Boston Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez could only slam his glove in disgust after allowing a huge home run to Yasiel Puig in Game 4 of the World Series on Saturday night.
Rodriguez had been dealing, holding the Los Angeles Dodgers scoreless on two hits through five innings, until things fell apart in the sixth. He hit David Freese to lead off the inning, gave up a 1-out double down the line to Justin Turner, and intentionally walked Manny Machado to load the bases. A throwing error by Christian Vazquez on a fielder’s choice allowed the first run of the game to score. The next batter was Puig with two outs and two on, and he crushed a line drive home run to deep left field to make it 4-0.
Rodriguez did the infamous glove toss afterwards, just as Puig raised his arms to celebrate the big hit:
The glove spike from Rodriguez pic.twitter.com/pe17vev0MA
— CJ Fogler (@cjzer0) October 28, 2018
Red Sox manager Alex Cora had pitchers ready in the bullpen in the sixth but opted to stick with Rodriguez, and things did not work out. To those asking why managers remove starters so quickly during playoff games, this is exactly the reason. Games can slip out of hand so quickly, they want to try and get a fresh arm in as soon as it looks like their starter is losing effectiveness.
Rodriguez should just be happy this man is not his GM, otherwise he might have to fear for his job.
