Red Sox World Series: Five reasons why Game 3 was lost

We can boil it down to five key reasons why the Boston Red Sox came up short in an 18-inning marathon in Game 3 of the World Series.

Every loss hurts when the stakes are this high. When that loss comes at the end of a lengthy extra-innings game it almost feels like two losses. It leaves us with a pit in our stomachs wondering where it all went wrong. In the case of Game 3 of the World Series, there are a handful of reasons we can point to for the Boston Red Sox coming up short.

At seven hours and 20 minutes, Game 3’s 18-inning marathon stands as the longest postseason game in major league history. That’s a lot of baseball, which means there were plenty of opportunities for pivotal moments. I’ve narrowed it down to the five key factors that led to this loss.

Many will point to the obvious of Nathan Eovaldi giving up the walk-off home run to Max Muncy leading off the bottom of the 18th inning. Sure, that technically was the reason for the loss. However, the Red Sox wouldn’t have stayed in the game as long as they did without the six innings of relief that Eovaldi gave them prior to that point. What he did was downright heroic so we will not pin the blame for this loss on Eovaldi.

To find the reasons truly responsible for this loss we need to look back to moments earlier in the game that prevented the Red Sox from escaping with a win before Eovaldi was pushed beyond his limits.

Porcello’s early hook

It seems so long ago now that we almost forget that Rick Porcello started Game 3 for the Red Sox. The right-hander pitched brilliantly, allowing only three hits and a walk while striking out five. The only damage done against him was a solo home run by Joc Pederson in the third inning.

This isn’t about blaming the loss on Porcello though. It was one run! You should feel great about your starter if he allows only one run. The reason Porcello’s outing is on this list isn’t about him giving up a homer, it’s about the questionable decision to give him an early hook after only 4 2/3 innings.

The decision by Alex Cora, while a bit surprising, was defensible at the time. The manager wanted to avoid having his starter face Pederson again in a tight game when his left-handed swing had already taken Porcello deep. Porcello’s spot in the batting order was due up next inning, so if Cora planned to pinch-hit for him anyway then pulling him in favor of lefty Eduardo Rodriguez made sense. E-Rod struck out Pederson on a changeup down and in to end the inning so it appeared the move paid off.

In retrospect, given how long this game ultimately lasted, the Red Sox could have used a few more innings from their starter. Porcello only threw 61 pitches! He could easily have gone another two or three frames given how well he was throwing. Every additional out Porcello could have recorded would leave one less for Eovaldi to worry about. Maybe Eovaldi doesn’t give up the walk-off homer if he isn’t exhausted from carrying a heavy workload.

97 pitches is a lot to ask of any relief pitcher, let alone one who worked an inning in each of the first two games of this series. Eovaldi was expected to start Game 4 but that’s not happening now. The Dodgers were able to keep Rich Hill out of this game so that he can still make his scheduled start, in part because Walker Buehler gave them seven innings last night.

Cora only wanted to use Eovaldi in this game if it gave him the chance to take a commanding three-game lead in the series. That backfired with Eovaldi essentially being wasted in a loss, the ramifications of which hinder their chances for winning the next game.

Kinsler out at the plate

The Red Sox had a prime opportunity to end this game in the 10th inning, only for Ian Kinsler to be thrown out at home plate.

Martinez got the rally started with a one-out walk. Kinsler replaced him as a pinch-runner and was nearly picked off. A Brock Holt base hit up the middle sent Kinsler to third, although he was almost out after briefly overrunning the bag. Two moments that were dangerously close to being costly base running blunders proved to be ominous signs of foreshadowing what was to come next.

Eduardo Nunez, pinch-hitting for Rafael Devers, did exactly what the Red Sox needed in that situation with men on the corners and one out. He lofted the ball to center field – not deep but deep enough that it should have scored the runner from third on a sac fly.

Cody Bellinger made a strong, although not entirely accurate, throw from center as Kinsler raced to the plate. Catcher Austin Barnes received the throw a few feet away from the plate and tagged Kinsler on his way by for the inning-ending double-play.

Credit the Dodgers defense for making the play but what exactly was Kinsler thinking? Why didn’t he even attempt to slide? Maybe he felt he was too far away from the plate to slide to it. Fine, how about a head first dive then? Nunez would have done it. Maybe he would have been out anyway but it certainly would have given him a better chance than running into the tag.

It looked like Kinsler was bracing himself for impact but rather than try to jar the ball out of Barnes’ glove with the type of collision MLB has tried to eliminate, he pulled up at the last second to essentially give himself up.

Hard to believe but this wasn’t even Kinsler’s worst mistake of the game.

Kinsler’s costly error

The Red Sox took a 2-1 lead in the 13th inning when Nunez beat out an infield single with a head first dive (see, told you Nunez would have dove). Reliever Scott Alexander came off the mound to field the ball cleanly but made a poor underhand throw to Kiki Hernandez as he raced over to cover the bag, allowing Brock Holt to score the go-ahead run.

Unfortunately, Kinsler would return the favor in the bottom of the inning.

Eovaldi walked Max Muncy to begin the inning but retired the next two batters to put the Red Sox within one out of victory. Yasiel Puig hit what appeared to be a routine ground out to second base that should have ended it.

It didn’t. Kinsler’s cleat got stuck in a divot, forcing an off-balance throw that went wide of first baseman Christian Vazquez (yeah, our starting catcher was filling in at first base by that point. It was a weird game).

The errant throw allowed Muncy to score the tying run. Five innings later, a sleep-deprived fan base watched as Muncy’s walk-off homer won the game for Los Angeles. A thrilling comeback for the Dodgers that never happens if Kinsler – a Gold Glove nominee – makes a routine play.

If the Red Sox don’t win this series, Kinsler is in danger of becoming the next Bill Buckner. This play may haunt him and the city of Boston for years to come.

Pitching to Puig

Kinsler will get, and deserves, the majority of the blame for the Game 3 loss. However, we can’t overlook the decision by his manager that put the team in that spot to begin with.

Muncy made a heads up base running play to get to second when Nunez dove into the stands to catch a foul ball off the bat of Bellinger. Maybe Nunez would have been better off letting the ball land foul and hoping Eovaldi could retire the batter another way that didn’t put the tying run in scoring position yet we have to respect the fearless effort to put his body on the line trying to win.

The play meant first base was open, meaning Eovaldi didn’t have to pitch to Puig. Putting the winning run on base in extra-innings is undoubtedly a dangerous move. So is pitching to Puig. Especially when the batter on deck is Austin Barnes, a backup catcher who hit .205 this season and is 2-for-24 in the postseason. They can’t pinch-hit for Barnes because he had already replaced Yasmani Grandal earlier in the game and the Dodgers don’t have another catcher on the roster. Barnes predictably flied out to end the inning but only after the damage had been done to tie the game.

If they intentionally walk Puig to leave it up to Barnes, the Red Sox win this game, pushing the Dodgers to the brink of elimination. Instead, the Red Sox gave the Dodgers new life by snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.