BOSTON — His dominance makes it natural to want more from Craig Kimbrel.


 


Why settle for just blowing away opposing hitters in the ninth inning when pivotal spots could arise earlier in the game?


 


Red Sox manager Alex Cora dipped his toe in the shallow end of the high leverage reliever pool for the first time on Sunday, deploying his closer in the top of the eighth with the go-ahead run on base and two outs against Tampa Bay. Kimbrel [...]

Bill Koch

BOSTON — His dominance makes it natural to want more from Craig Kimbrel.

 

Why settle for just blowing away opposing hitters in the ninth inning when pivotal spots could arise earlier in the game?

 

Red Sox manager Alex Cora dipped his toe in the shallow end of the high leverage reliever pool for the first time on Sunday, deploying his closer in the top of the eighth with the go-ahead run on base and two outs against Tampa Bay. Kimbrel worked around a Joey Wendle double that put a pair in scoring position to escape a jam, then left two more in scoring position with a pair of strikeouts in the ninth. Sandy Leon’s RBI single in the bottom of the eighth stood as the winner, with Boston preventing the sweep in a 4-3 nail-biter.

 

It was just the 12th time in his 136 appearances with the Red Sox that Kimbrel has entered before the ninth. Boston has an 8-4 record in those games, losing just one of the last nine over parts of three seasons. Kimbrel fanned 126 of the 254 hitters he faced last season, making it reasonable to expect he would be effective in just about any relief role.

 

“Definitely got tight there at the end, but I was able to get out of it,” Kimbrel said. “It was exciting and it was fun. It was a great win.”

 

The qualifier here is that the Red Sox are one man short in their bullpen. Joe Kelly is in the midst of serving his six-game suspension and spent parts of Sunday watching the game with fans in the bleachers. Kelly’s 10 straight scoreless appearances before surrendering to discipline imposed by Major League Baseball takes away one of Boston’s most reliable relievers.

 

The Red Sox were also a bit taxed in relief after Saturday. Matt Barnes and Heath Hembree both worked in the 12-6 loss to the Rays, and Brian Johnson was hit hard while mopping up over the final two innings. Cora’s decision helped salvage one victory against Tampa Bay, with Kimbrel taking over for Rick Porcello after a season-high 116 pitches through 7 2/3 innings.

 

“After that performance [on Saturday], you guys know we were short — very short today,” Cora said on Sunday. “And for Rick to go out there for 116 pitches, and a man at first, I want to give Craig margin for error.”

 

Kelly and Barnes have both been used to set up Kimbrel in the early going, and Tyler Thornburg (right shoulder) began a 30-day rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket on Monday. All three right-handers could be in contention to work the eighth inning going forward, with Kimbrel assuming his traditional spot in the ninth.

 

This is, of course, if Cora opts not to embrace some of the newer baseball philosophies regarding bullpen usage. Allowing matchups to dictate his moves is far more likely than anything approaching the much-derided committee approach adopted by the Red Sox at the start of the century.

 

“You don’t always know the situation,” Kimbrel said. “Sometimes the game speeds up and they may say, ‘Get ready for this guy.’ But a guy gets a hit, everything speeds up, things like that.”

 

“I felt that was the right moment,” Cora said. “We were going to bring him in the ninth inning, so why not? Physically he’s getting there, conversations are going to keep going and he understands where we’re at.”

 

-- koch@providencejournal.com

 

On Twitter: @BillKoch25