4 plays in a pivotal 4th inning doomed the Red Sox in a 4-0 Yankees Game 3 triumph
The Red Sox came close on each one, but they couldn't get an out on any.
Baseball is a game of inches, and in the playoffs, teams on the wrong end of close plays often end up seeing their seasons come to a crashing halt.
Red Sox rookie Connelly Early fared admirably in Thursday’s Game 3, but his teammates fell short in a pivotal fourth inning.
Four consecutive close plays that didn’t go Boston’s way led to four Yankees runs in the frame to spearhead an eventual 4-0 victory. New York was the better team, and deserved to advance, but the Red Sox didn’t do themselves any favors.
It started with a bloop double from Cody Bellinger that hit off Ceddanne Rafaela’s glove and fell to the ground. It wasn’t as egregious as Jarren Duran’s misplay the night prior, but it was also a catchable ball if he had taken a more strategic route.
Unlike Giancarlo Stanton earlier in the game, Bellinger was running from the start and managed to hustle to second. After a Stanton walk and Ben Rice strikeout, Amed Rosario hit a ball that skirted just past Trevor Story’s glove to score Bellinger.
This one was a clear hit, and wasn’t on Story, but it epitomized an inning where the Red Sox seemed to consistently just barely miss out on potential putouts.
Jazz Chisholm singled to right, then Anthony Volpe placed one just past second baseman Romy Gonzalez’s glove that plated Stanton.
Then came the only official error, as first baseman Nathaniel Lowe misplayed a high hopper from Austin Wells that scored Chisholm and Rosario.
“We didn’t play defense behind,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told ESPN’s Buster Olney. “They didn’t hit the ball hard. We just didn’t make outs.”
A 2-0 deficit would have been manageable, but a 4-0 hole – especially with the way Walpole native Cam Schlittler was pitching – proved to be insurmountable.
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