Boston — Scoreless games can make for some compelling managerial decisions.
The Tigers had their backs to the wall in the bottom of the 10th Friday. The Red Sox had speedy Jarren Duran at third base with no outs.
Tigers manager AJ Hinch decided to use a five-infielder, two-outfielder alignment, bringing Javier Báez in from center field. He’s done that before and it’s a generally accepted strategy in that situation.
But when he kept that alignment intact with one out and runners at the corners, it prompted the question: Why not send Báez back to the outfield and keep a potential inning-ending double-play in order?
Fair question but Hinch had a better answer.
“Their fastest baserunner is at third base,” he said. “For us to play for a double-play, the first baseman has to stay on the base (to hold the runner). That gives Alex (Cora, Red Sox manager) all the options to do a safety squeeze or anything else. We can’t defend Duran playing back.
“The double-play is the upside. Game over is the down side.”
As it turned out, the Tigers got what they wanted. Pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida hit a ground ball. But that ground ball hit the dirt in front of the plate and bounced over the pulled-in right side of the infield and the Red Sox celebrated a 1-0 win.
Hinch had a decision to make in the top of the 10th inning, as well. With Dillon Dingler on third and one out, switch-hitting Wenceel Perez was coming up against right-handed reliever Garrett Whitlock.
Hinch had Kerry Carpenter and Colt Keith, both left-handed hitters, available on his bench. He stayed with Perez. Perez has a higher contact rate and he’s a good low-ball hitter, a seemingly good matchup against Whitlock, who lives at the bottom of the zone.
But there was another reason. Had Hinch sent up Carpenter or Keith, Cora very likely would’ve issued an intentional pass and had Whitlock face right-handed hitting Spencer Torkelson.
Hinch would have, in effect, wasted one of his bench options.
He rode with Perez and Whitlock was able to punch him out on a pitch in the dirt.
Sound decisions don’t always produce positive results in this game.
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Tigers’ AJ Hinch tells why he kept five infielders in the 10th
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
