McAdam: Baserunning blunder sticks out in extra-inning defeat

When a team loses a game in 12 innings, as the Red Sox did Sunday night/Monday morning, you can point to any number of failures.

In retrospect, for instance, the Red Sox might have been wise to wait a day to activate Andrew Cashner and instead, gotten themselves a fresh arm from Pawtucket to replaced the injured Steven Wright, if only for a day.

And goodness knows, there were any number of opportunities on which the Red Sox failed to capitalize, especially in the late innings after they had climbed back with two homers in the eighth to forge a tie. In the last four innings alone, the Sox stranded six baserunners, including four in scoring position and, in the 11th, managed to leave the bases loaded.

Some sloppy play surely contributed to the loss. Of the seven runs the Dodgers scored, only two were earned, thanks to an error in the first and an interference call in the fateful 12th.

But it can be the tiniest things that have the biggest impact, and that was the case on the basepaths in the bottom of the 11th.



Jackie Bradley Jr. led with a double to left, giving the Red Sox the potential winning run in scoring position with none out. A base hit to the outfield likely would have won the game and the series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

But then it unraveled quickly. Marco Hernandez hit a topper to short, and Bradley, inexplicably, took off for third.

"I wasn't necessarily committed to going on contact,'' recalled Bradley. "My thought process was, (L.A. shortstop Corey Seager) was behind me, jockeying me to make sure I stayed close to the base and with a lefty in Marco being up, I thought they were going to be shifted a little bit more toward the middle. As I went back and looked at it, as the pitch was being delivered, I saw (Seager) shuffling toward the hole. Obviously, I can't see that he's behind me.

"I saw it off the bat. I didn't think it was hit hard enough, but I had to slow down in order to get by, or (else) it would have hit me. So it was a tough play for me to read instinctually. I just took off, wanted to be aggressive and get to third.''

Instead, Seager fielded the ball, threw to third baseman Max Muncy and Bradley was an easy out.

Instead of, at worst, having the potential winning run at second with one out, the Sox were left with having a runner at first and one out. Big difference.

"I messed up,'' said Bradley. "Initially, I thought it was the right read. Once I went back and looked at the replay and saw Corey had shuffled over more toward the (shortstop) hole, more than I thought he would....good play by them.''

"He was trying to make something happen,'' said Alex Cora, "and Seager was right there. The play was right in front of him. (Bradley) knows that. If he stays at second, we've got Mookie (Betts) lined up. It was a mistake. He knows it. But as soon as (Hernandez) chopped it, he thought he had a good jump and that he was going to be safe at third.''

The irony is, Bradley is usually one of the Red Sox' baserunners, with good instincts. But they momentarily deserted him in the 11th inning.

There's no guarantee, of course, that the Sox would produce the one-out hit they needed. Too often in the late innings, with the game tied and stretching into the night and early on, when they couldn't come up with a single that could have cemented a win.

Some second-guessing could be in order for Cora, too.

In the ninth, with Bradley on first with a leadoff walk and Hernandez due, he had Hernandez get a bunt down which moved Bradley to second with one out. But in the 11th, with Bradley already at second and a chance to sacrifice again and move Bradley to third where a fly ball could win the game, Cora decided to have Hernandez swing away.

"At second, I like taking two shots,'' explained Cora. "We like taking two shots there. The way (Hernandez) swings the bat, he could shoot it the other way. It just didn't happen.''

That, ultimately, was the theme of the night for the Red Sox: it just didn't happen.

They stranded baserunner after baserunner in the final four innings.

And in a game determined by the little things, a big baserunning mistake stood out the most.