Rajai Davis's hot streak temporarily cooled after bizarre play
How do you stop a streaking hitter?
In the case of Indians' outfielder Rajai Davis, nail him with a pitch and pray that he offers at it.
In the 4th inning of Friday's game, Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz tailed an off-speed pitch in on Davis. Although Davis partially swung at the two-strike pitch, it also hit him on his hands, prompting him to walk towards first base.
After a lengthy umpires' discussion that lasted several minutes and tested the patience of the Fenway faithful, Davis was judged to have fully swung at the pitch and was ruled out via strikeout.
Buchholz's mistake (or strategy?) may have worked. Davis grounded out in his next at-bat in the 6th inning, then popped out to short in the 8th; he finished 1 for 4 overall. The three consecutive outs dropped his last-5-day batting average from .588 to a mere .500.
