Maybe Boston Red Sox cloer Koji Uehara would have retired St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Carlos Beltran for the final out of Game 4 of the World Series and preserved the win. Maybe Beltran would have found a way to keep the inning alive with a runner on first and the Cards would have rallied. Because of Kolten Wong, we will never know.
Wong, the St. Louis infielder who entered as a pinch runner following Allen Craig’s one-out single in the ninth inning, was picked off at first base by Uehara to end the game. His run meant very little with the Cardinals trailing 4-2 and down to their last out.
Again, there is no guarantee Beltran would have delivered. He has been one of St. Louis’ best hitters this October and is one of the game’s best postseason hitters, but Uehara is also one of baseball’s best closers. Still, Cards manager Mike Matheny was clearly agitated with Wong after the game.
“We had meetings early on,” Matheny said. “We go over all these guys. We talked very clearly about (Uehara having) a very good pickoff move. (Wong) was reminded once again when he got on base and also that his run didn’t mean much so to be real careful. He got a little extra and then he slipped. The slip cost him.”
I’m sure the thought of Uehara potentially pitching his way out of a jam without picking a guy off didn’t help Wong sleep at all on Sunday night. With the way this series has gone with all the errors and crazy rulings, don’t be surprised if the last team standing is the one that makes the fewest mistakes.
