To me the fact that the Rays only scored one run only reinforces the notion that you stay with Snell because he was their best means of winning a low scoring game. Or have you never heard of a pitching duel? Have you even heard of Johnny Podres who shut out the Yankees in game 7 of the 1955 WS?
What a performance by Pedro that deciding game.
They had put up crooked numbers in 7 of the 8 innings they batted the previous game- winning 23-7, but they went down 5-2 and 8-7 against the Indians.
Saberhagen 1 IP 5 runs
S Lowe 2 IP 3 runs
Pedro comes in for 6 IP
0 Hits
0 runs
8 Ks
We went on to lose to the Yanks (4 games to 1) with Pedro winning our only game (#3 over Roger Clemens). In that game, he went 7 IP 2H 0 Runns (12 Ks). We were down 2-1 in that series, at the time, despite outscoring the Yanks 18-8.
When you say it's gonna happen now
When exactly do you mean?
If Anderson doesn't have that WP???????!!!!!!! To me the wild pitch is one more strong piece of evidence that Anderson wasn't ready to pitch, didn't have good stuff, didn't have good command, etc. Guess how many Snell had in 73 pitches. That's right, none. I mean, seriously, how could any pitcher in the post game interview say, "I was doing great except for the double and wild pitch that turned that inning into a disaster. If they ain't hitting it out of the park, I'm doing my job.
I just read that Anderson said after the game he was fatigued from the heavy postseason workload.
That makes the decision look even worse.
Championships since purchase by John Henry group: Red Sox 4 Yankees 1
The Red Sox are 8-1 in their last 9 postseason games against the Yankees.
I am very much a fan of analytics, but it should never be an either/or thing. It can't be when you're working with human beings.
I am not going to bash Cash for his decision to take Snell out of the game. The Rays have been following that playbook all season, and there is certainly some validity to his decision. That said, in general, I think there is a not so good trend towards removing starting pitchers too early in postseason games. I understand the urgency of making moves and all, but if a starter is cruising, then let him stay in the game until he gives up a baserunner or two.
I really, really don't like the fact that the role of the starting pitching is becoming so much less important.
Also, I really don't like the hot stove league.