Matt Carpenter should have stayed put.
It’s not every day you see a baserunner who was stationed at third base get thrown out at the plate on a base hit to center field. Yet that’s what happened Wednesday night in the second inning of the Boston Red Sox’s 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Fenway Park.
Carpenter was on third base when Tommy Pham singled into center field with one out. It was a sinking line drive that dropped just in front of Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr., who came up firing to the plate to nab Carpenter for the second out of the inning.
You see, the problem was that Carpenter thought Bradley might catch the ball on a line, thus requiring the Cardinals infielder to tag up at third base before proceeding home. Instead, Bradley fielded the ball on a bounce, meaning that although Carpenter tagged up at third base, it really wasn’t necessary. And as a result, Carpenter was dead as a doornail at the plate.
Bradley’s throw was clocked at 95.8 mph, according to Statcast.
In some cases, there isn’t much shame in getting thrown out at the plate while trying to score on a sacrifice fly, especially when you’re running against Bradley on a line drive to shallow center field. It looks a whole lot worse, however, when the ball drops and you’re gunned down.
Then again, Carpenter probably would have been criticized if he stayed at third base, too, as that would have meant not scoring on a single. So really, the runner was in a no-win situation.
The out proved huge, as the Red Sox, who were trailing 4-0 at the time, clawed their way back, scoring three runs in the ninth inning for a walk-off victory.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
