Rally in ninth cut short as Holt thrown out trying to steal second

For much of the season, the Red Sox’ aggressiveness on the basepaths has been an either/or proposition. Either it’s paid off by netting an extra base (or a run), or it’s taken them out of some innings.

On Saturday night, it was very much the latter.

In the ninth inning, after Sandy Leon struck out but reached first on a wild pitch, John Farrell inserted Brock Holt as a pinch-runner, representing the potential tying run.  Then, with a 2-0 pitch to Jackie Bradley Jr., Holt broke for second.

New York Yankee catcher Gary Sanchez fired a pea to second base that nabbed Holt for the second out. When Bradley hit a shallow fly ball to left a few pitches later, the Sox were a run short in a 4-3 loss to the Yankees.

“We have full confidence in his ability to steal a base right there,’’ said Farrell after the loss, “particularly in a 2-0 count where typically a pitcher is going to get a little bit longer to throw a strike. And Dellin (Betances, Yankee reliever) is a guy who’s got a fairly long unloading time.

“Sanchez threw a bullet right to second base, but that’s an aggressive baserunning play and, I think, a calculated risk.’’
Over the course of his career, Holt has been a successful base-stealer, with 26 steals in 32 attempts, though before Saturday night, he had attempted just one steal (successfully) this season.

Sanchez, meanwhile, had thrown out 16 runs in 44 attempts before Holt’s try for a 36 percent caught-stealing rate, above the league average of 27 percent. Last year, Sanchez threw out 41 percent of would-be base-stealers.

The second-year catcher recently came under criticism for his defensive deficiencies when it comes to blocking balls.  Yankee manager Joe Girardi has been using the more defensively sound Austin Romine behind the plate while utilizing Sanchez’s bat in the DH spot. But beyond his struggles with passed balls – he currently leads the American League with 12 – no one doubts Sanchez’s arm strength.

Part of the Red Sox’ strategy was thinking it was unlikely they were going to get two more hits – what it would have taken to score Holt from first -- off Betances.

But this was an example of a gamble that didn’t pay off.