The Boston Red Sox looked destined for a comeback in the ninth inning of Thursday’s loss to the Minnesota Twins.
Trailing 2-1 and Twins closer Fernando Rodney in, Xander Bogaerts led the frame off with a single. After two straight outs, Blake Swihart and Brock Holt had great at-bats, each walking to load the bases.
But with Mitch Moreland, who is 6-for-10 in his career against Rodney, sitting on the bench, Sox manager Alex Cora let Jackie Bradley Jr. hit. After getting into a 3-0 count, Bradley looked at two strikes before swinging at a third, ending the game and stranding all the runners.
Make no mistake, Bradley has been hitting well lately, but that doesn’t make it any less perplexing that Cora rolled with him in lieu of Moreland in that situation.
After the game, Cora explained why he did not give Moreland a chance to hit for Bradley or at any point in the inning.
“No, I mean we’ve got all the lefties that were in,” Cora said of giving thought to pinch-hitting Moreland, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “That pinch-hitting thing is not that easy. We have men in scoring position with Raffy (Rafael Devers, who popped out), and then we felt the at-bats after that were good ones. We’re not going to hit there for Brock, he has a good at-bat there, and Jackie’s one of our best hitters the last month. I don’t think there was a spot there.”
Moreland also was out of the lineup for Wednesday’s rain-abbreviated game, but Cora noted that the All-Star first baseman is fully healthy, so that didn’t play a role in his decision.
All season Cora has harped on trusting his players — especially Bradley amid his offensive tribulations — and many times that’s worked out fine enough.
Thursday, of course, was not one of those instances.
Here are some other notes from Thursday’s Red Sox-Twins game:
— Brian Johnson pitched quite well, something that has become a trend when he starts.
The left-hander has made a handful of starts this season, becoming a temporary part of the rotation with Sox starters contending with injuries. In Thursday’s game, he pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits with three walks and five strikeouts. He tossed 1-2-3 frames in the second through fifth innings.
Suffice to say he has made a compelling case to become a permanent part of the rotation.
Drew Pomeranz has struggled all season, and made his first start since May 31st on Tuesday due to left biceps tendinitis. Despite that, Cora would not give a direct answer about considering Johnson as a long-term part of the rotation, simply noting he was outstanding, but otherwise did not outline much more concrete of a plan.
Pomeranz will get the ball again this Tuesday against the Philadelphia Phillies. If he continues to crash and burn, Cora needs to give some serious thought to letting Johnson remain the permanent fifth starter, as he’s made more than enough of a case to earn that role.
— Although the Red Sox offense largely was anemic Thursday, the bullpen did not do many favors with what they were given.
After receiving a 1-0 lead to work with, Heath Hembree gave up one run in the seventh and Matt Barnes gave up another in the eighth. Both pitchers had faced one batter in the previous inning before the clean stanza in which they surrendered a run.
By comparison, it isn’t fair to say the Sox bullpen is a disaster, but it does need work. Joe Kelly has lost the form that saw him get off to a tremendous start, Tyler Thornburg remains a work in progress and Brandon Workman now is with the PawSox.
With Craig Kimbrel remaining reliable and locked into a ninth-inning role, Ryan Brasier likely will — and should — be an internal candidate for high-leverage relief chances. Though his Major League Baseball experience is limited, his stuff, in particular his fastball, plays well in the big leagues, and he was lights out as a late-inning guy with Triple-A Pawtucket.
