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Victor Mesa Jr. owned up to his costly baserunning miscue during the fifth inning of the Rays’ 3-2 loss in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday.
Mesa, who stole nine bases during the regular season and had added another two in the postseason, was thrown out while attempting to steal third during the fifth inning while trailing 2-1, with William Contreras catching Mesa after he left second base on an 0-2 pitch with leadoff hitter Yandy Díaz at the plate.
“Easy to say now, but it was not the best move,” Mesa, 25, said postgame, according to ESPN. “I understand that was not the smartest move. Learn from that, and I apologize or whatever to my teammates because, obviously, I’m trying to make something positive, and it wasn’t done in that way.”
A 103-mph fastball from Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski wasn’t exactly the ideal pitch for stealing, either.
It eliminated a scoring chance for the Rays after Mesa led off the frame with a single and eventually moved to second when Ben Williamson grounded out, and it marked the first time in the postseason where one of their baserunners was thrown out while attempting to steal.
“Ultimately, Victor is really competing, trying to do something to make something happen, put a little pressure on the defense,” Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters.
“And it didn’t work in our favor.”
Tampa Bay entered Friday 11-for-11 in steals in the postseason before ending the night 13-for-15, with both Mesa and Jonathan Aranda getting thrown out before Simpson and pinch-runner Jorge Mateo executed a double steal in the ninth to bring the go-ahead run to the plate.
With Chandler Simpson up in the sixth and Aranda on first, Cash — who later took responsibility for the sequence — banked on Simpson putting the ball in play on a 3-2 count with one out, but his decision backfired when Simpson, a contact hitter, struck out and Aranda was thrown out by Contreras.
Simpson, though, vowed that the Rays would stick to their aggressive identity on the basepaths, according to ESPN, and said “we can’t shy away from that” at this stage of the season.
The Rays, who tied for second with 164 steals during the regular season, will attempt to avoid falling behind 2-0 in the series Saturday before it shifts back to Tampa.