Swish Saves Girardi
Fresh off the beating he took for his management of the AL in the ASG, Joe Girardi set himself up for a lot of second guessing with his ninth inning managing. (Side note, if Beltre was really only available for two innings then Girardi had no options in the ASG. And if that is true, it's just another reason MLB needs to stop trying to make the game count by awarding homefield in the WS)
I should stop here and note what a gift Joe Maddon gave the Yankees as well. Instead of bringing in his closer to start the ninth, he went with Randy Choate. He made two more pitching changes in the ninth, with the game on the line, but left his best reliever on the sidelines. Bad move Joe.
With Choate on the mound and Granderson on first, Girardi pinch hit with Pena. I understand the thinking behind the move, sacrifice Granderson to second. But why not try and steal the base? First, Granderson is 7-7 in steals this year and the Tampa catcher throws out only 25% of the runners. And if you don't want to steal the base, why not bring Thames into the game with the lefty on the mound? The sacrifice is the wrong move in my mind because you give up an out for a situation you could get with a steal or a better result- Thames hitting. Plus, Pena is now your DH with a game potentially headed into extra innings. Since he is your only infield reserve, you might be in trouble in extra innings. (BTW, expected runs scored drop when you go from a runner on first with no outs and a runner on second with 1) But it all worked out and the Yankees picked up a big win.
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I have been to six different ballparks in the last six weeks and today I am going to a 7th, more familiar one, the ballpark in the Bronx. Last time I set foot in there, the Yankees won the World Series. Today is Old Timer's Day, which should be a lot of fun. I haven't been to one since Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio used to be in uniform. I'll have a report later and I might send a tweet or two during the game (@yankeesredsox)
