Anthony, Sox learn risks of ABS the hard way in loss to Reds

CINCINNATI -- Even at 21 years old, Roman Anthony is known for possessing one of the sharpest batting eyes in baseball, which is just one of the many traits that has helped his swift ascent as an emerging star for the Red Sox.

Two days after Anthony’s prowess in plate discipline led directly to two insurance runs in a Boston victory on Opening Day, the left-handed hitter painfully experienced the perils of being on the wrong side of the ABS challenge system.

Anthony was the first to admit that his timing in challenging a 3-1 pitch in the top of the third inning was not only ill-advised, but played a significant role in his Red Sox losing, 6-5, to the Reds in 11 innings at Great American Ball Park.

Perhaps Anthony got a bit too confident after his challenge on the previous pitch was successful.

When his next challenge failed, the Red Sox were out of challenges until the game went into extra innings.

“Not a good time to challenge,” said Anthony. “Wasting it there doesn't help anything. So I’ve got to do better on my end to just not get overly aggressive and be absolutely sure. The situation on 3-1 didn't call for it, so [it was] stupid on my end, and it won’t happen again.”

Though Anthony experienced the ABS challenge system in the Minor Leagues, the art of utilizing it during a higher-leverage environment in MLB will be a learning experience for all.

“We'll take it as a lesson – at least I will. I’d rather it happen now than down the road, but just take that and learn from that and learn from what followed and hold on to those [challenges].”

It was Anthony in Spring Training who vocalized that the key to the ABS challenge system would be utilizing it at the appropriate time. In this case, he realizes he didn’t follow his own advice.

On Opening Day, Anthony played the system perfectly, when he challenged a 3-2 pitch in the top of the ninth inning. Instead of an inning-ending strikeout, Anthony walked to keep a rally alive. The Red Sox boosted their lead from 1-0 to 3-0, creating a much less stressful save opportunity for Aroldis Chapman.

The pendulum swung dramatically in the other direction on Saturday.

It was made more glaring when there were subsequent pitches later in the game to Trevor Story, Caleb Durbin and Marcelo Mayer that almost assuredly would have been overturned if the Sox still had challenges in their back pocket.

Wilyer Abreu nearly saved the day for the Sox, belting a dramatic solo homer to tie the game with two outs in the ninth.

But the Reds rallied to win the wild contest on a walk-off single by Dane Myers with one out in the 11th.

“I think we have to save the challenges more for later on, because we lost the challenge too early,” said Abreu.

Frustration boils over for Story, Cora

When home plate umpire CB Bucknor ruled that Story struck out swinging on an apparent check swing in the top of the eighth inning and didn’t check with first base umpire Adam Beck for confirmation, the mounting frustration from the afternoon boiled over. Story, who hardly ever shows anger on the field, got in Bucknor’s face. Red Sox manager Alex Cora quickly intervened and made sure he was the one who got the ejection.

“At that point, Trevor was playing short. Like I always say, the last time I made an error was in 2011. The last time I got a hit was 2011,” said Cora. “I’ve got a job to do in the dugout, and at that moment it was to protect Trevor.”

“I just disagreed with the call really strongly. and I think a lot of people did too,” said Story. “I told him my piece. What we said out there was what we said. I don't have anything really good to say about the situation, so I'm not going to say anything else.”

Watson’s auspicious debut

If not for the Red Sox losing on Saturday, there would have been a celebratory atmosphere in the clubhouse for Rule 5 righty Ryan Watson, who made an impressive Major League debut at 28 years old.

Watson went 2 1/3 scoreless innings, working around three walks while striking out one. He also had some ABS adventures. Bucknor gave him strike three on back-to-back pitches against Eugenio Suárez in the sixth inning, but both were reversed to balls. Against one of baseball’s best power hitters, Watson calmed himself and induced an inning-ending groundout. An inning later, he had two strikes overturned to balls against Will Benson, who walked. Watson got the next two hitters to keep the deficit at a run.

“Super emotional,” Watson said of his debut. “But, I'm glad I was able to come through for the team there and get us back in the dugout. That's probably the loudest I've heard a stadium while I was pitching. It was intense.”