HOUSTONDuring a pitching change with two outs in the top of the seventh inning of Wednesday’s game against the Astros, Red Sox manager Alex Cora was dismissed.
It was Cora’s fifth ejection this season and his 22nd in his managerial career.
Following Boston’s 4-1 defeat to Houston, Cora described what transpired.
In the middle of the sixth inning, he had already departed the dugout to talk to the umpire crew. Hunter Brown, the starting pitcher for the Astros, was then suspected of balking. Houston was ahead 2-1 and Jarren Duran was at third base when it happened.
First of all, according to Cora, they got it right. They made the correct call. The only thing that comes to mind is that we’ve seen this scenario before: the umpires urge the pitchers to declare after a routine windup. If you have a normal windup, you are exempt from declaring. If you have a hybrid windup, that is. In order to avoid misleading the runner, you must declare at that point. However, during the past two years, we have witnessed instances where the pitcher has been asked to declare because it is a routine windup. That was all.
Duran was sent from first base to second after Brown had previously balked earlier in the sixth inning.
The Astros led 4-1 after starting Walker Buehler let up a two-run home run to Yainer Diaz in the bottom half after the Red Sox failed to tie the game in the sixth.
“Then, in the seventh,” Cora remarked, “I went out there just to educate myself to be honest with you.” I informed him of this. I’m curious and want to learn. I’m not sure whether he understood my sarcasm. I wasn’t. Then he tossed me out as I was making my way back.
