The Boston Red Sox fell short against the Oakland A’s when manager Alex Cora failed to call on a pinch-hitter with the game on the line.
Here’s the situation – the Boston Red Sox trailed by three runs with two outs in the top of the ninth inning. Brock Holt kept the rally alive by reaching on an error. The tying run was only two batters away. Manager Alex Cora had the opportunity to craft a thrilling comeback but his decision-making may instead have cost Boston the game.
The scenario begged for a pinch-hitter to replace Christian Vazquez. The 27-year old catcher is invaluable for his defensive skills behind the plate. He’s even had a few clutch moments in his career. However, Vazquez, who is hitting a dismal .211 this season, was not the best option with the game on the line.
Mookie Betts stood in the on-deck circle hoping to get a chance to hit. He was out of the lineup to start the game but was available to pinch-hit. Cora was willing to send his best hitter to the plate in place of Tzu-Wei Lin if Betts had the chance to represent the tying run.
He never got that chance. Vazquez managed to draw the count full, building hope that he might take a walk that would put the game in Mookie’s hands. Instead, Vazquez popped up a slider on the eighth pitch of the at-bat. Game over.
Betts has been arguably the best hitter in baseball this season. He’s hitting a blistering .366 with a 1.191 OPS, six home runs, and 14 RBI. There is no other Red Sox hitter you would want at the plate in that spot. So why wasn’t he?
I’m not buying the case for only turning to Betts if he had the chance to tie the game. Sure, the best case scenario would be a home run that would still have the Red Sox trailing by one with Lin up next. That’s fine. Cora still had Hanley Ramirez and Eduardo Nunez at his disposal off the bench.
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The Red Sox gave three of their regular hitters a day off on Sunday. None of them ended up getting the chance to pinch-hit for a weaker bat at the bottom of the lineup.
In fairness, Cora could have played all his cards correctly and the Red Sox still may have lost. A’s closer Blake Treinen has allowed only one run all season so scoring three times in one inning was a tall task. Even if a loss was nearly inevitable, fans would have felt better going down with Betts and Ramirez getting the chance to save the day. You have to believe they had a better shot to succeed than Vazquez.
It’s hard to quibble too much with Cora’s overall performance when the Red Sox are 17-4. The fact that we made it 21 games into the season without finding much else to criticize a rookie manager for speaks volumes about how well Cora has adapted to his new role.
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Sunday’s loss is simply a reminder that there will be some bumps in the road. This can serve as a learning experience for Cora in a season certain to be full of them. He had the right idea of using Betts to pinch-hit. He just waited for one batter too late to act on it.