Part of being a manager is just not getting in the way. If you make a move that doesn't need to be made, and it doesn't work out, of course you deserve fault. The only reason Rivera should start that inning is if Colon is hurt or says he's simply out of gas. Just because you have the best closer in baseball doesn't mean you always have to use him in a save situation. Colon was absolutely dominating, the best he's looked in years, and he'd only thrown 87 pitches. Girardi does a lot of things well, but his feel for the game (or lack thereof) is alarming.
But like I said I'm not faulting him for going to the greatest closer of all time, I'm faulting him for lifting a pitcher who was having a dominant game and didnt look as if he was out of gas an inning before. I agree its a loose loose situation
I can't believe I'm typing this, but I agree with Cappy on this one. 100%. The fact is, either move was risky and Girardi was going to get the blame if it didn't work. If Colon pitches the ninth and gives up a dinger to tie, everyone is saying Girardi should have put in the greatest closer of all time to pitch the ninth. If you're going to bring in your closer at any sign of trouble, you just bring him in to start the ninth. It's a one-run game so there's no leeway for trouble. Would I have liked to have seen Colon pitch the ninth? Yes. Was I upset to see Mo out there? Not at all. Even giving up the run. Everyone is aware of my feelings on Girardi, but this is one time I can't find any fault with his decision. Here's the thing no one is really talking about today. At that point, the Yankees had left, I believe, 6 RISP. Again, guys are not driving in runs. That's the real problem. Yes, Britton deserves credit for pitching a great game, but the Yankees are still having problems offensively. Interestingly though, they looked different late in the game. Tex and ARod looked more comfortable. I'm really hoping last night was their "turning point" game, and everyone starts getting on track again. Has anyone seen any info on Dickerson? All I can find is that he was hospitalized. My heart freaking sank last night when that happened. (FTR, I didn't think it was intentional, though I do applaud the umpire for ejecting Gonzalez.) That was ugly, and based on the welt he had, was dangerously close to hitting him in the temple. I'm freaking tired today. I should have known heading to the ninth at 9:30 was too good to be true. I'm just glad they pulled it out. And I'm glad AJ didn't have to run.
I agree with both of you. And, like I said, I would have preferred that Girardi stick with Colon. It's just not a move that's deserving of the mocking you guys were giving it. Girardi does plenty of really dumb things worthy of criticism. Going to Rivera last night might be a questionable move given the circumstances, but it's hardly ever the wrong one. It wasn't just a "save situation" last night. It was a one-run game.
It's funny, if Colon had given up the run we'd all be killing Girardi for not going with Mo. I'm not defending Girardi but really it wasn't an awful move considering the closer is...you know...Mariano fuckin Rivera.
I'll always give a manager the benefit of the doubt for being wrong by sticking with the dominant starter, but you're right, a lot of people would have killed him. Maybe tonight was the wake up call for offensive consistency, and not another stretch of 1, 2, 2, 1, 13, 2, 1 type scoring games.
Last night was big. Even Swisher got in on the action, and that's significant. He's made a few unlucky outs this year and you could see it was affecting him. Last night, he benefitted from a couple of misplays (that weren't tagged as errors) and you could see how happy it made him. He's an emotional player, and he needed a night like last night. Now let's hope he stays on this track. I said after the 15 inning game that I thought it might be the turning point. Last night definitely supports that, but obviously it's only a couple of games. Let's see how they handle the Mets this weekend, but I see good things I haven't really been seeing since early April. How about CC? That was a hell of a performance. It was nice to see him get Markakis early on too. The only thing that would have been better is if he would've turned to the Baltimore dugout and yelled "THAT'S how you hit a guy!" (Yes, I'm aware the suspension from that would be ridiculous.) Sanit is pretty awful though. Obviously he's an innings eater, but wow, that was just terrible. The local beat guy for the Scranton team was shocked when Sanit got the callup and last night was exactly why. It was also good to see Tex, Posada and Nunez all have some success. Seeing Martin at third was disturbing though. All in good fun, but still disturbing.
