The far far easier, and more important, decision was made in the 7th inning.
It's a 2-1 game. Eduardo Nunez puts up a great at bat to get on base and drive Severino out of the game. In comes David Robertson with a runner on first and no outs. He elects to let JBJ hit, which is whatever. Jackie isn't a slow runner and he's a left handed bat, I don't like it, but I can understand (I guess)...
Then comes Christian Vazquez to the plate with a runner on first and 1 out in a 1 run game.
This is Christian Vazquez' line... .196/.253/.239/.492 (!!!!) He is a right handed hitter. He has 3 GIDP. He is 0-4 against Robertson.
This is Mitch Moreland line... .347/.407/.653/1.060 (!!!!) He is a left handed hitter. He has 1 GDP. He has 3 hits and 2 BB in 9 at bats against David Robertson.
The upgrade from Vazquez to Moreland in that scenario is so unbelievably high that just the change alone would have made the winning odds skyrocket.
Not only that, but given the situation the only other time Mitch is going to pitch hit is the 9th. And guess who's pitching that inning? It may be the worst non pinch hit decision I've ever seen. It's something I'll never understand and in doing so Cora lowered his teams ability to win the game.
It's a 2-1 game. Eduardo Nunez puts up a great at bat to get on base and drive Severino out of the game. In comes David Robertson with a runner on first and no outs. He elects to let JBJ hit, which is whatever. Jackie isn't a slow runner and he's a left handed bat, I don't like it, but I can understand (I guess)...
Then comes Christian Vazquez to the plate with a runner on first and 1 out in a 1 run game.
This is Christian Vazquez' line... .196/.253/.239/.492 (!!!!) He is a right handed hitter. He has 3 GIDP. He is 0-4 against Robertson.
This is Mitch Moreland line... .347/.407/.653/1.060 (!!!!) He is a left handed hitter. He has 1 GDP. He has 3 hits and 2 BB in 9 at bats against David Robertson.
The upgrade from Vazquez to Moreland in that scenario is so unbelievably high that just the change alone would have made the winning odds skyrocket.
Not only that, but given the situation the only other time Mitch is going to pitch hit is the 9th. And guess who's pitching that inning? It may be the worst non pinch hit decision I've ever seen. It's something I'll never understand and in doing so Cora lowered his teams ability to win the game.