Sofield regrets ill-fated send in 9th Wednesday

PHILADELPHIA — Pirates third-base coach Rick Sofield owned up to his ninth-inning mistake in the Pirates’ 6-2 loss to the Phillies on Wednesday and reported to work Thursday ready to move on. More than ready, actually.

With the Bucs trailing by four runs and one out in the ninth inning, Sofield sent Sean Rodriguez home from second on a single by Matt Joyce. Rodriguez was thrown out at the plate, nailed by Roman Quinn’s Statcast-tracked 96.1-mph throw from center field, the strongest throw by a Phillies outfielder all season.

After the game, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said there was “no sense” in sending home Rodriguez when stopping him at third would have left the Pirates with the bases loaded, one out and the tying run at the plate. Sofield agreed.

“It was a bad decision on my part. I thought we had a shot there,” Sofield said. “I just screwed that up royally. I thought there was something there that wasn’t. It wasn’t long after that throw was out of his hand that I realized I had made a brutal decision.

“That’s a hard one to swallow for me. I’ll be the happiest guy in America after the national …

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