Yesterday, the Boston Red Sox narrowly beat out the Baltimore Orioles by a final score of 10-8, which helped them preserve their precarious 3.0 game lead over the New York Yankees in the AL East.
And in my opinion, they have Jackie Bradley Jr. to thank for that.
Sure, JBJ only went 1-5 at the plate and wasn’t the one to hit the go-ahead, two-out, two-run single in the top of the 11th inning to put the Red Sox up late. But this play he made on Pedro Alvarez with the game tied in the seventh may have preserved the critical tie:
At that point, the game was tied 8-8, and JBJ’s throw to second base kept the Orioles from sending Austin Hays to the plate with two outs and a runner in scoring position. And although it doesn’t quite work this way, it feels worth pointing out that Hayes singled in his very next at-bat.
Back to the throw: Statcast clocked that rocket at just a tick under 96 MPH, but that’s not even the most impressive part. To me, the best part is the ridiculous accuracy of that 212 foot throw.
Plenty of guys can throw the ball really fast, but very few can also put it right on the money. Jackie Bradley Jr. did both and may have cost the Orioles the game.