TORONTO – All October Terry Francona’s made bold moves and won baseball games. On Tuesday, Francona kept managing boldly, but this time a pivotal decision backfired and, for the first time all month, his team lost a game.
With runners on the corners and nobody out in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Blue Jays were threatening to build on a 2-1 lead. Josh Donaldson, who had homered four innings earlier, was due to hit. Edwin Encarnacion, who hit 42 home runs this year, loomed on deck.
As Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin said, “right there it’s kind of pick your poison.”
Faced with the challenge of preserving a slim lead, Francona considered his options: pitch to Donaldson or issue an intentional walk and pitch to Encarnacion. He wanted a force out at home plate, so he told Bryan Shaw to issue the walk.
“Either way it’s not the most desirable situation,” Francona said. “Early in the game you certainly wouldn’t do something like that. But in a game where we can’t give up another run. We have two hits, that seemed to me to put us in the best position.”
Even so, Blue Jays hitters certainly weren’t expecting to see Cleveland catcher Roberto Perez signal for the intentional walk, Donaldson included. “To say the least, I was a little surprised because I just had a terrific season, and there’s no outs,” said Donaldson, the reigning AL MVP. Then there’s the fact that Encarnacion has nine career grand slams and three playoff home runs this year.
“Eddie, in the second half of the season, has been swinging it as well as anyone in the game,” Michael Saunders said. “That’s not taking anything away from JD, but the heart of our lineup is as good as anybody in the game.”
Added Jose Bautista: “With the double play in order right there, it didn’t make much sense to me, even if they were conceding the run. I don’t know. I can’t answer for them, so I try not to analyze too much.”
Less surprising was the result: Encarnacion singled to centre field and two runs scored to give the Blue Jays their biggest lead of the ALCS.
“It felt good. Who doesn’t like to hit with the bases loaded?” Encarnacion said. “I love to hit with the bases loaded so it was a good thing that happened to me and I helped my team to win.”
That single was one of two hits for Encarnacion, who helped the Blue Jays stave off elimination in the ALCS, which Cleveland now leads 3-1. Before the game, Encarnacion told teammates he was intent on winning, even in the face of long odds. “I said, ‘Are you guys ready to go home?’ They said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘So, let’s go.’”
Encarnacion did his part in extending the ALCS to Game 5, when rookie left-hander Ryan Merritt will make his second career MLB start against Marco Estrada. That seventh-inning single created some welcome breathing room for the Blue Jays after three closely-contested games. Finally, they could relax a little.
“We’ve been down the whole series,” Troy Tulowitzki said. “To have a three-run lead feels like 10 runs. That was a huge hit.”
Francona has gotten plenty of well-deserved praise for the aggressive, unconventional way he’s managed his pitching staff in recent weeks. Monday’s win, a game in which Cleveland’s relievers recorded 25 outs, further reinforced his reputation as a strong tactical manager.
Then, for the first time this October, one of Francona’s moves backfired. “It didn’t work,” he acknowledged. Encarnacion made sure of that.