8/11 at Yankees

[User Name]

Sure, I'd be glad to.

 

I was a tad anxious about bringing in Reed for the 8th, but I'll defer to JF's judgement on that. Once Reed had allowed the first two men to reach base I'd have brought in Craig Kimbel. In fact, I was essentially screaming at Farrell to do just that. Either bringing in Kimbrel to pu tout that forest fire would have worked... or it wouldn't, but I'll take my chances with Kimbrel over anyone else in that situation.

 

I learned a long time ago to never take a win over the Yankees for granted, regardless of how big the lead is. That team is never dead until the last wooden stake is driven through their cold hearts.

 

Then I'd worry about the 9th inning when it got there.

 

That's consistent with what I've been saying for some time. A team should use its best pitcher in the biggest situations, regardless of the inning. That game was a great example of why that's the right thing to do.

 

Other managers are doing this (Francona and Roberts come to mind) infrequently, but doing it. It's not a new strategy.