Quote:
Originally Posted by JimHammer
I know we brought in Farnsworth for situations like this, but why didn't they use Mahay when he was so good last year?
The good:
Had lots of good at bats and got Buehrle's pitch count up.
Meche pitched well, leaving with a 2-1 lead.
Solid defense. DeJesus throwing out two runners and catching an in between pop-up that they had so much trouble with last year.
Two RBI's and a homer for Gordon.
The not-so-good:
Too many men LOB. Needed some clutch hitting.
Farnsworth didn't seem to be hitting his spots.
Butler didn't have a good day.
I agree with all of the above. I really liked that we worked the count quite a few times. Its just unfortunate that we couldn't get runners home.
While Farnsworth didn't hit his spots esp against Thome, he should not be in that situation in the first place. The way I see it, Trey had several options in the 8th inning, none of which were sending out Farnsworth to give up a 3 run bomb to a LH Thome!
1 - Leave Meche in, at least until a runner reaches base. Gil had thrown just 91 pitches and was mowing down hitters, including making Alexei swing like a girl on the last pitch of the 7th. If anyone reaches base, proceed to one of the following:
2 - Bring in Jaun Cruz, who is supposedly >> Farnsworth as a set up man. Shut down the 8th.
3 - Bring in Cruz, and if trouble comes bring in Mahay, a LHP, if Thome comes up. Thome has huge L/R splits.
4 - Bring in Soria as soon as trouble starts.
Hopefully Trey learns very early this season that a few late game adjustments can make the difference between disaster and winning. If Farnsworth > Cruz, that's fine but still he must be pulled when Thome comes up in that spot. A power hitter vs a power pitcher with 2 men on leading by 1 in a hitters' park with the wind blowing out is like the worst situation ever. Bring in the lefty Mahay and live with that result.