Washington Botches Bunt Chance

In the top of the eighth inning on Monday, the Texas Rangers had a great chance to at least tie the game against the Boston Red Sox, who led 2-1 at the time.

Of course, when the Rangers finished the game, losing 5-1, they were 0-for-1,000 with runners in scoring position so it might hard to call anything a "great chance" these days.

But when Shin-Soo Choo started things off with a single off the Green Monster that would've been a double at any other park in baseball, the Rangers were in business with the tying run aboard, no outs and the heart of the order coming up.

All too often, Rangers manager Ron Washington opts to have his No. 2 hitter, Elvis Andrus, put down a sac bunt, and he often draws criticism for it. But in some situations, it is the right call. One of those situations was Monday in the eighth inning.

Instead, Andrus was swinging away and recorded the inning's first out. The next hitter, Prince Fielder, hit a sharp liner to second base as the Red Sox turned a double play to end the inning and the threat before things really got out of hand in the bottom of the eighth.

A bunt in that situation does two things. First off, obviously, it gets Choo in scoring position, which is the whole point of a sac bunt. Secondly, it eliminates the double play possibility and basically assures Adrian Beltre an at-bat with a runner in scoring position.

So yeah, most of the time when Wash opts to bunt, it's a bad choice. On Monday, his decision to not bunt was an equally bad one.

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