Then again, I have no idea if Albert Einstein liked baseball, although he did live in Princeton, about halfway between New York and Philadelphia, for the last 22 years of his life.
Last night, in the 1st game of a 4-game home series against the Chicago White Sox, Ivan Nova pitched pretty well, going 7 1/3 innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits and 3 walks. Boone Logan and Cody Eppley finished up the 8th. hanks in part to Mark Teixeira's 13th home run of the season, the Yankees took a 3-1 lead into the 9th.
No problem, just bring in Mariano Rivera, and he'll slam the door.
Oh, that's right, he's out, probably for the season.
No problem, just bring in David Robertson, and he'll slam the door.
Oh, that's right, Girardi decided that, due to his recent success while Robertson was on the Disabled List, Rafael Soriano would be the 9th inning man.
No problem, just bring in Soriano, and he'll slam the door.
Oh, that's right, he's pitched 4 out of the last 5 nights, and is probably too tired.
No problem, just bring in Robertson, and he'll slam the door.
Problem: Girardi left Eppley in to begin the 9th.
And Alex Rios led off with a single.
No problem, just get Eppley out of there, and bring in Robertson.
Problem: Girardi did take out Eppley, but he brought in Clay Rapada.
And A.J. Pierzynski grounded back to the mound.
No problem, perfect double play ball, 1-6-3.
Problem: Rapada threw the ball away. Men on 1st and 3rd. Tying runs on base, potential winning run at the plate, with nobody out.
Okay, we've got a problem. So, get Rapada out of there and put in Robertson.
Which is what Girardi did.
Robertson threw 2 pitches to Dayan Viciedo. No, I'd never heard of him, either.) The 1st was a fastball outside. The 2nd was a fastball that landed outside the field. Home run.
The Yankees couldn't come back in the bottom of the 9th against closer Addison Reed. Not a good name for a White Sox player, better for a Cub, as Addison Street is one of the roads bordering Wrigley Field.
White Sox 4, Yankees 3. WP: Hector Santiago (2-1), a native of Newark. SV: Reed (11). LP: Robertson (0-2).
But don't blame Robertson. If he'd been allowed to start the inning, chances are he would have gotten through it all right. After the homer, he did manage to get the next 3 batters on a strikeouts and 2 pop-ups. And he probably wouldn't have made that throwing error. (Although, to be fair, Mo did make a similar throwing error at a far less opportune time.)
The blame for this one rests solely on Girardi. Maybe he should have let Nova pitch a complete game. After all, he'd only thrown 98 pitches for just 1 run. He was cruising.
Joe, this loss is on you. Last night, you were highly illogical.
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