This was no accident.

When Andrew Benintendi threw out Howie Kendrick at the plate with one out in the eighth inning, potentially saving the game for the Red Sox Tuesday night, it might have simply seemed like a nice toss home coupled with an ill-advised decision by the base-runner to try and score. (To see the play, click here.)

Butthere were a few more factors at play when considering what made Benintendi's throw possible.

The execution of the action could first be tracked back to the night before, when the Red Sox left fielder had scurried over to get a ball before hastily trying to pick it up with his barehand. That resulted in a bad throw. So when Benintendi approached the ricochet off the left field wall - which emanated from Maikel Franco's blast just a few feet shy of reaching home run distance - the memory of Monday night immediately flashed into his head.

"I was going to make sure I picked it up with my glove," Benintendi later said. "I didn't last time, and that didn't work."

The next piece of the equation was also a lesson learned, this one garnered during pregame activities. Prior to Tuesday night's game, Benintendi had joined the other outfielders in working on all their throws to the bases. They were drills that aren't done every day, but ended up being perfectly timed for this occasion, particuarly since it let the rookie get the kinks out.

"I was throwing all cutters. Not straight balls," Benintendi said of his practices tosses. "But the game is all that matters."

But perhaps what made the whole thing come together was simply a demeanor that many have referenced when describing the 22 year old. Throughout the chaos that came with the Red Sox' fate hanging in the balance, Benintendi remained remarkablycalm.

"I saw where the runner was and I saw how he had it gauged up. There was no sense in him panicking," said Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr.. "He played the ball the way he was supposed to, but just got a hard kick. As he was running to get the ball I saw him pick his head up and kind of analyze where he was. That's why he knew the distance that he was wasn't very far and he able to throw a strike to home plate."

"To remain under control," said Red Sox manager John Farrell when asked what impressed him most about the play. "Hes got to chase that ball a long way after the carom. He comes up, throws a strike to home plate. Its the even temperament that he shows in probably every aspect of the game, particularly the final swing tonight."

That swing, of course, was Benintndi's first career walk-off hit, giving the Red Sox a 4-3, 12-inning win over the Phillies.

It's a swing that probably isn't made possible, however, if not for the outfielder's casual throw and catch with backstop Chritian Vazquez about an hour before.

Read the original here:
Anatomy of Andrew Benintendi's game-saving throw home - WEEI.com (blog)