NEW YORK -- Craig Kimbrel still isn't totally used to coming into games in the eighth inning, but he didn't use that as an excuse Wednesday against the Yankees.
The Red Sox closer entered the game in the eighth inning with runners on the corners, one out, a 6-5 lead and the top of the Yankees order coming to the plate. Kimbrel was greeted with a two-RBI triple off the bat of Brett Gardner and then the next batter, Aaron Judge, crushed a mammoth home run to dead-center, which gave the Yankees a 9-6 lead and ultimately a 9-6 win.
Judge's home run had an exit velocity of 117 MPH, according to Statcast. It's the hardest hit ball Kimbrel has allowed in the Statcast era (since 2015).
Afterwards, Kimbrel was asked if coming into the game in the eighth had any impact on his performance?
"Not at all," he said. "I've got to come in and get outs. It doesn't matter if it's the eighth or ninth inning, especially in situations like that. Like I said, I just didn't do it."
Added Kimbrel: "I think any time we're playing these guys, be ready for multiple outs. I wasn't able to do it tonight."
Manager Alex Cora said he spoke with Kimbrel before the game about potentially coming in prior to the ninth if the opportunity presented itself, so he was prepared.
"We talked about it before the game, this is nothing that – you know, we're not making it up during the game," Cora said. "We have a plan before, and today was a day we were like, you know what, he's rested enough, and we know they've been coming back against a lot of teams. We saw what they did against Cleveland. So, that was his spot. It was probably better with only a man at first and two outs, of course, but he's one of the best closers in the game, if not the best, and we gave him the ball and he did his best."
While no one will come out and say it, getting Kimbrel adjusted to coming in prior to the ninth will take time, but the important thing is they have now begun to do it.
