The Boston Red Sox dropped their series finale 4-1 against the Detroit Tigers on Sunday afternoon at Comerica Park.
While Boston's offense failed to show up again, most of the blame for the loss will probably be directed toward manager Alex Cora, whose controversial decision directly led to runs.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Cora sent veteran lefty Rich Hill to the mound out of the bullpen. Hill replaced Cooper Criswell, who had been perfect through the first four innings, allowing no runs and giving up no hits or walks.
Despite the strong start, Boston removed Criswell from the game, and Hill immediately gave up the 1-0 lead by walking a batter and giving up a two-run home run.
After the game, Cora explained the decision.
“That’s how we drew it up,” said Cora (via. MassLive) “They had a bunch of lefties. He gave us enough and we went to Rich in that situation. We had a big pocket of lefties. Just the righty burned us.
“The hope was (for Criswell) to give us as many outs as possible and then we take advantage of the matchups. It just didn’t work.”
Cora has been known to balance the analytics of baseball and the matchups well, but this one didn't work in his favor, and it played a big part in costing them a pivotal game when they couldn't afford to lose.
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