All due respect to the other 313, one pitch was going to win or lose or foul up Game 1 of the American League Championship Series Sunday night at Petco Park in San Diego. Granted, the other 313 made this one necessary. There wouldn’t have been any need for Diego Castillo’s eighth-inning sinker to Yuli Gurriel otherwise.
For its drama — a one-run game, one out, bases loaded, the offenses not having much of a night until then — the intrigue had not been if this pitch would have to be thrown, but who would throw it.