It’s not often that you see a major-league manager choose to walk a batter to face the most prolific designated hitter in the game today, but that’s exactly what Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington did last night in the bottom of the ninth inning in a game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Jonny Gomes led off the ninth with a double to center off left-hander Michael Kirkman (0-2), who then walked Dustin Pedroia. That brought David Ortiz to the plate who was 0 for 3 on the night, and he launched a shot into the Texas bullpen in right field for the game-winning walkoff home run.
“I think it was a good move. I don’t think there was anything wrong with that,” Ortiz said of the walk to Pedroia. “It’s part of the game. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t.”
Now before you go reading too much into that, Kirkman is a lefty and Ortiz hits left-handed, so traditional baseball logic says it might’ve been the right move. The results proved otherwise.
