Washington's Orders

You could feel the intensity in Busch Stadium. For five innings it mounted, and mounted until it reached the lights of the stadium. Up until the 6th inning there had been no runs and only 4 hits combined between the two teams. Momentum for the series hung in the balance, and the Rangers desperately needed a split on the road.

The Fall Classic is all about limiting mistakes, timely hitting, and solid pitching. And it's the managers job to make the best decisions for his team. In game one, the Cardinals' Tony LaRussa made all the right moves: pinch hitting for his ace after only 6 innings which resulted in the game winning RBI single, in game two he rode the hot hand and pinch hit the same guy in the same exact situation and it worked again!

On the other hand, the Rangers' Ron Washington made a few questionable calls during both games, and it is surprising to me that the Rangers aren't in a 0-2 hole. In game one with the tying and go-ahead runs on base, Washington pinch hit a guy who had not played in the final 20+ games of the season. Needless to say he struck out, stranding the runners on base, and the Rangers lost game one 3-2.

However, the most questionable call, to me, that Washington made was to pull Colby Lewis, in the bottom of the 6th inning of game two, in favor of Alexi Ogando. Ogando, the same pitcher that gave up the base hit in game one that cost the Rangers the game, had a chance at redemption against Allen Craig, and gave up another go ahead single to the Cardinals pinch hit specialist. At the time the Cardinals took a 1-0 lead and that looked to be insurmountable.

Here is the problem I have with Washington's decision: to that point in the game, Lewis had thrown less than 100 pitches, had given up no runs, and only allowed 4 hits! If I'm the manager, it's Lewis' game to lose, if he would have been losing 2-0 or 1-0 then, yes, make the switch and let your bull pen keep you in the game. But in a scoreless game I'm living with my starter who has thrown a gem. Not to mention the fact that Washington compounded the poor decision by bringing in the same reliever to face the same hitter who won the game the night before.

Colby Lewis was throwing masterpiece and the only reason more people weren't talking about him was because Jaime Garcia was matching him pitch for pitch. But to take a pitcher out of a game in which he is throwing a shutout is an extremely questionable call to me. And the fact that the pitcher was not even to the 100 pitch mark made it even more questionable.

Luckily for the Rangers, the Cardinals bull pen had its first lapse of the post season and allowed the Rangers offense to come back and win the game. The win was big for the Rangers who were able to earn a split on the road, but maybe even more demoralizing for the Cardinals whom showed its first chink in its armor, and the bull pen is the last place you want to have a chink.