Venezuelan Player Calls Out Garrett Whitlock Flaw After Critical Play In WBC Final

Venezuelan Player Calls Out Garrett Whitlock Flaw After Critical Play In WBC Final originally appeared on NESN . Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here .

Boston Red Sox reliever gave Venezuela the lead in the ninth inning of the World Baseball Classic final, and part of that was a stolen base by Javier Sanoja while he was on the mound.

Whitlock issued a five-pitch walk to Luis Arraez , who was then pinch-run for by Sanoja. He took off on a 1-1 count to steal second base, and beat the throw. It was a play that the United States challenged, but the call was upheld. Sanoja came around to score on a double by Eugenio Suárez , and the extra 90 feet proved to be very important.

Sanoja, a gold glover for the Miami Marlins , stole just six bases last season. He spoke on why he took off against Whitlock in that situation.

"The pitcher was making slow moves,” Sanoja said after the game in Spanish, according to Francys Romero .

Sanoja played just three games in the tournament. He stepped up when Jackson Chourio was out of the lineup with a hand injury, and slashed .375/.375/.750 with a home run in eight at-bats. His stolen base in the final ended up being an important piece of Venezuela's victory.

Whitlock has done a decent job of holding runners in his career. He has allowed 25 stolen bases in 165 games, and 12 of those baserunners have been caught stealing. Obviously, the catcher has a lot to do with the running game, but it's not like Whitlock is a guy teams just run on.

However, on Tuesday night, apparently, Sanoja and Venezuela saw something that made them think they could take a bag off him. They were able to do just that, but it was about as close as it could get. Brice Turang and Will Smith almost combined to get him off the basepaths.

More MLB:  Red Sox's Garrett Whitlock Comments On Blowing Game For Team USA In WBC Final