Last night’s Yankees-Dodgers game was the best win of the year, even better than seeing Jonathan Papelbon get knocked around in Yankee Stadium last month. What a game!
It was cool to see rookies Colin Curtis and Chad Huffman looking so poised when contributing to that four-run, ninth-inning rally. It was fun to see A-Rod hit his third homer in five games. And it was great to see MVP candidate (there, I said it!) Robinson Cano put the Yankees ahead in the 10th! Then Mariano Rivera continued to flummox Dodgers batters, and LA was left fuming – again – at the end.
I, of course, also really enjoyed seeing Joe Torre’s bullpen management helping the Yankees for once. Torre used closer Jonathan Broxton for four outs on Saturday, even though the Dodgers had a five-run lead in that game. He had also used him four times (and had him warm up one time) in the last five days, none of which were save situations. And Torre left Broxton in the game for 48 (!) pitches last night, even though he clearly didn’t have it.
Here’s the thing. Broxton might be the best closer in the National League. His ERA going into the game was a miniscule 0.83, with him giving up just three runs the entire year. Last night, he gave up four runs, and saw his ERA more than double, shooting up to 1.87. It’s not like he’s some bum – he just had a bad night, thanks to no small part to misuse by his manager.
Of course, even though I saw plenty of fan comments online last night – from both Yankees and Dodgers fans – about Torre’s bullpen mismanagement, the only story I could find in the mainstream media this morning about the issue suggested that the Dodgers need to spend money and buy Torre another bullpen arm. What, so he could ruin that pitcher, too? Good grief.
One other thing – what was up with all the Dodger bunts? Were they trying to test A-Rod’s bad hip? Not very classy, Joe. Too bad you never ordered a bunt attempt in Curt Schilling’s bloody sock game.
At any rate, the Yankees looked sooooooo happy in the postgame interviews. That must have been some enjoyable flight home!
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