Rough Night For Christian Vazquez Highlighted By Odd Catcher's Interference
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Red Sox have probably never been more excited to play a weekday afternoon game.
Boston committed several miscues that they'd like to put behind them as quickly as possible in their 7-6, 13-inning loss to the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night. Manager Alex Cora did not mince words following the defeat.
"Awful. That was a horrible game," Cora said. "We were lucky we were playing 13 innings, honestly. That was bad. Mental mistakes, physical mistakes, all kinds of mistakes. That was awful."
The Red Sox committed four errors in all, two of which came on the glove/facemask of catcher Christian Vazquez. He was charged with his first error when he couldn't handle a throw from J.D. Martinez from left field. He never had control of the ball at home as he dove to try to tag Salvador Perez at the plate. The ball got away from him and allowed Kansas City's two runners to advance.
The second error by the usually sure-handed backstop was a lot more baffling.
With the game tied 3-3 in the Top of the 10th, Vazquez reached to get a low pitch from Carson Smith that bounced behind him. He took off his mask to find the ball, but never threw it away. He ended up using it to corral the ball, which is a no-no. He was initially hit with a catcher's balk and both Kansas City runners were allowed to advance.
It was later ruled catcher interference, his second error of the game.
"It was not on purpose. I was trying to get the ball. I got the interference," Vazquez explained after the loss. "It's part of the game, you know? It's tough, a tough loss, but we'll get them tomorrow."
"This is a game where you can be around for 20 years and see something new every day," said Boston starter Chris Sale, who deserved to win after tossing seven innings and allowing just one earned run. While it's usually the Boston offense that lets down their ace, this time it was the defense.
It was a pretty forgettable night all around for Vazquez, whose low throw in the sixth as he tried to pick off a stealing Alcides Escobar allowed the second Royals' run to score. Vazquez is usually pretty good at gunning down runners, but his throw allowed Jon Jay to slide home and give Kansas City a 2-0 lead as Escobar was caught in a rundown.
Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts had the two other Boston errors on the night. The Red Sox defense has been pretty reliable throughout the season, committing just 12 errors for a .989 fielding percentage, but Tuesday was a night to forget.
At least they can move on quickly with a matinee scheduled for Wednesday.
