With Koji Uehara out for the season, the Red Sox are left to go with Junichi Tazawa as their closer for the remainder of the year. On Friday night, when Tazawa retired the Kansas City Royals in one-two-three fashion, that worked well enough. On Sunday, it turned a win into a loss.
Tazawa inherited a two-run lead in the top of the ninth, but allowed six hits and a walk, resulting in four runs for the Royals. What had been a 6-4 lead resulted in an 8-6 setback.
Tazawa actually caught a break with the first batter. Second baseman Omar Infante hit a ball to left that normally sure handed outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. first lost track of, then kicked away the carom once he located it.
But inexplicably, Infante, who could have had a a standup triple, tried for an inside-the-park homer and was gunned down on a one-hop throw from left by Bradley.
Still, the hits kept on coming. Next came two singles, then a hard-hit liner that a leaping Xander Bogaerts snared. Then, two more singles and a walk, producing a tie game.
Interim manager Torey Lovullo said he had made up his mind that Tazawa would either get the last out or lose the lead. Even after the Royals tied the game and loaded the bases. On a nine-pitch at-bat with Mike Moustakas, Tazawa ultimately lost when Moustakas stroked a two-run double to the gap.
"They hit some good pitches,'' suggested Lovullo. "Not a typical Taz day. He's been very consistent for us all year long.''
Boston Red Sox
But perhaps Lovullo was being charitable in his assessment. Not even Tazawa thought he got beat with quality pitches.
"The pitches that got hit were obviously a little big higher than I was trying to pitch,'' said Tazawa through a translator. "I felt a lot of responsibility since the team got the lead for us and I wasn't able to keep it.''
Tazawa, who has appeared in 54 of the Red Sox 124 games, insisted fatigue was not a factor Sunday. Nor, he later added, has it been a contributing factor to his 6.61 ERA since the All-Star break.
A steady drizzle through most of the afternoon left the conditions less than ideal and Tazawa said he had some difficulty gripping the slippery baseball at times. But beyond the weather, there was a more basic reason for his struggles -- and those over the last month or so.
"I think,'' offered Tazawa, "that the hitter are getting to the pitches that I left up in the strike zone.''
Beyond the execution, there's also the matter of getting adjusted to the closer's role. While Tazawa has been one of the most effective and durable set-up men in the game over the last three seasons, the ninth inning is a new venue for him. Some never adapt to it. Some do after time.
Tazawa acknowledged that it's an adjustment for him.
"Certainly, there is a different kind of nervous involved,'' he said.
"He's bumped up a role,'' said Lovullo. "As I've been saying the past couple of days, we're going to be patient with the process with a lot of these guys changing their roles and continue to give him the ball. It's a learning moment, I think, for Taz. As we keep moving forward, we're going to be better off for this moment.''
But there was payoff Sunday -- only a dispiriting loss.