La Russa’s extra-inning gaffe stings White Sox in loss to Reds
Hall of Famer Tony La Russa developed a reputation as a master strategist while managing the Oakland A’s and St. Louis Cardinals to three World Series championships.
His second tenure with the Chicago White Sox is off to a bumpy start. And a decision in Wednesday’s 1-0 loss at Cincinnati will only raise more doubts about whether he is the right person for the job.
La Russa acknowledged he was unaware of a rule that would have allowed him to use José Abreu as the automatic runner at second base rather than closer Liam Hendriks in the 10th inning. “I’ll re-read that situation,” he said. “I’m guessing you know the rules there. Now, I know.”
The pandemic rule states the runner must be the batter preceding that inning’s leadoff hitter, but there is an exception if it would be the pitcher.
Abreu walked with one out in the ninth before Andrew Vaughn grounded into a double play. Michael Kopech struck out the first two batters in the bottom half before giving up a single and two walks — one intentional
— to load the bases.
The White Sox then made a double switch. Jake Lamb went in to play left field in Vaughn’s place and took the pitcher’s spot in the order, with Hendriks taking over for Kopech and replacing Vaughn in the fifth spot.
Chicago got out of that jam, sending the game to extra innings. But when the 10th inning started, Hendriks was on second base when Abreu could have been there.
“You have to use whoever made the last out, and that was Vaughn — not Abreu,” La Russa said. “Vaughn made the last out.”
When a reporter mentioned the exception involving the pitcher’s spot, he acknowledged he was not aware.
But had he realized Abreu could have started the inning on second base instead of Hendriks?
“If I had known that,” La Russa said. “I didn’t know that. I’ll check the rule. That was why guys on the bench came up and questioned me about Liam was gonna be the runner. I said, ‘Yeah, I know.’ So we didn’t know it.”
• Cincinnati’s Joey Votto fractured his left thumb in the Reds’ victory over Chicago.
Votto was hit by Dallas Keuchel’s pitch in the fourth inning. Votto remained in the game, but in the sixth was replaced at first base by Kyle Farmer. Votto is not expected to need surgery, but could miss up to a month. CARDINALS 4, METS 1 » Paul DeJong hit a tworun homer, Paul Goldschmidt added a solo shot off Marcus Stroman and St. Louis beat New York in a doubleheader opener for its sixth straight victory.
ROCKIES 6, GIANTS 5 » Jon Gray tossed six strong innings and helped himself with an RBI single in Colorado’s victory over San Francisco.
Darin Ruf hit a two-run homer for San Francisco.
Mets’ deGrom could return Sunday
ST. LOUIS » New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom could return to the mound on Sunday against Arizona at Citi Field.
DeGrom first felt soreness in a back muscle after his last outing against Boston on April 28 and was scratched from a scheduled start against St. Louis on Tuesday. He said he intends to play catch Thursday and hopes to get a go-ahead for a bullpen session Friday.
Mets manager Luis Rojas said that a successful bullpen on Friday would put deGrom on track to start Sunday.
Rojas said a scan Tuesday showed inflammation of the latissimus dorsi muscle, a back muscle that connects the upper arm to the spine and the hip.
Jays back to Buffalo June 1
BUFFALO, N.Y. » The Toronto Blue Jays are returning to their home away from home, Buffalo, New York, starting in June. And this time, they’ll have a limited number of fans in attendance.
Forced from Canada by that government’s coronavirus travel restrictions, the Blue Jays posted a note on their Twitter account saying: “Buffalo, we’re BACK! We’ll see you June 1st.” The words were over a picture of Buffalo’s downtown Sahlen Field, the regular home of the Blue Jays’ Triple-A farm team.
Toronto played its first two homestands at its spring training ballpark in Dunedin, Florida, and will play its third there from May 14-24. But the Blue Jays did not want to remain in Florida for the hotter, more humid portion of the year.