Notes: No Reds protest for loss to Cardinals
A day after losing on a bad call on the final play of the game Thursday night against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cincinnati Reds said they have no recourse to right the umpires’ wrong against them. The Reds did not file a protest arguing that Yadier Molina should have been given a ground-rule double and Matt Carpenter should have been stopped at third instead of being allowed to continue home to score the winning run in a 4-3 St. Louis victory that impacted the playoff race.
Reds officials said they are not allowed to protest the result since the game was over at that point, although the Major League Baseball rulebook says “a protest arising on a game-ending play may be filed until 12 noon the following day with the league office.”
The Reds would have protested if they could, manager Bryan Price said. At least someone in the organization would have been in favor of returning to St. Louis after the final day of the season to replay the final inning.
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“I would have,” Price said. “It might have been me and (bench coach) Jim Riggleman.”
The call gave the Cardinals new life in the race for one of two National League Wild Card spots. The Cardinals began Friday one game back of the San Francisco Giants for the second spot and two games behind the Mets for the first spot with three games remaining.
Price has weathered some criticism for not immediately challenging the play and not hearing the dugout phone ringing to alert him to it. Left fielder Adam Duvall, who fielded Molina’s hit, has been criticized for not knowing the ground rules of Busch Stadium.
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Price argued that he shouldn’t be expected to see something from a recessed dugout that the third-base umpire missed from field level, and that MLB’s replay rules need to be amended to allow more time to challenge game-ending plays.
“A game that was played that well by two teams, that we scrapped back into, with playoff ramifications, for it to end like that is a crime,” Price said. “In the future, certainly heading into the postseason, MLB’s going to have to step up and find a way to make sure something like that never happens again. It shouldn’t happen in a regular season game, and certainly not in a postseason game.”
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Kivlehan arrives
Patrick Kivlehan was sitting at home in New Jersey when the Reds claimed him off waivers from the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, but had been doing some baseball activities just in case. It’s a good thing, because the Reds need him.
Cincinnati is already without shortstop Zack Cozart and center fielder Billy Hamilton for the season. Outfielders Scott Schebler and Tyler Holt are banged up, as is second baseman Brandon Phillips. In Thursday’s loss, Price was forced to pinch-hit Schebler despite the fact that the outfielder can’t really run the bases.
If the game had continued to extra innings, Price would have been forced to hit reliever Michael Lorenzen before sending Lorenzen to the mound.
“That’s just what we had to do because we were out of position players who could swing the bat,” Price said. “(Kivlehan) gives us the depth that we need. It’s an unusual spot to be in in September but with Cozart and Hamilton completely shut down and the issues we have with Holt, Schebler and Phillips, it really completely deteriorated our bench.”
Schebler (hamstring), Holt (wrist) and Phillips (hand) could all be able to contribute in some capacity before the season ends after Sunday’s game, but none seem locks to return to regular action.