Aaron Boone questions one of his Game 1 moves, but its not what you think
LOS ANGELES — After a day of external second-guessing in Game 1, there was one decision Aaron Boone himself grappled with.It was not pulling Gerrit Cole after 88 pitches.It was not bringing in Nestor Cortes, fresh off a flexor strain that had not allowed him to pitch since Sept.
18, to face the Dodgers’ best hitters.Instead, Boone allowed some reflection on whether he should have stuck with Luke Weaver longer.Boone went to his best bullpen arm in the eighth inning Friday, with the tying run on third, and Weaver recorded two outs but allowed the run to score.He then buzzed through the Dodgers’ side in the ninth and had thrown 19 pitches in 1 ²/₃ innings.“The biggest thing is: Do I send Weave back out there for a third up?” Boone questioned of himself after the Dodgers hit lesser relievers in the Game 1 loss.But asking Weaver for a third inning on the mound might have taken him out of Game 2, which became a 4-2 loss in which Weaver was not used.
Boone turned to Jake Cousins for the bottom of the Dodgers’ order, which did not work when Cousins walked Gavin Lux and allowed a single to Tommy Edman.He then brought in Cortes, who did retire Shohei Ohtani.But after an intentional walk to Mookie Betts to load the bases, Freddie Freeman drilled the walkoff grand slam.Boone had no qualms about turning to Cortes, who he felt had a better chance at striking out Ohtani than Tim Hill, who pitched 1¹/₃ scoreless innings in Saturday’s Game 2 loss.Boone was more evasive concerning his Cole decision.The club’s ace allowed one run on four hits without a walk in six-plus innings on 88 pitches.
He pitched into the seventh, when he got ahead of Teoscar Hernandez, 0-2, then could not finish him off.After two fouls and three balls, Hernandez singled.According to Boone, that at-bat told him Cole was finished.“After the long at-bat there and the sequence of at-bats — the five, six leading up to that — I was just like, I knew I had to get him there,” Boone sai...