Scioscia

I’ll grant that Oliver has pitched well for two years, but what the hell was he doing taking Lackey out after 104 pitches? You’ll have to take my word that this was a first guess, but wow. Especially given the thinness of his bullpen it’s bizarre.

Admittedly, the Angels are not probably going to lose tonight just because of that; as is their wont they basically stopped having decent at bats after the first inning with a pitcher on the ropes. The Yankees comeback was keyed by batters who are actually willing to take pitches, which is the real difference.

…and, in fariness, Giradri bringing in his worst reliever was almost as dumb, and he would have gotten away with it had Hughes not thrown a guy who swings at pickoff throws a 1-2 pitch right down Gene Autry Way. Who’s he taking pitch selection lessons from, Brian Fuentes? (One of the few encouraging signs for Yankee haters is that Hughes hasn’t been very impressive in the postseason so far; hopefully he’ll go Joba.)

…it was never in doubt! Glad they could carry the Yankees for 1 more round. Even if they can get to a Game 7 and force Sabathia to pitch that would help…