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Xander Bogaerts on bunt: ‘I thought was a good idea at the moment’
- Updated: June 6, 2016
7:36 PM ET
BOSTON — Xander Bogaerts, increasingly considered one of the preeminent hitters and shortstops in baseball, voluntarily made an out Sunday, bunting in the first inning of the Boston Red Sox’s 5-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Bogaerts stepped to the plate with an American League-best .350 average when the Red Sox, down a run, had two men on base and nobody out. Toronto starter Marco Estrada had walked the first two batters, throwing eight strikes and eight balls, and fired a first-pitch changeup for a called strike.
Xander Bogaerts bunted into a fielders choice with no outs in the first inning Sunday. Jim Rogash/Getty Images
On the second pitch, Bogaerts pushed an 85-mph fastball back to the pitcher. Estrada threw to third for the force out, and Bogaerts beat the ensuing throw to first to avoid the double play.
It was a curious call, considering Bogaerts’ ability and recent production and the Red Sox’s general philosophy toward bunting — and one that did not come from the dugout.
“I’m certainly not going to take the bat out of his hand,” manager John Farrell said. “He saw something there. He sees …
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