Matt Barnes was available. Joe Kelly was available. Heath Hembree was available. All three have thrown important innings out of the Red Sox bullpen in recent years.
Yet it was rookie lefty Bobby Poyner that manager Alex Cora chose to put his faith in for the final two scoreless innings of the Sox’ 3-2 walkoff win in 12 innings against the Tampa Bay Rays yesterday.
“I saw that in Sarasota,” Cora said. “Tim Beckham hit a home run off him and Jonathan Schoop came in and he threw five fastballs inside against him and he jammed him.