Today’s White Sox-Mariners game was important from the standpoint that had the Sox lost, this would have been their 9th loss in a row, and they would have continued to be reeling. This was also important because the Tigers continue to underachieve, as they did for most of last season. The Sox would be basically out of contention if not for the Tigers continuing to play poorly, and a loss in this game would have hurt the Sox’ chances.
My point has always been that managers and coaches should not make decisions strictly by formula or conventional wisdom. They need to have a feel for that particular game when making decisions. So, let’s look at how the Mariners’ manager managed this game.
First inning: The Mariners had first and third, one out. I had a strong feeling they would not score, but understand teams don’t squeeze in the first inning. I said at the time I’m okay either way, but a squeeze isn’t a bad strategy because the Sox hadn’t been hitting or scoring during the entire 8-game losing streak, so one run could be huge. They didn’t squeeze, and the batter hit into a double play.
Fourth inning: The Mariners had first and third, one out, didn’t squeeze, and hit into a double play, with the third out coming at the plate. More on this later.
Fifth inning: The Mariners had bases loaded, one out, didn’t squeeze, and hit into a double play.
Sixth inning: The Mariners had first and third, one out. At this point, I’m saying they have to squeeze. It’s a scoreless game, the Sox aren’t hitting or scoring, and one run can be the difference. The Mariners already tried a number of times to get the runs in and failed, so they are frustrated by wasting all these opportunities. In addition, they have already hit into double plays in every inning but the second, and would hit into another double play in the seventh. The previous inning, they had bases loaded, one out, and didn’t score, and had also failed in the first and fourth. There is no question that you have to squeeze in this situation. They didn’t squeeze and didn’t score, and the game remained scoreless.
I said early on the Sox wouldn’t score much if at all today, as they hadn’t been hitting in 8 days. I kept saying that the Mariners should play for one run. As it turned out, I was right. The Sox didn’t score for the first 13 innings of the game. Any one of those runs the Mariners failed to score would probably have won the game. The Sox had 4 hits after 9 innings. As with the previous 8 games, they weren’t hitting or scoring, but did the Seattle manager manage accordingly? No, and it cost him the game.
The Mariners had a leadoff double in the bottom of the 9th. At that point, they knew they couldn’t hit with runners in scoring position and hadn’t scored all game, so they should have bunted the runner to third and squeezed him home. They didn’t, and didn’t score, wasting the leadoff double. The Mariners had first and third, two out in the 10th, but again couldn’t score. It was so obvious they couldn’t hit with runners in scoring position and so obvious the Sox weren’t going to score (at one point 16 straight Sox batters were retired), yet the Seattle manager refused to play for one run all game! The game was scoreless after 13 innings, and the Mariners could have scored numerous times had they squeezed. Even if most of the squeezes failed, if one worked, they win.
Had the Seattle manager had a feel for this game and really understood what was happening, he would have played for one run which I said very early in the game he should have done, and would have easily won.
Now, to the play at the plate. A recent post on Sportstruths addressed this issue, and this is a perfect example. In the bottom of the 4th, 0-0 score, the Mariners have men on first and third, one out. The batter hits a fly to right, and Rios throws home. The Sox catcher (Gimenez) blocked the baseline about 5 feet in front of the plate before he had the ball, forcing the runner to slide and come up short. The runner slid between his legs, he caught the ball, and tagged the runner before he reached the plate. What happened to not being allowed to block the plate without the ball? And, I don’t know for sure what the rule is, but isn’t it interference to block the basepath without the ball? Of course, the runner was called out. This also points to my argument that it’s a terrible rule that runners aren’t allowed access to bases. What this runner could have done was slam into Gimenez, which would have been legal, and would have possibly resulted in serious injuries to one or both. In addition to the collision, one of them could have been hit in the face by the throw. I am questioning whether this was the right call, and also again questioning rules that don’t allow baserunners access to bases. In my opinion, fielders should have to straddle bases, and should only be allowed to block the base with the glove that has the ball in it, as they would be making a tag.