With no outs and runners on first and third base in a tie game in the top of the 10th inning on Friday night, Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell had to make a decision.
Before every at-bat, the Reds adjust their infield defense depending on the situation and the hitter at the plate. In this situation, Bell had three choices.
He could have the Reds line up in “double play” defense with the shortstop and second baseman deeper in the infield to give themselves the best chance to turn a double play.
The Reds could put their infield in and sell out on getting the out at home.
Bell chose neither of those options and made the most aggressive decision.
More:Cincinnati Reds win on walk-off balk for second time in franchise history
More:'It was pretty messed up': Reds catcher Aramis Garcia placed on IL with finger injury
More:Cincinnati Reds sending prospects Elly De La Cruz, Andrew Abbott to MLB Futures Game
“It’s a play that we have in our repertoire, I guess you could say, where it’s kind of in-between double play depth or infield in,” Reds shortstop Kyle Farmer said. “If it’s hit softly and they go home, I go home. But if it’s hit hard, I turn two. I just read it well.”
On a short ground ball to Farmer, he made a rapid fire decision to throw home. Farmer’s throw beat Tampa Bay Rays catcher Francisco Mejia to the plate. Bell called it the play that won the game for the Reds, who scored in the bottom of the 10th inning on a walk-off balk against the Rays.
“(The in-between defense the Reds used) gives you the chance to make either play, which is putting it all on the infielders to do something like (Farmer) did,” Bell said. “I’ve seen that a lot and rarely does it pan out like that. It was just a great instinctual play, athletic and a perfect throw. It’s being into the game and understanding what he needed to do.”
This play showed Farmer’s strengths as a defender. Farmer’s judgment on the play in the 10th inning on Friday is the type of split-second decision that few shortstops can execute.
More:Cincinnati Reds drop Game 1 of doubleheader and lose two players to injured list
More:'We needed coverage': Reds get best game of the year from their bullpen to beat the Pirates
More:How Jonathan India is navigating a mentally tough season on the Cincinnati Reds
“Once I saw him get jammed – (reliever Joel Kuhnel) made a good pitch – I was going home all the way,” Farmer said. “It was a do-or-die play in that situation.”
The fact that the game was in extra-innings added another dynamic to Farmer’s decision. Since each extra inning starts with an automatic runner on second base, Bell usually manages with the assumption that the runner is going to score. Allowing a run in the top of the 10th inning wouldn’t have been the end of the world because the Reds were going to start the bottom of the 10th inning with their own automatic runner on second base.
But Farmer knew how much the out at home could change the game, so he went for it. He got the out, and the Reds won the game in the bottom of the inning.
“The defense we had is putting a lot on our infielders to make the right call,” Bell said. “There are balls that are hit in the infield that we would take a double play on and give up a run in that situation because we’re the home team and get to start the next inning with a runner on second. That would’ve been the safe play, I don’t know if he’d have gotten a double play on that one. The key is to break right away, read it and go from there.”
Reds roster moves: Alexis Diaz back in the bullpen
Before Friday’s game, the Reds activated reliever Alexis Díaz from the injured list. He had been out since June 19 with bicep tendinitis, but Bell threw him right back into his role as the top relief pitcher in the Reds’ bullpen in Friday’s win over the Rays.
Díaz pitched a scoreless eighth inning with two strikeouts to lower his ERA to 2.32.
“Any time, he would make any bullpen better,” Bell said. “Just also the fact that he’s rested and available to pitch tonight. That will be helpful. Thankfully it wasn’t a long-term injury. He got a little reset, was able to heal up and hopefully can finish the year staying healthy.”
In a corresponding roster move, the Reds designated for assignment relief pitcher Robert Dugger. One day after Dugger pitched 3 ⅔ scoreless innings to lead the Reds to a win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, he was designated for assignment.
“Dugger has been through this before, but it’s still not fun delivering that kind of message,” Bell said. “He won the game for us (on Thursday). He’s been through it before and he handles it like a pro, really incredibly well, which makes it even tougher.”
Reds injury updates: Pitcher Connor Overton is progressing
Reds starting pitcher Connor Overton has been on the 60-day injured list since May 23 with a stress fracture in his lower back. He recently threw from 90 feet on flat ground, which was a big step in his rehab. He’s on track to return to the Reds at the end of August.
Source link
