Orioles manager Brandon Hyde clarifies Aaron Hicks missed hit-and-run sign on Gunnar Henderson’s failed steal

After Saturday’s playoff loss, Brandon Hyde called it a “miscommunication.” Gunnar Henderson said Hyde made the call. Aaron Hicks declined to say what the sign was, echoing his manager’s description.

So … what actually happened?

There was confusion Saturday evening over what happened when Henderson was caught stealing in the ninth inning of the Orioles’ 3-2 Game 1 loss to the Texas Rangers, but Hyde clarified Sunday that Hicks missed a hit-and-run sign. By missing the sign, Hicks didn’t swing at a hittable pitch, leaving Henderson out to dry on his stolen base attempt.

“We just missed the hit and run sign there,” Hyde said Sunday. “Hicksey has been wonderful for us this entire season in so many ways. We do put runners in motion, we don’t hit a ton of homers, trying to generate offense a little bit at times. And we bunt, we do the little things. And yesterday we just missed a sign in the ninth inning there.”

Henderson said after the loss he was disappointed to be caught stealing, but the 22-year-old rookie didn’t reveal Hicks missed a hit-and-run sign — a play when the runner is stealing second expecting the batter to swing at any pitch in or close to the strike zone, hoping to take advantage of the defenders moving out of position to cover second base for the steal. Hicks, a 34-year-old veteran, wouldn’t say what the miscommunication was.

“I don’t know how else to explain it besides it being a miscommunication,” Hicks said Saturday. “But, you know, we move on.”

When Henderson singled to lead off the ninth, it gave the Orioles a glimmer of hope as they trailed the Rangers, 3-2, in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.

Hicks was at the plate with the count against reliever José Leclerc at 2-1. Henderson then took off for second and was thrown out by Rangers catcher Jonah Heim to calm Camden Yards’ roaring crowd. Hicks struck out, and Adam Frazier grounded out to end the game, putting the Orioles down 1-0 in the best-of-five series.

As Henderson attempted to steal, he looked back at home plate multiple times, expecting Hicks to swing for a hit-and-run. Hicks took the pitch, called a ball even though it was in the strike zone, and Heim, an Orioles draftee in 2013, nabbed Henderson at second. Heim is rated as an above-average throwing catcher by Baseball Savant and ranked second among qualified catchers in caught-stealing percentage this season.

Neither Hyde nor Henderson threw Hicks under the bus Saturday, as the fifth-year skipper only said it was a “miscommunication” and didn’t elaborate further. Henderson said he was trying to get into scoring position to improve the Orioles’ chances of tying the game, noting Leclerc’s slow delivery to home plate.

“I thought it was a good time to try and take it,” Henderson said Saturday. “It didn’t happen, so … I hate that it didn’t happen, but if it did, we would have had a better chance to score.”

Added Henderson when asked if Hyde made the call: “Yeah, it was his. I was just trying to get out there and play hard, and we felt like we had a good chance to do it. … It was a good opportunity right there.”

When asked whether the sign was a straight steal or a hit-and-run, Hicks again said, “We move on.”

The failed steal was far from the only mistake in the Orioles’ loss. It’s not certain Hicks would’ve executed the hit-and-run had he seen the sign or that Henderson would’ve been safe at second had Hicks swung through the pitch, potentially hindering Heim’s throw to second.

“That didn’t cost us the game,” Hyde said Sunday. “We had opportunities to score before that. We need to start taking a little bit of pressure off our pitchers and start scoring earlier in the game. Yesterday we didn’t execute in the times we have this season.”

Either way, mistakes like that one will be even harder to overcome in Game 2 against Rangers ace Jordan Montgomery. Hicks said he believes in the Orioles’ ability to bounce back from the tough loss.

“We’re a team that is not going to give up,” Hicks said. “We’re going to fight until the end.”

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from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/PUVkNoi