Game 5: Another L for Girardi
By Mike Silva ~ October 23rd, 2009. Filed under: 2009 Playoffs.
A night that appeared headed to a ho hum finish turned into a see saw battle and another indictment on Joe Girardi’s bullpen management. All that matters now is the Yankees are coming home needing one win at the Stadium to wrap up their 40th pennant. Sometimes that final game, just like that final out, is the hardest to get.
Both managers made dubious decisions with their starting pitchers. I realize that A.J. Burnett essentially got smacked around for about 12 pitches in the first inning. However, when the Yankees took the lead in the seventh inning it was time to turn to your two best relievers: Hughes and Rivera. Instead of attempting to extend Burnett, I would have given the ball to Hughes to start the seventh inning and then had Rivera pitch the eighth and ninth. I always believe a reliever starting an inning clean is way different than asking him to come in the game with runners on and no room for error. Anyone who comes to NYBD consistently knows I have expressed concerns with Girardi’s bullpen management. I excused most of the early season issues because guys like Veras and Ramirez weren’t exactly giving General Joe reason to establish consistent roles. The playoff mixing and matching tells me he hasn’t learned his lesson. By rights he could easily be down 3-2 in this series.
The good news is the Angels are not about to blow the door off the Yankees in any ballgame. Their offense is predicated on stringing together multiple hits and tends to be very streaky during the course of a game. Brian Fuentes is lucky that Nick Swisher missed that 3-2 fastball or he would have been the goat for another meltdown. Both of these factors give me confidence the Phillies will just have to wait another few days to officially prepare for their World Series opponent. Of course we all said this in 2004 when the Red Sox won a couple of dramatic games in Boston and headed back to Yankee Stadium. This Angels team isn’t as good as the 04′ Sox, but they are equally scrappy. The law of averages says it can’t happen again – right?
Scioscia Shaky as Well
Joe Girardi may be botching his bullpen, but Mike Scioscia made a couple of questionable moves last night as well. The first happened with Anaheim up 4-0 in the seventh inning. Bases loaded, two outs, and you have John Lackey vs. Mark Teixeira. Tex is slightly better left handed vs. right, however his OPS is still over .900. It’s not like you are really neutralizing him by bringing in Darren Oliver. With my season on the line I would have kept Lackey in for one more batter. How demonstrative he was with Scioscia to stay in the game would have also given me confidence that he was the man for the job. Sometimes you need to go with your “gut” in those situations and I would have stuck with Lackey to get Teixeira out.
The next second guess is intentionally walking A-Rod in the ninth inning. Fuentes had two quick outs and it appears the intentional walk threw him off. Even if A-Rod hit a homer the game would have been tied and Anaheim was heading into extra innings with the home field. The Yankees bullpen was stretched and Rivera probably wouldn’t have gone more then another inning. Also remember Hughes, Chamberlain, and Marte were already used. Was Scioscia that fearful his team couldn’t score a run off Gaudin or Coke? After walking A-Rod Fuentes pitched tentatively and scared. As I said earlier he should thank Nick Swisher for missing that 3-2 pitch because this column would be taking on a whole different tune this morning.
Hughes Mans Up
Give Phil Hughes Credit. He went to his locker, took the heat, and was honest in answering the questions. I guarantee you “phenom in waiting” Joba Chamberlain would have been in Nook LaLoosh overdrive in that same situation. Chamberlain looks very ordinary as a reliever this postseason. His fastball, although in the high nineties, seems very straight and I haven’t been impressed with the location. Many were pointing out on twitter how he doesn’t replicate his mechanics well even in these short bullpen stints. Perhaps he is tired from all the innings he pitched this year, especially in September. Here is another thought: maybe he just isn’t that good. Phil Hughes is the real gem out of all the young Yankees arms. He also showed me a lot by taking his first huge bullpen failure like a man. That’s type of guy that I would put all my “eggs in the basket” and give him the ball again tomorrow.
