With the game still knotted at two apiece, the Cardinals started off on the right foot leading off the bottom of the seventh against Dodgers starter Zack Greinke. Yadier Molina, who hit .319 during the regular season, led off with a single to left field.
Molina, as you are likely well aware of, is not very fleet of foot, but Cardinals manager Mike Matheny ordered Jon Jay to attempt to bunt Molina to second base. Instead, Jay bunted back to Greinke, who fired to second for the force out at second. It was questionable because Molina’s lack of speed makes it so Jay has to lay down a great bunt for the idea to be executed properly. Then, even if the bunt is successful, Molina isn’t fast enough to score from second base on most singles.
Bunting decisions get lambasted probably more than is warranted, but this is certainly one instance where it is deserved. It’s true that successfully bunting Molina moves a runner into scoring position while removing the double play possibility, but outs are a precious limited resource and they shouldn’t be burned simply because your lead-off base runner is slow.
