Why Alex Cora didn’t use Kenley Jansen in 10th inning of Red Sox’ loss to Mariners
The Red Sox' All-Star closer wasn't called upon in his usual spot as he was dealing with a back injury.
The Red Sox appeared on their way to pick up their second win of the season after taking a 3-1 lead in the 10th inning over the Mariners, but Kenley Jansen didn’t come into the game in his usual spot.
Instead, Alex Cora tabbed Joely Rodriguez to close out Saturday’s game and try to get the save. The decision didn’t work out. Rodriguez gave up three runs (two earned) on two hits while recording just one out.
Rodriguez was pulled after facing four hitters. Rookie Justin Slaten entered the game with one out and runners at the corners as the game was tied, going up against Julio Rodriguez. The Mariners ended it on the fifth pitch of the at-bat, hitting an opposite-field single to score the winning run.
The decision to not pitch Jansen was confusing in the moment. But after the game, Cora shared that his All-Star closer wasn’t available due to injury.
“A tight back,” Cora told reporters of Jansen’s status. “He came in today. He felt really tight. He moved around and we decided not to use him today.”
Similar to Rafael Devers a day prior, Jansen explained that he’d rather be cautious with the injury so early in the season as opposed to potentially risking being sidelined for some time if he had pitched Saturday.
“I just woke up with a bad back today,” Jansen said. “Nothing I can do about it, you know? Tried to come into the ballpark and tried to get ready, but they wouldn’t allow me. So got to be smart. I go out there and aggravate it then it could be worse for a week or two. I’d rather lose one day or two so I can be back.”
Jansen added that it wasn’t “as worse” as the back tightness issue that he had during spring training, but he was still disappointed about not being available for Saturday’s game.
“I don’t know, man. It’s frustrating,” Jansen said. “What could I do? You go to bed, you wake up in the morning and you have a bad back. And you try to ramp it up and it’s not allowing you to. We’ll see how it goes.”
If Jansen had been available, he would’ve been the Red Sox’ clear go-to option in that spot. After recording 29 saves in 33 opportunities last season, Jansen picked up his first save of the season on Opening Day and day off Friday.
But Jansen wasn’t available. Chris Martin, the Red Sox’ other go-to reliever in high-leverage situations, pitched in the eighth. So, Cora made a matchup-based decision as the Mariners had two lefty hitters due up to start the 10th and called on his only lefty reliever.
It didn’t work out, but Cora believes Rodriguez also got a little unlucky as well with Luke Raley getting a relatively soft single and Wilyer Abreu committing an unfortunate error in right field.
“That was a great pocket for him,” Cora said. “A jam shot over the third baseman. Out-in-front base hit. Contact play. They put the ball in play and found holes. Obviously we’d love to work ahead in the count. That’d be better. But the quality of the contact wasn’t great. So bad luck.”
The Red Sox will hope to salvage a split in their season-opening series on Sunday before hitting the road again to face the Athletics in Oakland.
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