Looking at the bullpen availability, it was going to be tough to win if the offense doesn’t score a bunch, Gray doesn’t goes deep, or both.
Stewart and Lopez threw both Wednesday, Pagan threw Tuesday and Thursday and Jax threw Tuesday and Wednesday. Aside from Rodriguez and Moran, Duran was the only one truly fresh.
Said another way, Nos 7 and 8 were fully rested, No. 6 was pretty rested, Nos. 4 and 5 threw two of the last three days. Nos. 2 and 3 threw the last two days, and No. 1 was pretty rested.
I’m not suggesting Rocco tanked this game, but he was smart enough to know that this was likely going to be the toughest of the three to win. When Gray got to 94 pitches, you roll the dice with Moran to get out of the inning. Then you roll the dice with Jax and Pagan for the 7th and 8th. Then you bring in Duran.
Unfortunately, the offense only scored two, Gray only went 5.1. Moran did his job, but Jax rolled snake-eyes, so then it’s time to finish off with Alcala and Rodriguez and rest up for Saturday. Now Duran has had two days off and Lopez, Stewart and Pagan have each had a day off. It would still help if Ryan could go seven tomorrow.