Burnt Rice

So here it is, very simply: You have Nick Punto, Adrian Gonzalez, and Matt Kemp up in the ninth in a tie game. Two righties, one lefty. Scott Rice is already in the game having pitched a third of an inning. Do you stick with him? Or to you go to your closer who is having a very good season?

Terry Collins chose option A: Roll with Rice. And when he did so, I cringed. And I was right to cringe. Rice gave up a double to Nick Punto, got Adrian Gonzalez on a groundout, then after intentionally walking Matt Kemp, gave up a single to Andre Ethier to give the Dodgers the lead. Then Parnell came into the middle of the inning and gave up an infield single to Juan Uribe to seal the game for the Dodgers, as they won 3-2 to take the series.

Even as lefty-righty matchups go, it was a strange move to keep Rice in, as the first three hitters consisted of two righties. But to me, when the heart of the order is coming up in the ninth, give me the closer instead of a guy who just spent 14 seasons in the minors. It's like getting beat with their fourth best pitch. They got beat with their third of fourth best reliever. Who knows what would have happened if Parnell had come in the game in the ninth. I think there's a better chance of Parnell getting the game to the bottom of the ninth still tied at 1-1. Of course that means that Ike Davis doesn't face Brandon League and who knows if he still hits that home run, and I could still be at Citi Field watching Ike Davis' 14th inning of relief work. But I sure would have liked to have found out.