Never Say Die & Micro-Managing

If I haven't said it before, I'll say it again: don't worry about the Phillies' bullpen so much. It doesn't appear anyone will blame the 'pen with a three games-to-one lead over the Dodgers. While it's true they haven't been particularly good, the offense has been able to pad leads to allow for some leeway to work. This is especially true of Game 1 where the Phillies scored 3 runs in the top of the 8th right before Ryan Madison gave up 2 runs in a 8-6 Phillies victory. In Game 2, Utley's error allowed the Dodgers to tie the game 1-1 before a bases-loaded walk gave the Dodgers a 2-1 advantage and the victory. Game 3 entirely sat on Cliff Lee's shoulders as he threw a dominating 8 shutout innings on the back of a 11-run outburst by Phillies' hitters. Finally, last night baseball fans witnessed a Game 4 for the ages, as not since Kirk Gibson's memorable 1988 World Series home run did a team hit an extra-bases hit to walk-off when facing 2 outs and a potential loss. This Phillies team is awfully tough, and it shouldn't surprise people that they have come as far as they have, even with a shaky bullpen consisting of Brad Lidge's major league leading 11 blown saves. They're now one game away from their second consecutive World Series appearance.

Many are making too much of Joe Girardi's move to bring Aceves in to pitch with 2 outs in the 11th inning. Who would have thought that Jeff Mathis, a .211 career hitter, would be capable of delivering a walk-off hit to bring the Angels back into the ALCS? Sports writers and ESPN especially, ask if it could possibly be that Girardi's micro-managing led to this result. Yes and no. Firstly, more and more than ever managers are looking at pitcher-batter matchups to determine moves. Just look at Girardi's 4-inch bounded book as a hint towards the direction MLB has taken in its pattern of increased relief pitcher use. It sure did look bad when Girardi scurried to look at the potential matchups, leading one to think that perhaps he could have explored the possibilities sooner and earlier before making his decision. But again, Mathis is a .211 hitter, does it matter all that much? You have to tip your cap to Mathis and the Angels; the Yankees will focus their attention on C.C.'s Game 4 start tonight.