Francona’s slow hook

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Once again, Terry Francona makes the managerial decision of the game (at least so far) by leaving in his pitcher longer than you’d imagine. In Game 1, he trotted out a sharp Jon Lester for the seventh inning even though he’d already thrown 100 pitches (better a tired Lester than a fresh middle-relief corps, which has been Boston’s weak spot this year). In Game 2 it was also about leaving a pitcher in for the seventh inning, only this time it was one of the aforementioned soft middle relievers, Hideki Okajima, instead of setup man Justin Masterson. Okajima gave up two sharp singles before getting yanked, and the Angels went on to score a run.

Tonight, Josh Beckett easily could have given up eight runs instead of four. He had no appreciable command, he’d thrown 91 pitches after four innings, and only another eight Angels left on base kept him anywhere near the ballgame. And yet Francona brought him back for the fifth inning, resulting in Mike Napoli’s second home run of the game.

As of this writing the Sox have tied it back up in the bottom of the fifth, so it won’t be the decision upon which the game will hinge, but Francona’s slow hook is curious.

--Matt Welch

Matt Welch is editor of Reason magazine.