Games » Boston Red Sox
Aug25The biggest comeback of the year
Lee Judge
The Kansas City Star
If you turned this game off in the top of the fourth when the Royals were down by six runs, you missed the biggest comeback of the year. It took four hours and 31 minutes. Nineteen runs were scored. There were 34 hits, 10 walks, 16 strikeouts, 33 runners left on base, 97 at-bats, 16 pitchers used and 406 pitches thrown. (You might want to double-check that last number. My calculator was starting to smoke at about 11:30 last night.)
The winning run was scored in the 12th inning. With two outs, Jeff Francoeur walked. (One more time in case you think that’s some kind of typo: With two outs, Jeff Francoeur walked.) Eric Hosmer had a long at-bat and doubled to the opposite field, and Tony Abreu singled with two strikes to drive in Francoeur. And don’t forget the eight innings of shutout baseball that the Royals bullpen threw to make the offense in the 12th possible.
It’s been a long season that hasn’t gone the way Royals fans had hoped, but there are still nights when a Royals fan can see something terrific. This was one of those nights.
Game notes
• Boston starter Aaron Cook might have done Jarrod Dyson a favor by throwing the Royals center fielder sinkers. Dyson needs to hit the ball on the ground and use his speed. Cook’s sinking fastball makes hitting the ball on the ground easier, and Dyson led off the game with a single. Alcides Escobar followed with another single, and then Alex Gordon doubled. Once again, Boston left fielder Scott Podsednik got caught too close to the Green Monster. The ball caromed past Podsednik and, once again, Jacoby Ellsbury saved him by coming over from center field to back him up.
• Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie threw a shutdown inning in the bottom of the first — and then the roof fell in during the next two innings. Guthrie was either too far out of the zone (he walked two and one scored) or two far in the zone (he gave up seven hits and six earned runs), and the Royals were getting blown out.
• In the fifth inning with two down and Tony Abreu on second base, Escobar singled. Third-base coach Eddie Rodriguez held Abreu at third. As predicted, runners are having a hard time scoring from second base in Fenway Park, even with two down. (Two down makes it easier. The runner does not have to wait for the ball to drop.) The left fielder is just too close to the infield.
• Although in this case, the left fielder is Scott Podsednik, who is not known for having a strong arm. There are a couple of ways to look at this. The Royals were down by six runs at this point. Was it worth risking an out for a single run? The other school of thought says that it was too early to get conservative, and playing station-to-station baseball can force the offense to get three or four hits to score just one run.
• Boston’s Cody Ross didn’t challenge Alex Gordon’s arm in the sixth inning, settling for a single instead of a double. Sometimes the best arms don’t get assists because runners decline to run on them.
• Just to prove this theory isn’t always true, Mauro Gomez tried to stretch a single to right field into a double, and Jeff Francoeur picked up his 15th assist. Gordon saves time on his throws by charging the ball hard. Frenchy does it with a quick release.
• The Royals made a game of it in the seventh inning, scoring six runs on five hits and three walks.
• In the eighth, Ellsbury doubled, and you could see how much better Gordon handled the Green Monster than Podsednik had in the first two games of this series. Gordo saw the ball was going to hit high off the wall, backed up, caught the carom in his bare hand as he turned and threw to second.
• In the 10th, Royals reliever Kelvin Herrera gave up another 0-2 hit to Pedro Ciriaco. Kelvin then threw a wild pitch. Ciriaco went to second, and Podsednik bunted him to third. With the winning run on third base in extra innings with one down, the Royals had to bring their infield in.
• Manager Ned Yost ordered an intentional walk to Dustin Pedroia. That allowed the Royals to play their middle infielders slightly back at double-play depth and leave the corner infielders in. Ned brought in left-hander Francisley Bueno to pitch to the left-handed Ellsbury. The Royals’ defensive alignment (corners in, two up the middle) meant that if a ball was hit up the middle, the Royals would try to turn a double play to get out of the inning. If a ball was hit to first or third, they would throw home to cut the run down at the plate.
• Ellsbury hit the ball to Hosmer. Eric took a quick glance at second and then made a good decision. Turning a 3-6-3 double play is hard, and with Ellsbury running, maybe impossible. Hosmer threw to the plate. The throw was slightly up the line and drew catcher Salvador Perez into the runner. Sal made a spectacular catch and tag. Bueno struck out Che-Hsuan Lin to end the inning, and the game went to the 11th.
• In the bottom of the 11th with one out, Lorenzo Cain hustled and cut off a Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit before it got to the wall. That kept Salty at first and set up the 1-6-3 double play that ended the inning.
More on Fenway
A couple more points on playing the Green Monster. (Boston bench coach Tim Bogar told me this stuff last year, but Royals broadcaster Joel Goldberg reminded me of it on the “Royals Live” pregame show.) There is a ladder on the wall, and balls hit to the left of the ladder carom to left field. Balls hit to the right of the ladder carom to center field.
If a ball hits the left-field scoreboard, it tends to drop down. If it hits above the scoreboard, it comes off hard. If the left fielder is on the warning track when the ball hits the wall — as Scott Podsednik was Friday night — he’s too close. The ball might carom over his head.
If I remember what Bogie told me accurately (and there’s every chance I don’t), the Monster has panels in it. If the ball hits the middle of a panel, it can come off differently than when it hits a seam.
Podsednik and Aviles
After watching every pitch of every Royals game for the last two seasons and counting, I’ve become fairly familiar with the players and their styles of play. My reaction when I watch other teams play generally goes like this: “Man, I don’t know anything about these guys.”
Being familiar with the players makes the games vastly more entertaining. Knowing that Brayan Pena’s throws to second tail to the first-base side, that Jeff Francoeur needs to lay off the inside pitch or that Jarrod Dyson needs to lay off the high one makes the games more interesting. I’ve got a better idea of each player’s strengths and limitations and a better idea of when each succeeds or fails in his personal battle with baseball.
Which brings us to Scott Podsednik and Mike Aviles.
Scott and Mike are now with the Red Sox. I never got to know Scott when he was with the Royals. It was my first year covering the Royals, and I was slowly feeling my way, trying to figure out the best way to use this website and the access to the players. But I did watch Scott play a lot of baseball, and here’s what you might watch for in this series:
Podsednik is (or at least was) fast. He was a good bunter, a base stealer and he sometimes used an odd little swing to punch the ball softly at the shortstop in an attempt at an infield single. He was a good hitter without a lot of power.
On the downside, Podsednik did not have a strong arm, and runners in Kauffman Stadium challenged him by going second to home on a regular basis. He often declined the challenge, throwing the ball to second to keep the double play in order. Things might be different in Fenway. He is closer to third and home. As a Royal, Podsednik also did not play the wall well, often slowing down as soon as he hit the warning track. Once again, things may be different in Fenway.
Alex Gordon told me that visiting outfielders often struggle with the wall in Kauffman because it is so far behind them. They have a chance to reach full speed and then just a couple steps warning when they hit the track. When a wall is closer — like the Green Monster — you’ve got a better idea of where it is and won’t hit it at full velocity.
Mike Aviles is a different story.
I got to know Mike very well, and he’s still one of my favorite people in the game. If you want a sense of Mike’s personality, watch the video we have on dressing for success in the big leagues. Mike once told me he would talk to a lamppost, and that made him a very easy interview.
Mike has some pop at the plate and can steal a base. The Red Sox have him at shortstop, and that suits Mike better than second. Aviles struggled with the double-play pivot when he played second base in Kansas City. He was clearly uncomfortable turning the double play when he had his back to the runner.
Second basemen have to develop a clock in their heads and know when they’ve got time to turn and make the throw or have run out of time and are about to get dumped. Mike struggled to develop that awareness, and I’m guessing he’s more comfortable approaching second base with the runner in front of him.
Aviles also has that distinctive “helicopter” motion as he waits for a pitch. Apparently, some pitchers try to time a delivery home that catches Mike in mid-motion. If it works, Mike can be late on a fastball. (I’m guessing pitchers who do that throw fastballs. Why try to make Aviles late and then throw a slower pitch?)
Another thing to watch for: Mike, try as he might not to, stylishly flips the bat every time he puts the ball in play. Home run? Slow flip. Ball on the ground? Quick flip. I tried to get him to make a video showing kids the correct way to style and flip their bats and he refused, claiming he didn’t do it. (Pitchers don’t like guys styling at the plate. If a pitcher thinks a hitter showed him up with an exaggerated bat flip, the pitcher might drill him the next time he gets a chance.)
Anyway, Mike claimed he didn’t do it at all, and I suggested we go watch video to settle the dispute when Mitch Maier — whom I really didn’t know at this point — spoke up. “Mike, you do it on every at-bat, and everyone knows it.” Aviles started laughing and claimed that if he did it, he was unaware that he did it and it was just a case of having so much style, he couldn’t contain it all.
I watched him Friday night, and he’s still can’t contain all that style.
Gordon
Hosmer
Moustakas
Daniel Wesley
9 months, 3 weeks agoGreat game. Great win.
I have things I would normally grumble about but in lieu of tonight’s comeback I shall save them for another day. :)
Scott Mall
9 months, 3 weeks agoLate in the TV broadcast, I thought it was a little funny that Physioc compared Hosmer’s hitting to a young Rafael Palmeiro, saying that Palmeiro came up as an opposite field hitter, who developed power as he matured. Considering how Palmeiro evidently acquired some of his power, I thought it was a curious statement. Also, in the last inning, I thought I understood Hudler mentioning that many managers would have used their closer in the ninth inning, but it worked out well that the Royals saved Holland until the end. Isn’t it more usual for the home team to use their closer in the ninth if they have a good part of their lineup coming up in the bottom of the ninth? Unless they are running out of bullpen, wouldn’t the visiting team save their closer until they score in the top of an extra inning?
Josh Cooper
9 months, 3 weeks agoWell said, Daniel. Lots of things over the past few weeks to disagree with, but for this night I’ll let it slide.
Thayne Griffin
9 months, 3 weeks agoAll I know I’ll take Esky over Aviles every day. Style or not.
I can only imagine the steam coming out of Bobby V’s ears all night.
Joel Kallem
9 months, 3 weeks agoOne thing that should not get lost is the fact that the move of Alex to third in the order is paying dividends, and not just in this game. I think he is getting more opportunities to drive in runs with the 1 and 2 slots hitting ahead of him rather than the 8 and 9, and he is continuing to hit well there. I know there was concern about taking him out of the 1 slot, but I think we have to tip our caps to Yost on this one based on the early returns.
Lee Judge
9 months, 3 weeks agoPeople tell me I’m lucky to have this as a job and for the most part, they’re right. But covering baseball is an incredible grind.
It’s what you do almost every night for seven or eight months, depending on spring training and the playoffs.
And when the home team is down by six early and everyone else can turn off the TV or change channels, you have to keep watching.
So when you get rewarded with a comeback like this, I agree, you just enjoy the moment. Even in a long, less than wildly successful season like this one, there are rewards for the fans that stick with it.
Lee Judge
9 months, 3 weeks agoScott: Yeah, I noticed the Hosmer-Palmeiro comparison as well. Physioc is right, in general, but maybe that’s not the best comparison.
I had this conversation with Yost: not only do young players get stronger, but they get smarter. They get a better idea of what a pitcher will do and when they might try to get the bat head out in front and lean on a fastball.
I think a lot of the things we’ve seen go wrong (early base-running mistakes, etc.) will get better as these guys play. Everything about the game is faster in the big leagues. You might not be able to stretch a single into a double. Look at Gomez last night: I’ll bet he was surprised by how quickly Francoeur got that ball to second base in the 6th when he threw Mauro out.
You’re also right about the closer. Ned will use his closer in a tie game in the 9th, but only at home.
I asked him about it and Yost said a good closer can give you two shots at a win, but only in a home game. If the closer shuts the other team down in the top of the ninth, your offense gets a shot at the win in the bottom of the 9th. If you don’t win it there, no matter what the opposition does in the top of the 10th, you get to come to the plate again.
When extra-innings loomed, Ned stretched Herrera and Bueno out a bit and saved Holland to close.
Speaking of which: the bullpen may be a bit thin today. There was an off-day Thursday, but Teaford was used in long-relief last night and Herrera, Collins and Crow have been used two nights in a row. That usally means a day off.
Lee Judge
9 months, 3 weeks agoThayne: Agreed. Aviles is a better interview (only because I didn’t take enough Spanish in high school), but Esky looks like he’s going to be one of the best shortstops in the game years to come.
Joel: Alex did OK in the three-hole last season (over .290 as I recall) and when they didn’t get the production they hoped for out of Francoeur and Hosmer (orginally pencilled in as the three and five hitters) they began to look elsewhere.
Lots of right-handers come into Fenway and see the Green Monster (and no matter how many times you see it on TV you don’t appreciate how close it is to home plate until you see it in real life) and take aim for it.
But that means righties need to pull the ball and once they start trying to hit it out in front, they’re easier to fool. Lefties also take aim for the wall, but that means letting the ball travel and that helps their pitch selection improve.
That’s why I wondered if the Monster would actually help Hosmer’s swing. Alex looks like he’s got banging opposite-field doubles off the wall figured out.
Joel Kallem
9 months, 3 weeks agoI agree with you Lee, but there was a lot of teeth gnashing when Yost made the move and I think we have to acknowledge that he got this one right. Gordon hits a lot of doubles, and with 1 and 2 in front of him, there is a good chance to score a run early as we did the other day in Tampa. This also puts Billy in a position to drive in a run with a single if Gordon is on second.
Also thought DM’s comments in the paper today about seeking pitching were interesting and realistic. Not easy to get what we would all like to see (a #1) even if you are willing to spend the money - look what happened to Philly this year.
Brendan Woodbury
9 months, 3 weeks agoSince Yost moved Gordon to the 3-hole, the Royals are averaging 4 runs a game (despite going to extra innings twice). Prior to the move, they were averaging 4.16 runs a game.
The people who objected to moving Gordon said it would reduce run scoring, and, so far, run scoring it down. I don’t understand how that’s supposed to vindicate the decision.
Thayne Griffin
9 months, 3 weeks agoFor those interested, MLB.tv is now only $10 for the rest of the season.
Charles Purvis
9 months, 3 weeks agoHow about that 50mph curve from Padilla?
Terry Payne
9 months, 3 weeks agoThe Royals have 2 absolute studs, cornerstones for a dynasty: Salvy at catcher, Esky at shortstop. Keep those 2 and keep them healthy, and just look what can happen!
Lee Judge
9 months, 3 weeks agoBrendan: Game’s on, not much time to argue, but Gordon’s position in the batting order would only be one factor during that time period.
Is run-scoring down because Alex is hitting third or in spite of Alex hitting third?
For instance, running into the Ray’s pitching would certainly have an affect. I think it’s rare that there is one thing you can point to and claim cause and effect.
Jeff Frost
9 months, 3 weeks agoI think as we build for the future, and granted, I believe Ned has taken the attitude we need to not be learning to win now, but we need to win now, with an eye on the future, Gordon is the #3 hitter! Until Hosmer proves that he can hold that spot, Alex has to get comfortable there. I love Esky 2, Gordon 3, Butler 4, and Perez 5. Now 1, 6,7,8,9- that is to be figured out. I personally think that until Frenchy starts hitting, and even Cain, Dyson should sit in the 1 spot.
Terry Payne
9 months, 3 weeks agoI like the way Hos throws the ball after fielding the final out of the inning.
I’m assuming that he is signifying a good play by a fellow infielder. Am I wrong?
Brendan Woodbury
9 months, 3 weeks agoLee -
I’m going to wait for a lot more information before drawing conclusions on the effect of moving Alex, but Joel seemed to think that Ned’s move has been vindicated by the last two weeks. I’m just pointing out that the numbers don’t support that.
Brendan Woodbury
9 months, 3 weeks agoJeff -
The number 3 spot in the batting order has about the fifth biggest effect on run production. Alex is our second best hitter. He should not be hitting third.
Joel Kallem
9 months, 3 weeks agoBrendan, Alex has been driving in runs which he did not do as much in the first spot in the order and our production from the third spot was poor all year. If we are not scoring more total runs, it is because others are not producing at the same rate, rather than Alex being deficient in some way.
Brendan Woodbury
9 months, 3 weeks agoAlex is driving in more runs and scoring fewer runs, just as we’d expect for someone moving from 1st to 3rd.
The lineup as a whole is scoring fewer runs, just as we’d expect to happen when we give Dyson 140 more plate appearances and take ~40 PAs from Gordon and ~20 PAs away from Butler, Sal, Moose, etc.
If Ned wants to be vindicated in this move, the offense is going to have to sustain a higher run production level.
William Wolfe
9 months, 3 weeks agoWell said here Brendan. Joel—Brendan’s not saying Gordon is responsible for scoring going down because he is performing poorly, it’s the domino effect the rest of the team has. That’s the whole point. Also, two weeks isn’t enough time to call anything one way or another. Mark Teahen was a god for 2 months once.