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Sean McAdam: Red Sox learn the hard way that timing is everything with ABS challenges
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- Sean McAdam: Red Sox learn the hard way that timing is everything with ABS challenges
CINCINNATI — Two games into the season, the Red Sox have discovered that the ABS giveth and the ABS taketh away.
In Thursday’s opener, a judicious ninth inning challenge from Roman Anthony turned a strikeout into a walk, extended the inning and provided the chance for two critical insurance runs.
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On Saturday, the system was a factor again, though not in a good way for the Red Sox . And poor work from home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor merely compounded things.
Unwisely, the Red Sox used their two challenges up early: one by catcher Carlos Narvaez and another by Roman Anthony , using two challenges on successive pitches.
That meant that, from the third inning on, the Sox were working without a net — and worse, at the mercy of Bucknor. With no way to challenge Bucknor’s many missed balls and strikes — there were, at minimum, a handful — the Sox were on their own.
“We learned a lot today,” acknowledged Alex Cora, after the Red Sox fell to the Cincinnati Reds, 6-5 in 11 innings . “From my end, there were some calls that we didn’t agree with. But we had no challenges, so we had to live with it until the 10th (when, per the rules, a challenge was awarded).
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“We’ll talk to the players (about not using up challenges so early). One was (upheld) by a half an inch, but still, we’ve got to know the situation. We talked about it. We’ve been talking about it the whole spring. Two days ago, we were very excited about the ABS. Today, we’re not too happy with it. The system is the system; we’re not happy with the way things went after that. But that’s on us.”
“It’s a learning moment for sure,” agreed shortstop Trevor Story . “It’s a good learning moment. Obviously, it’s early in the season and we can make the adjustments.”
And that doesn’t begin to account for Bucknor’s blown call on an eighth-inning check swing by Story, which he then compounded by refusing to check with the first base umpire on an appeal.
At the time, the Sox were trailing by a run and had baserunners on. Extending the at-bat for Story might have resulted in a big turnaround as it did for Anthony on Thursday. But the Sox weren’t given that opportunity.
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“He has one job to do, and that’s call balls and strikes,” said Cora, “and it wasn’t his best day. That’s what the (ABS) system does. It’s out there and everybody sees it. He’ll be the first one to accept it. I saw him putting his head down during one of the challenges.”
Story, who rarely argues at all with umpires, was livid at Bucknor’s missed call, and equally irate at the umpire’s refusal to get help.
“I disagreed with the call...real strongly,” said Story, “and I think a lot of people did, too. I told him my piece. We said what we said out there and I don’t have anything really good to say about the situation, so I’m not going to say anything else. (I was angry because) I didn’t think I swung and the (lack of an) appeal.”
Story couldn’t have challenged the swing even if the Sox had one remaining, but running out of them early, then withstanding Bucknor’s ineptitude, contributed to a game-long sense of frustration on the part of the Sox.
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Anthony, who prides himself on his knowledge and understanding of the strike zone, took the full blame post-game.
“Not a good time to challenge,” said Anthony. “I just got a little aggressive, but that can’t happen. At the end of it, it just kind of goes back to me kind of wasting that second one. It can’t happen. You just lose them (for the rest of the game) and you saw how that worked out. We’ll take it as a lesson, or at least I will. I’d rather it happen now than down the road, but you kind of take that and learn from that.”
The Sox were also careful not to lay the defeat solely on Bucknor’s call and the lack of challenges.
“At the end of the day,” Anthony said, “you still have to play baseball and you still have to win, with or without the challenges. And we know that. But again, wasting it there doesn’t help anything.”
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If there was anything positive to take from the loss, it was the resiliency that the Sox showed, overcoming not only the questionable calls, but the early Cincinnati lead.
“It just shows the fight of our team,” said Story. “We got down early and fought our way back. We felt like we were going to win the whole game. I think it’s a good sign to see how we fought back in that way.”
Perhaps next time, though, they’ll leave themselves a helping hand for when they need it most.
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