John Smoltz seldom appears to be passionate about any baseball-related topic, unless it’s moaning about pitching changes. But on Monday, the Hall of Fame hurler was adamant about one thing during the Red Sox’ epic walk-off win over the Rays: Alex Verdugo was out at third base.
The play in question occurred in the bottom of the 8th, when the game was tied at five. Hunter Renfroe lofted a fly ball to center field, and Verdugo tried to tag up and head to third. Kevin Kiermaeir nailed the throw, and Verdugo was called “out.” But the Red Sox challenged the play, and the replay appeared to show Verdugo reaching the bag just before Yandy Diaz applied the tag. But for whatever reason, Smoltz didn’t accept that.
Instead, he kept saying that Verdugo’s hand came off the bag during his slide — even though replay didn’t confirm his version of events. While his hand slid across third, he kept it on the base. Contrary to Smoltz’s opinion, there was no air.
“Right … THERE!,” Smoltz said repeatedly, despite replay showing the opposite.
During the exchange, play-by-play man Joe Davis tried to place the focus on whether there was enough definitive evidence to overturn the call. That was the safer route to travel, and ultimately, the umpire still ruled Verdugo “out” — saving Smoltz with his incompetence.
It is hard to think of any time in the series where Smoltz seemed animated, which is incredible, considering Games 3 and 4 were classics. Early Monday night, Smoltz let out an audible sigh when the Rays replaced starter Colin McHugh with Shane McClanahan in the third inning.
“The chess match has started,” he said. “Thirteen pitchers will probably be used again in this game. Get your seatbelt on.”
Smoltz exuded the same amount of excitement as someone heading in for a root canal.
Later, when Alex Cora replaced Nathan Eovaldi with Tanner Houck to start the sixth, Smoltz couldn’t hide his (subdued) euphoria when the Rays started scoring.
“You’ve got great arms on both teams that could keep pitching if they could, because no one is hitting them,” Smoltz said. “But that’s not the way it’s scripted. Get them in, get this leverage guy, do this here. The Rays are thankful.”
While Smoltz’s grievances echo those of many viewers, it’s time for him to give up the fight. Analytics now govern baseball, and they show that starting pitchers generally become more hittable each time through the order. Five or six innings is now the threshold for pitchers in the playoffs, even if they’re aces.
It’s time for Smoltz to get with the program, but he appears to be a stubborn individual. Verdugo’s hand was off the bag, after all.