Red Sox’s Kenley Jansen Explains Purpose Behind Bullpen Ritual

The Boston Red Sox underwent a back-and-forth 22-run slugfest with the division-rival Baltimore Orioles on Friday night, coming away with a 12-10 victory on the road that required some assistance from closer Kenley Jansen.

Jansen was called upon to shut the door down in the bottom of the ninth inning, just after Baltimore scored four runs in its previous two frames at the plate to cut Boston’s lead down to a feasible two-run deficit. But before Jansen, who ranks fourth in the all-time MLB saves list, took the mound at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the four-time All-Star performed a simple, but no less interesting pre-warmup ritual — pacing around the bullpen while visually locked into Chris Martin’s finish to the eighth inning.

“For me, it’s just trying to mentally slow down and that’s what I did; slowed the game down and got them 1-2-3,” Jansen told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “When you see me walk like that, it’s basically understanding the game, the situation, how crazy the game is and just try to get that extra focus and extra locked in, and try to help my team win ballgames.”

Relief pitching wasn’t Boston’s strength on during the second of four against Baltimore. Right-hander Cooper Criswell surrendered six earned runs through 3 1/3 innings on the mound and fellow righty Luis García, one of the team’s trade deadline acquisitions, allowed a three-run rally in the seventh inning after inheriting an 11-6 lead. García got tagged with a two-run home run off the bat of Baltimore’s Ramón Urías — the third straight time García’s allowed a home run, and fourth total so far.

“It was just a crazy game. It was a high-scoring game,” Jansen added, per NESN. “Everybody was seeing the ball well.”

The Red Sox didn’t slice into their 2 1/2-game deficit in the American League wild card standings, but the team didn’t fall any further in the standings either. Although it required a baker’s dozen worth of runs, Boston could take the critical weekend series over the AL East-leading Orioles with a pair of wins on Saturday and Sunday.