Chicago’s La Russa blunders in defeat
Hall of Famer Tony La Russa managed the A’s and the Cardinals to a total of three World Series championships.
But his second tenure with the White Sox is off to a bumpy start, as seen in Wednesday’s 10 loss at Cincinnati.
La Russa said he was unaware of a rule that let him use Jose Abreu as the automatic runner at second base rather than closer Liam Hendriks in the 10th inning.
“I’m guessing you know the rules there,” he said. “Now I know.”
The pandemic rule says the runner is the batter preceding that inning’s leadoff hitter, but there is an exception if it’s 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.
Chicago then made a double switch. Jake Lamb went to left field for Vaughn at the pitcher’s spot in the order, with Hendriks pitching and replacing Vaughn in the fifth spot.
The White Sox got out of that jam. 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,” La Russa said.
When a reporter mentioned the exception involving the pitcher’s spot, La Russa admitted he was not aware.
Chicago had runners on first and third with one out. Leury Garcia was out trying to steal second and Billy Hamilton struck out. The Reds won on Jesse Winker’s RBI single in the bottom of the 10th.
Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto fractured his left thumb when he was hit by a Dallas Keuchel pitch in the fourth inning.
Rays 3, Angels 1: Brandon Lowe hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning to lift visiting Tampa Bay.
Cubs 6, Dodgers 5: Anthony Rizzo capped a two-run 11th inning with an RBI single, and host Chicago completed a three-game sweep. The Dodgers lost for the 13th time in their past 17 games. Padres 4, Pirates 2: Jake Cronenworth hit a go-ahead two-run single in the sixth inning for host San Diego. Yankees 6, Astros 3: Giancarlo Stanton homered with four RBIs as host New York won its fifth game in a row. Rangers 3, Twins 1: HyeonJong Yang made his first bigleague start after 14 years in South Korea, fanning seven of his first nine batters in 31⁄3 innings for visiting Texas. Marlins 8, D’backs 0: Adam Duvall homered with four RBIs for host Miami.
Mets, Cardinals split: Tomas Nido hit a two-run homer and Jonathan Villar added a solo shot and an RBI single as visiting New York won 7-2 in a doubleheader nightcap. St. Louis won the opener 4-1 as Paul DeJong hit a two-run homer. Braves 5, Nationals 3: Marcell Ozuna hit the third grand slam in four games for visiting Atlanta.
Phillies 5, Brewers 4: Didi Gregorius hit a grand slam as host Philadelphia won its third straight game.
Tigers 6, Red Sox 5: Jeimer Candelario hit a tie-breaking three-run homer in the 10th inning for visiting Detroit. Indians 5, Royals 4: Josh Naylor homered in the ninth for visiting Cleveland, which trailed 4-0 after five innings. The Indians’ Shane Bieber struck out nine to extend his MLB-record streak to 19 games with at least eight Ks. Briefly: The Blue Jays are moving from their spring training stadium in Dunedin, Fla., to Buffalo, N.Y., starting in June . ... Going on the 10-day injured list were Cleveland catcher Roberto Perez (fractured right ring finger) and Yankees second baseman Rougned Odor (sprained left knee).