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Try it freeThe Red Sox went all in on Game 2, and that could be the reason they go all out.
Cora taxed his bullpen Wednesday night, pulling starter Brayan Bello after he recorded just seven outs and gave up two runs in a game they eventually lost, 4-3.
“Alex Cora managed this game as if there is no tomorrow,” Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay said on the YES Network postgame show. “Unfortunately for him, there is a tomorrow. Now, all that bullpen that he used to get all those outs, they’re going to have to be used again tomorrow.”
Kay previously crushed Yankees manager Aaron Boone for over-managing Game 1, notably pulling Max Fried in the sixth inning even though he was cruising alongside Boston ace Garrett Crochet.
The Red Sox are starting rookie left-hander Connelly Early on Thursday night, opposite fellow Yankees rookie Cam Schittler.
Both pitchers carry a lot of mystery about what they can bring to the table in Game 3.
With a rookie making his fifth-major league start Thursday on the heels of asking his bullpen for 17 outs Wednesday in the losing effort, Cora risks potential taxation in a win-or-go-home game.
Cora defended pulling Bello out when he did in his postgame press conference.
“I felt like, at that point, kind of like, ‘We have to do this.’ … It doesn’t feel good, because you want the kid to go out there and get his experience and pitch deep into the game,” Cora said.
“But I felt like at that moment we needed to pivot.”
After pulling Bello, Cora went to relievers Justin Wilson (1 2/3 innings), Justin Slaten (2/3 innings), Steven Matz (one inning), Zack Kelly (1/3 innings), Garrett Whitlock (1 2/3 innings) — who is their most valuable reliever outside of closer Aroldis Chapman — and rookie lefty Payton Tolle for one out.
Whitlock, who gave up the game-winning run on an Austin Wells RBI single, threw 47 pitches, making him unlikely to be available Thursday.
“At that point, we’re trying to win that game. And it didn’t happen,” Cora said when asked about leaving Whitlock in so long. “We were doing everything possible to get to the top of the ninth with a tie game. We were trying to win that game, and it didn’t happen.”