The Red Sox may disagree, but third base umpire Jim Joyce made the right call on Saturday night.

With two men in scoring position in the bottom half of the ninth inning, Jon Jay hit a ground ball to second base. Dustin Pedroia fielded it cleanly, and tossed the ball to home plate to nail Yadier Molina for the second out of the inning. Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, much like Craig Breslow in Game 2, then made an errant throw to third base that skipped away. Will Middlebrooks, who dove for the ball, was in the baseline. Allen Craig was awarded home plate due to obstruction, and Joyce became one of the most hated men in Boston.

The Rule Stinks, But A Rule Is A Rule

The obstruction rule is bad. Middlebrooks couldn’t have gotten himself out of the basepath without hindering Craig’s ability to score.

Nobody likes to see a game decided by a technicality, unless that technicality is the tuck rule. But according to the MLB rulebook, Joyce made the correct call in Game 3:

OBSTRUCTION is the act of a fielder who, while not in possession of the ball and not in the act of fielding the ball, impedes the progress of any runner.
Rule 2.00 (Obstruction) Comment: If a fielder is about to receive a thrown ball and if the ball is in flight directly toward and near enough to the fielder so he must occupy his position to receive the ball he may be considered ?in the act of fielding a ball.? It is entirely up to the judgment of the umpire as to whether a fielder is in the act of fielding a ball. After a fielder has made an attempt to field a ball and missed, he can no longer be in the ?act of fielding? the ball. For example: If an infielder dives at a ground ball and the ball passes him and he continues to lie on the ground and delays the progress of the runner, he very likely has obstructed the runner.

Joyce is no stranger to controversy, but he acted in accordance with the rule. The most egregious example of umpiring in Game 3 was home plate umpire Dana DeMuth’s strike zone, but ESPN can’t play video of a strike zone on an endless loop so it will get lost in the post-game madness. But man, it was awful:

 

Saltalamacchia’s decision to throw the ball to third base, especially because light-hitting shortstop Pete Kozma was due to bat next, is inexcusable. He had no chance to get the base runner.

Saltalamacchia is hitting .188 this postseason with 19 strikeouts in 32 at-bats. He isn’t performing at the plate, and is hurting the team in the field. It’s time for manager John Farrell to start veteran David Ross at catcher. Ross may not give the Red Sox much offensively, but he would’ve eaten the ball last night.

Farrell Is More Culpable For The Loss Than Joyce Is

The double switch exists for a reason. In the top of the ninth of a tie game, Farrell didn’t pinch-hit for pitcher Brandon Workman. Mike Napoli was available to pinch-hit, but watched Workman strike out on three pitches instead.

If Farrell wanted Workman to pitch in the bottom of the ninth, he could’ve had Workman enter the eighth inning as Saltalamacchia’s replacement. Ross would’ve gone behind the plate, and been inserted in the ninth spot (pitcher’s spot) of the lineup. Workman would’ve been in Saltalamacchia’s spot, as Saltalamacchia struck out (SURPRISE, SURPRISE) to end the top of the eighth.

But what’s most weird of all is that Farrell removed Workman from the ninth inning after he gave up a bloop single to Yadier Molina. Clearly, Farrell wasn’t committed to Workman in the ninth. If Koji Uehara had started the inning, Farrell wouldn’t have had to even undergo the mental gymnastics of executing a double switch in the top of the eighth. He could’ve pinch-hit Napoli for Workman in the ninth, and then removed Napoli for Uehara.

The other mistake Farrell made in the late innings was removing Felix Doubront for pinch-hitter Jonny Gomes with two outs and nobody on base in the seventh inning. The game was tied at two, and Doubront was cruising with two scoreless innings. He shouldn’t have been removed from the game for a pinch-hitter in a low percentage scoring situation like that.

Craig Breslow entered the game in the bottom of the seventh, and allowed the first two men he faced to reach base (Matt Carpenter singled on a ground ball that just got by shortstop Xander Bogaerts, and he hit Carlos Beltran on the biggest elbow pad ever). Junichi Tazawa then gave up a double to Matt Holliday that snuck by Will Middlebrooks.

Middlebrooks pinch-hit for Stephen Drew, he of the historically bad .90 postseason batting average, in the top of the seventh. Nobody criticized Farrell’s decision to pinch-hit for Drew at the time. But if Drew had remained in the game at shortstop, he may have stopped Carpenter’s seeing-eye single.

Looking Ahead

All eyes will be on Clay Buchholz Sunday night, as the Red Sox officially announced he will be the Game 4 starter on Saturday. It’s disappointing that Buchholz’s shoulder discomfort has affected him this postseason. And he’s not doing himself any favors by admitting he’s not 100 percent. It comes across as if Buchholz is making excuses for himself:

“Overall, everything went good,” Buchholz said while allowing that he won’t throw with full intensity until he warms up in the bullpen tomorrow night. “Obviously, there’s a little bit of rust there. That’s what we used it today for. Given the couple of days that I’ve been out so far, not 100 percent.  But I don’t think anybody, especially at this time of the season, is 100 percent.”

But only the most cynical of people could think that Buchholz is exaggerating his injury. Professional athletes are beyond competitive. There is no way Buchholz’s status would be in question if he wasn’t hurt.

Buchholz’s performance in Game 4 won’t matter, however, unless the Red Sox start to hit. Outside of the first two innings of Game 1, they’ve been atrocious at the plate this series.

Things have gotten so bad for the Red Sox offensively, Napoli was taking grounders at third base on Saturday.

Photos via Jamie Squire/Getty Images and  Charlie Riedel/AP

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