Dammit!!! I had a horrible feeling when they trotted out Ray vs Alvarez.
He took his closer out that hadn’t given up a run yet?
Not defending the move obviously, but Sewald's 1-2 slider that spun practically down the middle to a rookie who looked like a buffoon on the first slider of the at-bat was pretty horrible.He took his closer out that hadn’t given up a run yet?
Bringing in SP in that situation is almost always a bad idea. Baseball is a game of routine and starters have a long routine to get ready for a game. They have all the time they need and go through a bunch more stuff to get ready. It's a totally different mindset and why closing isn't for any pitcher just because they have good stuff. This is especially dumb in game 1 of the series when you should have a rested pen.
In addition, Ray is not a left-handed specialist type of pitcher. His slider is actually better to RH batters than left handers. He is also prone to giving up the homerun. It's how most of the runs are scored against him.
This was a terrible move by the manager and should never have happened.