After the ninth inning of Thursday’s loss was thrown into chaos, Alex Cora expressed frustration with how the Rays’ mound visit situation was handled. The umpires offered their own explanation as well.
When Tampa Bay Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder began to approach the mound in the bottom of the ninth, what should have happened next was black and white.
The Rays were out of mound visits, so by rule Tampa Bay closer Jason Adam had to leave the game.
That eventually did happen, but not until after a 5-10 minute delay that began after Alex Cora noticed the slip-up, pointed it out and engaged in a lengthy and animated discussion with the umpires before a rules check was initiated.
During that time the Rays were able to warm up right-hander Erasmo Ramirez, and following the game the Red Sox manager expressed frustration that Ramirez wasn’t forced to come into the game sooner.
“They messed it up because they had time to warm up Erasmo there in the bullpen. You’ve got to throw him out right away. He comes in, he gets eight pitches and then he goes,” Cora said. “That’s the way the rule should go. By the time I went out there and argued, the rule check, he has time to warm up.”
So why did it take so long to sort everything out? Following the game, crew chief Phil Cuzzi offered an explanation of how the umpires read the situation.
