other things that don’t show (great execution), like snaps that are dropped, guys jumping offsides, defensively guys missing their assignments,” he said. “I saw really good execution today. That’s a tribute to them paying attention to what we’re trying to do, offense, defense and kicking.”
The Bulls already are battling mismatches around the rim, where the Bucks bring three big men — Antetokounmpo (6-foot-11), Brook Lopez (7-0) and Bobby Portis (6-10) — who outsize any Bulls player except Nikola Vučević (6-10). But that doesn’t mean the Bulls can back away from those physical battles. Instead, they need to bait bigger players into fouls early and often to create lineup problems for the Bucks. This can’t be the backbone of a defensive plan, but it certainly would help.
“You see it all the time with a veteran, get the two outs and all of a sudden rushing to get the third out,” La Russa said. “I see veterans, they go into the fifth inning with a four-run lead, they get an out or two and they’re ‘oh man, almost, one more out’ and you get distracted, and throws four balls to walk the guy. That’s just a learning experience for him.
“One, you’ve got to have that connection,” he said. “You both have to be on the same page with what concept you’re running and with what coverage you’re running into. And then the second thing is that ‘it’ factor, that mentality. It’s that dog mentality where no matter what the situation is, what coverage it is, who’s guarding you, your guy’s going to make a play. It’s just that mentality and having that mentality in big moments.”
“I thought we missed a lot of opportunities in the first half in transition,” coach Billy Donovan said. “I didn’t think that we did very well in the break. We had opportunities there. They really hurt us on the backboard, and when they aren’t there, when we do come down with the rebounds, we need to be able to run.”
“He comes in, he pounds the zone, he works quick, (if) runners get on he’s quick to the plate,” Ross said. “He’s got multiple weapons. Throwing strikes is key. You can fall behind and still come back. He‘s been a starter and has a feel for working through the lineup a couple of times and also dealing with traffic, so there’s a lot to like about him.”
Near the end of the Wolves’ win, ESPN noted the two dads had been trading jabs from nearby seats. Then they got up, walked toward each other and hugged on the sideline, almost as if on cue. Afterward, Tee Morant walked up to an ESPN camera and said: “No smoke. We ain’t ducking no smoke. Memphis, Memphis, Memphis!”
Suzuki’s sizzling start has helped the Cubs produce the best offense in the majors, leading in key areas including batting average, on-base percentage, doubles and OPS. Pitchers have struggled to solve Suzuki, who posted a .412/.545/1.059 slash line in his last six games with five runs, seven hits, two doubles, three home runs, five RBIs and five walks to earn the National League Player of the Week award.
“It starts with those little details, the basic things like shooting, skating, like being at the right time at the right moment,” Dominik Kubalík said. “Obviously the head is probably 90 — maybe even more — percent of your performance on the ice. To kind of just refresh my mind was the bigger thing this year.”