What was Rays’ manager thinking? Cash explains why he pulled Blake Snell from Game 6
Just about everyone who was watching Game 6 of the World Series on Tuesday night was asking the same question: Why the heck Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash pulled Blake Snell in the sixth inning?
Even he didn’t think his answer would be good enough, especially since the decision backfired and helped the Los Angeles Dodgers clinch the best-of-7 Fall Classic at Globe Life Field with a 3-1 victory.
Snell had dominated for five innings on only 69 pitches. The Dodgers had only one hit as Snell returned for the sixth. He retired the first batter before Austin Barnes, the No. 9 hitter, singled up the middle and flipped the batting order.
Cash came out of the dugout, Nick Anderson came in the game, and the Dodgers quickly scored two runs to erase a 1-0 deficit en route to their first World Series title since 1988.
“I’m not sure I have the best answer,” Cash said. “I know we had a 1-0 lead. The thought was ‘What’s the best way to protect a 1-0 lead?’ and I thought it was to go to Nick Anderson.
“Yeah, I guess I regret it because it didn’t work out. I felt like the thought process was right. If we had to do it over again, I would have the utmost confidence in Nick Anderson.”
Snell had struck out nine, including the first three hitters in the Dodgers’ lineup twice apiece. He was working efficiently and dominating the game with a mix of pitches that he felt would carry him deep into the game.
The American League Cy Young winner in 2018, Snell was captured by cameras cursing when he saw Cash coming out of the dugout to remove him before he could go through the Dodgers’ lineup a third time.
“I get it’s going to be tough the third time through the lineup, but I think I’m going to make the adjustments,” Snell said. “I believe in me. For most of that game, I was dominating every out possible.”
Mookie Betts faced Anderson first, and doubled down the left-field line to put runners at second and third with one out. Barnes charged home on a wild pitch, and Betts raced home ahead of a throw the plate on a grounder by series MVP Corey Seager.
“We didn’t really have an answer for him,” Seager said of Snell.
Anderson allowed runs in his final seven postseason appearances, which is an all-time record for a reliever.
Betts connected for a homer to start the eighth off former Texas Rangers reliever Pete Fairbanks, and the Dodgers were celebrating moments later.
The questions for Cash about his decision started almost instantly.
The Rays rely heavily on analytics and have kept a short leash on their starters throughout the postseason. He gave the quick hook to Snell in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, a move that also back fired, and did the same to Charlie Morton in Game 7.
“We owe it to ourselves to bring it all together tan try to make the best decision,” Cash said. “Similar to some other ones I’ve made this post season they are gut-wrenching. You feel for Blake. Everything we do it is to put out team in the best situation to win. I respect every opinion off that.
But don’t Cash and the Rays’ numbers gurus trust what their eyes were telling them more than what the numbers, which are just probabilities, suggest would happen?
“We factor in all of that, but also the different look means something,” he said. “We know how talented those guys are, and it felt like the margin of error Blake was pitching with, I felt the different look was going to be beneficial.”
Snell was clearly disappointed afterward, both for the early exit and the Rays failing to win the franchise’s first World Series. But after saying how well he thought he pitched and would continue to pitch after the Barnes single, he also defended his manager.
“Cash is a helluva a manager,” Snell said. “If Nick gets out the jam, like he usually does and our bullpen does what it usually does, no one’s talking about it.
“I don’t know how to word it and how to say it. Cash is usually right.”
But he was wrong Tuesday in the Rays’ most important game of the season.
This story was originally published October 28, 2020 at 12:07 AM.
