Scott has a career 0.7 WHIP against LHB. That's pretty good. He was a good bet to come in and get a few outs. It just didn't work out.
I looked at the game thread and the comments when Scott went into the game were mixed, beginning with Station13 asking who the heck this guy was. Several pointed out Scott is experienced and good against lefty bats. Someone said it was the bottom of the order.
To me there is a huge difference between preserving a win and hoping to win as is the case in a tie game.
Also, you refer to Kelly as the shut down guy, but he's the one who gave up the walk, the double, and the triple without getting a single out. How shut down is that? In fact, Scott actually pitched better than Kelly in last night's game. He only gave up a walk and an HBP, plus he got an out.
Since Scott and Kelly both stunk only Kelly stunk worse, who would you have sent out to pitch the 8th in a tie game? How about Kimbrel who hadn't pitched since last Thursday?
Meh. Scott pitched better in the 8th than Sale did in the 6th and way, way better than Kelly in the 8th. If you blame one of those guys, you have to blame all of them--and the lack of hitting. Scott is 28 and has been pitching in MLB since 2016. He's been good against lefty bats and was sent out there to do his job, nothing more and against the bottom of the order at that. On top of which, we weren't preserving a lead but simply hoping to score again and maybe win.
Scott is no babe in the woods. He's been here before and he's good against lefty bats and was going against the bottom of the order. Plus he actually pitched better--with those two walks but also an out--in the 8th than Sale did in the 6th and a whole lot better than Kelly (a walk, a double, a triple, and no outs) did in the same darn inning. If you blame Cora for sending Scott out for the 8th, you also have to blame him for sending Sale out in the 6th and Kelly out in the 8th.
You're darn right he screwed up. Sale had no business pitching in the 6th--he was done after the 5th--and Kelly had no business pitching in the 8th. When will Cora learn to make good judgments about the pitching staff?
For that matter, he also removed Scott in the 8th right after he got that out. The Twins got all their hits last night off righty pitchers and exactly 0 hits off of lefty pitchers.
Wow. I didn't realize that. Who would have thought that after a stint in Pawtucket Scott would come back and be equal to CHRIS FREAKIN' SALE! Who do we bump out of the rotation now?
Get real. Bringing in Scott in that situation was a mistake and many of us saw it at the time. Scott may have done well against ML hitters last year and he may have done well against AAA hitting this year but this is the bigs in 2018. Your goal in a tie game is to not give up any more runs so you can win it with one swing of the bat. Bringing in Scott with NO ML experience this year was not the way to achieve that goal. Especially with a rested bullpen.
It's a mere moment in a man's life between the All-Star game and the Old Timer's game.
-Vin Scully
This has actually been a pretty good discussion.
Ok Cora....You had to let Cruz hit his 2nd HR today before you took Wright out of the game? Wasn't it kind of obvious to take him out earlier? Pathetic....I think I've seen enough........
I'm through defending Cora. Tonight was the dumbest job of managing I can remember. Wright showed how bad he was in the first inning. Cora has an extra pitcher right now, so there should be no hesitation on getting someone warm in the 2d inning, and Cora let it ride until the 4th. Stupid, stupid, stupid. This is especially galling because the Sox actually took the lead back in the 1st, so this game was winnable. Going into the 4th it was still winnable and Cora refused to warm anyone up until it was too late.