When is laying down a bunt "wrong"?

[Go Skins]

St. Louis had a no hitter going into the sixth inning last night against the Nationals, Denard Span attempted to bunt his way on in a 2-0 game as Zimmerman was on deck.  Boos rang down from Busch Stadium.

 

http://www.masnsports.com/nationals_pastime/2013/09/opening-up-the-unwritten-rulebook.html

 

Last night, Denard Span came up with two outs in the sixth inning, with Wacha's no-hit bid in its middle stages. The Nationals trailed 2-0 at the time, and with Zimmerman on deck, Span decided to try and bunt for a base hit in an attempt to bring the tying run to the plate. He squared around on the first pitch from Wacha and pushed a bunt up the third base line. The ball eventually rolled foul, and Span turned around and slowly made it back towards the batter's box.

 

As he did so, boos rained down upon him from the fans at Busch Stadium, upset that Span had tried to break up the no-hit bid with what they might have felt was a wimpy bunt attempt.

 

But in Span's mind, he did nothing wrong in that situation, largely because of the score.

 

"My thought process is: The game is two-zip, it's the sixth inning, I'm trying to get on base," Span said. "I'm trying to get on. It happened the other day - I got on first base and Zim hit a home run. I get on base, he hits a home run, one swing of the bat, it's a tie game."

 

I asked Span if, under that same 2-0 score, bunting for a base hit during a no-hitter would still be kosher in his mind even in the later innings. In other words, is there a point where it would have been out of line for Span to drop down a bunt in a 2-0 game, or is it fair game in any inning?

 

"In my mind, technically, I don't think I would've been wrong even in the ninth inning," Span said. "Technically, with a 2-0 game. You tip your hat off to (Wacha for pitching) as good as he pitched, but we're trying to win a ballgame. Two-zip, we get somebody on, whether it's a walk or a bunt or any way, and somebody comes up and hits a home run, we're playing extra innings.

 

"If the game is four-zip, five-zip and he has a no-hitter, then I respect that. But I think you've got to try to win the game first, you know what I mean?"