Red Sox Notes: Alex Cora Explains Late-Inning Bullpen Decision
The Red Sox bullpen has 13 blown saves this season
Who the Boston Red Sox should use as their primary closer has been a pressing question for the majority of the season.
Austin Davis has impressed throughout the year and showed the skillset to take on the position. Tanner Houck has transitioned into his bullpen role and is willing to be brought in for any situation that is asked of him.
But on Saturday night, it was Hansel Robles who got the nod to close out the game. The Red Sox held a 6-5 lead against the Seattle Mariners after Bobby Dalbec hit a solo home run at the top of the ninth inning.
Robles, however, could not maintain the lead for Boston. The Mariners rallied back and won the game off a Dylan Moore RBI single. It was the fourth blown save of the year for Robles and the 13th blown save for the Red Sox.
“The way I see it — you do everything possible to win tonight, and maybe tomorrow, it rains and the roof doesn’t work,” manager Alex Cora said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “That’s the way I see it. We did a lot of good things today. Those guys are grinding. We pushed some guys to the limit — (Jake) Diekman, (Matt) Straham, Robles. And you try to do everything possible with what you have in that day, and then you turn the page and be ready for tomorrow.”
Houck was relied upon as the closer Friday night and got the save. The right hander helped Boston earn its fourth straight win in one-run games — a streak broken Saturday night. In his three-year career, Houck has never pitched in back-to-back outings.
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“We decided he (Houck) wasn’t available before the game, so that’s why you didn’t see him,” Cora said. “We talked about it, and obviously, the decision, it’s not only me. It’s the whole group. He hasn’t pitched back-to-back — that’s something that we have to get him ready for, just to push him that way doesn’t make sense.”
Cora added the Red Sox were willing to adjust based on the flow of the game and felt Robles was the man to go to in the bottom of the ninth.
Here are more notes from Saturday’s Red Sox-Mariners
— The Red Sox appear to have George Kirby’s number. In two starts against Boston, Kirby has gone 10 innings giving up 10 earned runs with four home runs. Against the rest of the league, Kirby has gone 27 innings giving up only seven earned runs and three homers, per NESN’s Adam Pellerin.
— Rafael Devers brought the hurt to Kirby in the top of the first inning. The third baseman hit a two-run home run, his good for his 13th of the year. Devers leads the league with 82 hits, and the home run puts Devers at 400 career runs scored, 400 RBI and 300 extra base hits, per Red Sox senior manager of media relations and baseball information J.P. Long.
— Christian Vázquez added an RBI single in the first inning to put Boston up 3-0 early on. The catcher has 13 RBI in his last 16 games, per The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham.
— Dalbec was the hero for the second night in a row for a half inning. The Red Sox first baseman has five home runs this season, and every homer put the Red Sox ahead at one point in the game, per Long. In four career games at T-Mobile Park, Dalbec has three home runs, per Abraham.
— The Red Sox will close out the series against the Mariners on Sunday in the last game of their West Coast road trip. First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. ET at T-Mobile Park. Full coverage of the game can be found on NESN, including an hour of pregame coverage starting at 3 p.m. ET.
