Red Sox reliever calls out Brewers for bunt attempts

“I probably said some things under my breath that was kind of directed toward that inning,” Martin said. “I’ll let y’all determine what those things were. Heat of the moment, they bunted twice, see they bunted at the end of the game. I didn’t like it. I know it’s part of the game, but it is what it is. I let them know."

The reliever elaborated on his gripe.

“Honestly, it’s probably a compliment," he said. "Maybe they don’t think they can get a hit or whatever. They put a good swing on a pitch — I don’t know. I feel like in this league, swing the bat.”

Whatever Martin said fired up Brewers first base coach Quintin Berry and prompted the benches to clear, though nothing really came of it.

The Brewers opened the seventh against Martin with a bunt single from Blake Perkins, then bunted Perkins over to second base. As Martin alluded to, Perkins tried to bunt for another hit in the ninth, this time with two outs and nobody on and was unsuccessful.

Bunts may be annoying and not necessarily the best strategy, but even the best hitters can try to catch the defense by surprise sometimes. Martin is probably annoyed that one worked against him, but the other two essentially amounted to free outs. The Red Sox should probably just be quiet and take those.