Reds setup man Jonathan Broxton didn’t mean to buzz the tower with a first-pitch 95 mph fastball up near Yoenis Cespedes’ head. Broxton also didn’t intend to throw the next pitch over the middle of the plate to Cespedes, but that also happened and there were certainly consequences.
Cespedes crushed a two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning that sent the Reds to a stinging 3-2 defeat vs. the Red Sox at Great American Ball Park on Tuesday night.
“You’ve got to have a short memory,” Broxton said. “So tomorrow, I’ll come in here and hopefully I’ll face him again.”
Before the season started, manager Bryan Price said he would be willing to break from “the book” and use closer Aroldis Chapman before the ninth inning if the situation or opposing lineup dictated it.
The sensational season by eighth-inning man Broxton made that less necessary for Price to consider. Broxton entered the night with a 1.07 ERA in 44 appearances with only five runs — including two homers allowed in 42 innings.
When Broxton took over from starter Mat Latos to begin the eighth, he had the top of the order in Brock Holt, followed by the toughest part of the lineup in Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz and Cespedes.
“Having both guys rested today, I didn’t feel a reason where I would need to have Aroldis in the game before the ninth,” Price said. “Yes, [Broxton has] thrown so well that I don’t really see where I need to have Aroldis throwing two innings. You have to take into account that when he throws two innings, chances are he’s probably not going to throw the next day.”
Holt lined a single to right field before Broxton got two outs, including a nice stop from first baseman Brayan Pena to take a hit away from Ortiz.
On the first pitch to Cespedes, Broxton’s fastball was up and inside, nearly hitting him as he leaned back to get out of the way.
“It just got away from me; I tried to overthrow it,” Broxton said. “I’ve hit him already one time in my career, and it just got away from me. I wasn’t trying to go in, I was trying to go away and I tried to overthrow it and it took off.”
The 1-0 pitch to Cespedes was another 95-mph heater, but right down the middle of the plate. The tattooed baseball traveled to straightaway center field, estimated at 433 feet.
“A lot of times pitchers think when you get a pitch thrown high and tight on you like that, you’ll back off and get a little flustered, but that’s not how I am,” said Cespedes, who was acquired from the A’s at the non-waiver Trade Deadline. “I was able to focus myself more after that pitch and was able to get a good pitch to hit.”
It was only the sixth time this season that Broxton gave up any runs in a game. It was Broxton’s first loss in a game since June 13, 2013, at the Cubs.
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