Sunday afternoon, Boston Red Sox player Cooper Criswell took the ball with the intention of giving his team a chance to win the series.
Despite his actions, he was not rewarded by his team.
The Red Sox starter retired all 12 batters he faced on Sunday against the Detroit Tigers thanks to his effective pitch mixing and aggressive approach against opposing hitters. With just 52 pitches in the fifth inning, Alex Cora opted to use seasoned left-hander Rich Hill instead of Criswell.
When Detroit’s Spencer Torkelson launched a two-run home run to give the Tigers the lead and went on to defeat the Red Sox 4-1 to win the series, the maneuver appeared to have been ineffective.
Alex Cora observed that in addition to Criswell’s ball placement, the Detroit bullpen made decisions based on a prearranged strategy to target particular spots in the lineup.
Cora informed reporters, “We drew it up, they had a bunch of lefties,” as reported by NESN’s postgame coverage. “He provided us with sufficient. In that case, we headed to Rich. We had a sizable left-wing pocket. The righty alone burned us.”
Criswell undoubtedly had a lot of gas left in his tank. Cora acknowledged that not all options work out but she remained confident in her choice to approach Hill.
“The hope was to give us as many outs as possible and then we’d take advantage of the matchups” Cora stated. It simply didn’t work out. It does or does not operate at different times. We suffered burns today.
As the Red Sox begin a three-game series against the New York Mets at Citi Field on Monday, they will want to recover with an uphill battle in the postseason chase.
The Detroit Tigers defeat the Boston Red Sox in a rare series thanks to home runs from Torkelson and Greene.
The Detroit Tigers defeated the Boston Red Sox 4-1 on Sunday thanks to two two-run home runs each from Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson.
For the first time since 2017, the Tigers (70-68) won the season series and defeated Boston in their second series in the previous 13 attempts. They are now tied for fourth place in the AL wild-card race with the Red Sox (70-67), just a half game back.
With just one run allowed in five innings of work, Brant Hurter (3-1) earned the victory. In the second inning, he entered with two runners on base and one out. He was able to get Wilyer Abreu to hit into a double play.
Hurter declared, “In my twenty years of baseball play, I have never before received a first-pitch double play.” That was really awesome.
For the most of August, the Tigers only had two healthy starting pitchers due to trades and injuries. Hurter, who debuted in the major leagues on August 4, has pitched in six games—one start—with a 3.25 ERA.
“I’m a rookie, so I’m going to embrace any role they offer me,” he continued. The fourth pitcher for the Tigers, Jason Foley, recorded a perfect ninth inning to win his 20th save.
Cooper Criswell opened the game for the Red Sox with four flawless innings and five strikeouts. But Zack Kelly and Rich Hill (0-1) had trouble.
“The plan was for Coop to give us as many outs as he could and then take advantage of the matchups,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora stated. It was just ineffective.
Kerry Carpenter was hit by a leadoff walk by Hill in the bottom half of the inning, but Jarren Duran’s two-out RBI single put Boston ahead 1-0. Before Torkelson blasted his ninth home shot to left field, Jace Jung struck out.
“They’ve done that with Criswell where he has pitched a couple innings and where he has gone five or six,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch stated. All we had to do was respond and seize the chance we were given.
