With the score tied at four in the bottom of the ninth inning, Brandon Guyer doubled for the Indians, bringing up catcher Roberto Perez against the Red Sox. Perez, a catcher, is a poor hitter, so Terry Francona decided on a bunt. It was absolutely the right time and batter for the call, despite Perez homering earlier in the game:
After Guyer’s leadoff double against Brandon Workman (0-1) in the ninth, Holt fielded the bunted ball and tried to throw out Guyer at third. Guyer slid into the bag as the throw skipped past third baseman Rafael Devers, then got to his feet and raced across home plate.
“It was just a routine play,” Holt said. “I couldn’t get it out of the glove, fumbled it a little bit, and then tried to rush the throw, and made a bad one.”
The rule on sacrifices is pretty much take the sure out, which is why the sacrifice early in the game is a poor call. It almost always wastes an out. Here, however, there was pressure to keep the runner off third base, and that led to a poor defensive decision. With the sacrifice, there would be one chance to drive the runner home with a fly ball, so taking the out at first would be a good play. Holt tried to do too much, and the Red Sox lost the game.
There is a corollary to this play, that a runner on second with no one on first should always try to advance on a ground ball. The throw to third is difficult, and when it fails the run potential for the inning goes way up.
from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2vkXJmH
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