Cristopher Sánchez goes the distance to silence Red Sox, Phillies score again on catcher's interference

Boston Globe

5 days ago

As for the first-inning sequence: Philadelphia already had three hits and a run as Brandon Marsh stepped to the plate with two outs, Bryce Harper on third base and Nick Castellanos on second. With righthander Richard Fitts pitching out of the stretch, seemingly ignoring Harper, Harper took off, attempting a straight steal of home.
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Marsh bailed out of the batter's box, catcher Carlos Narváez stepped forward to receive a pitch from Fitts, and Harper slid in, seemingly beating Narváez's tag attempt.
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That detail became moot, however, when plate umpire Edwin Jimenez ruled the play dead because of catcher's interference on Narváez. The official ruling also included a balk charged to Fitts, according to MLB, which cited Rule 6.01(g) in its explanation.
The rule reads: 'If, with a runner on third base and trying to score by means of a squeeze play or a steal, the catcher or any other fielder steps on or in front of home base without possession of the ball, or touches the batter or his bat, the pitcher shall be charged with a balk, the batter shall be awarded first base on the interference and the ball is dead.'
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Narváez never stepped on the plate. He did step in front of the plane of the plate — off to the first-base side — but did not step directly in front of it.
Manager Alex Cora argued, to no avail, with umpires on the field before and after they checked with replay officials at MLB's headquarters in New York on the ruling.
Roman Anthony finished 0 for 4 with four strikeouts, becoming the first player in Red Sox history to strike out four times in consecutive games. Monday was the first time in his career he had done so.
Pitching for the first time in 15 days, Fitts looked rusty, allowing four runs and six hits in 3⅓ innings. He struck out four and walked none.
Half of those runs came during the first-inning chaos. The other half came in the second, when Max Kepler and Kyle Schwarber hit home runs.
Cora yanked Fitts after 65 pitches to 17 batters, fulfilling his pregame promise to be aggressive because he had several relievers who needed to pitch.
Fitts hadn't appeared in a game at any level since July 7. The next day, he was optioned to Triple A Worcester to prepare a rotation spot for Hunter Dobbins, who was returning from the injured list. Four days after that, hours before he was supposed to start in the minors, Fitts returned to the majors (because Dobbins went back on the IL with a separate injury). But Fitts didn't get into a game before the All-Star break, then was the No. 5 starter coming out of the break. Thus, two weeks between appearances.
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The Red Sox, facing a second high-end Phillies starter in as many nights, managed little against Sánchez. They didn't have a base runner until the fourth, when Rob Refsnyder smacked a leadoff home run.
Seeing this caliber of pitching — and playing in this sort of environment — is good experience for the Sox' younger players, Cora said.
Wrigley Field over the weekend was 'cool,' he said, but Citizens Bank Park this week has been 'intense.'
'Obviously, this is what we're shooting for,' Cora said before the game. 'Play meaningful games in October. That's going to be the atmosphere. Every pitch counts, every play counts. You have to be locked in.'
Tim Healey can be reached at