With the New York Mets down 2-1 to the Kansas City Royals in the bottom of the eighth inning on Friday, recently-signed reliever Brad Brach made things worse. Brach loaded the bases with no outs, which forced manager Mickey Callaway to bring closer Edwin Díaz into the ballgame.
Díaz proceeded to walk in a run and then allowed Royals outfielder Bubba Starling to single in another run. Díaz then struck out first baseman Ryan O’Hearn and induced a double-play ball to end the inning. However, with the Mets falling 4-1, reporters questioned Callaway as to why he brought in Diaz
“Brach was struggling and we had Edwin, [Jeurys] Familia and [Paul] Sewald left, and I felt like Díaz could come in and get a big strikeout and you know what, he did a pretty good job,” Callaway said, per Kevin Kernan of the New York Post.