Jones: Buck should have used Britton in WC Game

PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic — Perhaps because Adam Jones considers Buck Showalter one of his best friends in baseball, the Orioles’ center fielder felt he could be candid about the manager’s much-scrutinized decision not to deploy Zach Britton in the American League Wild Card Game against the Blue Jays this past October.

Nearly two months after the fact, Jones remains perplexed that Britton remained in the bullpen while Baltimore’s season was lost on an 11th-inning, walk-off home run by Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion.

Jones discussed the situation at length on Friday from David Ortiz’s charity golf tournament.

“I’m in center field and look to my left, I see him warming up,” Jones said. “He throws one pitch so it doesn’t take long for him to warm up. It was like, ‘All right, is he coming? Is he coming? Is he coming?’ We bring in [Ubaldo Jimenez] and he gives up a hit and an error.

“So first and third now. I’m sitting there, like, ‘Is he coming? Is he coming?’ He didn’t and the first pitch to Encarnacion, obviously he hit it out and I just looked at the trajectory but there’s no need to follow the ball. And I just walked right off.”

The way 2016 ended was a gut punch for Jones and the Orioles, but there’s still no manager the veteran would rather play for.

“It’s crazy because Showalter is such a mental guy and he mentally hurt himself,” said Jones.

Jones understood Showalter’s explanation for not bringing in Britton. He just didn’t agree with it. Jones thinks …

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