It didn’t seem like the ninth inning of last night’s Red Sox game could get any more stressful. Then Alex Cora brought in the human arsonist: Hansel Robles.
Up until this point, Robles’ most memorable contributions have been making bad situations worse. He’s brought in to keep games close and allows them to get out of hand, such as Aug. 5 against the Tigers, when he allowed three runs in the fifth to expand Detroit’s lead to six.
There was also Aug. 6 against the Blue Jays, in which Robles surrendered three earned runs in just 1/3rd of an inning.
So that set the scene for Tuesday night, when Robles was summoned for his first save attempt against his former team, the moribund Twins. Devastatingly, Matt Barnes once again blew up on the mound, allowing a home run and two walks without even recording an out. Enter Robles: two on, and nobody out.
My heart rate quickened with each fastball that missed high and outside.
The first batter, Nick Gordon, came back from 1-2 to work a full count. Then he fouled off a 96 mph fastball that looked like it could’ve been hit a mile.
Finally, Robles fanned Gordon on a 97 mph heater.
Unable to easily put somebody away, Robles got up 0-2 on Miguel Sano, before badly missing upstairs with multiple fastballs to even up the count. Robles’ next offering was a nasty 90 mph slider, which Sano swung over to end his at-bat. Finally, the wild right-hander seemed to be in control. The next batter was Jake Cave, sporting a batting average of .179.
It wound up being the most excruciating plate appearance of the night.
Halfway through the at-bat, Robles inexplicably checked on Luis Arraez at second base, even though his run was irrelevant. Robles’ soft pop up to Xander Bogaerts, who obviously wasn’t standing on the base, made Cora laugh.
It made me gasp.
Then came two more misses to make the count full, before Cave fouled off two fastballs. Then he struck out a line drive to second base, where Christian Arroyo was mercifully standing. Inning, and heart attack, over.
The truth is, Robles has been effective since his disastrous outing against the Blue Jays, tossing six scoreless innings. As Rob Bradford notes, he’s suddenly become an important piece to the bullpen.
Just make sure to keep your Tums handy.