SAN DIEGO — Utility player David Hamilton wasn’t in Boston’s starting lineup Saturday, but he ended up being involved in two crucial plays late in the Red Sox’ 5-4 loss to the Padres.
Hamilton entered as a pinch runner for Masataka Yoshida after the DH led off the eighth inning with a single to left field off San Diego setup man Mason Miller.
With Boston down 4-3, the speedy Hamilton attempted to steal second base. Umpire Jeremie Rehak initially ruled him safe. But the Padres challenged and the call got overturned.
Replay footage revealed that although Hamilton initially beat the throw from catcher Freddy Fermin, his hand momentarily came off the bag. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts held the tag.
“It’s pretty frustrating,” Hamilton said. “Just trying to help the team win. Feel like I didn’t do that tonight. It’s definitely frustrating.”
Hamilton was asked if he felt Bogaerts sort of pushed him off the bag.
“Yeah, a little bit but I’ve gotta try my best to stay on the base,” he said.
Hamilton remained in the game as the DH. He came up to lead off the 10th inning. The Red Sox asked him to bunt the extra-inning automatic runner to third base against Padres reliever Jason Adam.
He took the first pitch for a ball, then had three straight failed bunt attempts. He fouled off a changeup, missed a changeup and fouled off another changeup for strike three.
It looked like Hamilton was drag bunting to try to reach on a hit in all three attempts instead of simply laying down a sacrifice.
When asked about Hamilton drag bunting, manager Alex Cora said, “In the second attempt. We got to get it down first. Get it down and advance the runner. That’s the job there. If we get on base, that’s great. But the job is to get him to third base.”
Hamilton added, “Just trying to get it down.”
“I don’t even think they were strikes, honestly,” Hamilton added. “Maybe they were but just gotta do a better job.”
The second changeup he missed was outside the zone. The other two were strikes.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
