If all went as planned, Craig Kimbrel wouldn’t have pitched at all in the Boston Red Sox’s three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Red Sox held commanding ninth-inning leads in each of their last two games against the Jays, but shaky relief pitching forced Boston’s closer into messy situations.
With a five-run lead in the ninth Tuesday, Hector Velazquez only could record one out before loading the bases, prompting Kimbrel to enter the game and shut the door. It was déjà vu all over again Wednesday, as Brian Johnson allowed two hits on three pitches with a four-run lead before giving way to Kimbrel. Luckily for Boston, the hard-throwing right-hander got the job done on both occasions.
Speaking with reporters after the Red Sox’s 6-4 win in the series finale, manager Alex Cora stressed the importance of keeping Kimbrel out of games in which he’s not initially needed.
“Honestly, we need to do a better job if we’re trying to stay away from him,” Cora said, as seen on NESN’s Red Sox postgame coverage. “We need to shut down the door. Yesterday Velazquez didn’t do it and BJ (Johnson) didn’t do it today, and then he (Kimbrel) has to go through all of that. Try to stay away from Joe (Kelly) and hopefully we can stay away from him (Kimbrel), but we didn’t accomplish that. He had to come in two games that, before the inning started, we were like, ‘We don’t want to use him.’ But we did. We have to win the game, that’s the most important thing.”
For a team with legitimate World Series aspirations, it’s critical for the closer to be as fresh as possible come playoff time. While the Red Sox clearly aren’t afraid to turn to Kimbrel, they will enter dangerous territory if his workload gets out of hand.
Here are some other notes from Red Sox-Blue Jays:
— J.D. Martinez blasted a go-ahead, two-run home run in the seventh inning that traveled an estimated 434 feet. The veteran slugger now is tied for the Major League Baseball lead in home runs with 18. Not to mention, he’s homered nine times in his last 16 games.
— Eduardo Rodriguez earned his sixth win of the campaign after tossing 6 2/3 innings in which he allowed two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts. The Red Sox are 10-1 in games this season in which Rodriguez starts.
— Blake Swihart made his first MLB start at first base, but it was his bat that garnered most of the attention Wednesday. The ultra-utility man went 2-for-3 with a run scored, marking his second multi-hit game of the season.
— Eduardo Nunez had a loud afternoon at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a solo home run and an RBI double. It was Nunez’s first game with multiple extra-base hits since Opening Day.
— The Red Sox now are 7-2 against the Blue Jays this season.
