GO ROYALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KCMax]

It worked out in the end with a lucky infield single, but I thought not pinch hitting Butler for Infante was a bad idea.

ESPN has an article up about Nervous Ned

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11495 ... -criticism

[chingon]

So, can we all agree that even contemplating a steal of 3rd base in a two run game in the 9th inning is a bad idea when you have to pinch run?

Nope. Not at all. Especially against Alex Avila. In fact, I think he should have made that call 1 batter sooner.

[bobbyhawks]

So, can we all agree that even contemplating a steal of 3rd base in a two run game in the 9th inning is a bad idea when you have to pinch run?

Nope. Not at all. Especially against Alex Avila. In fact, I think he should have made that call 1 batter sooner.

It is a lot more difficult to steal a base when everyone and their mom sees it coming. Perez, as bad as he is at grounding into double plays, has only around a 1 in 5 chance of doing so. The lead runner in a 2 run game is supposed to be the most risk averse runner, and the only benefit to stealing third is if you can make it a double steal. All of the percentages of successfully stolen bases vs. the pitcher or for Dyson are averaged out along with the majority of moments when it wasn't blatantly obvious someone was trying to steal. I'd love to see the double steal percentage for situations when a manager (of the team with the 2nd most SB attempts in the league) subs in two pinch runners in the 9th inning.

But the articles about the play are conflicting, saying maybe Yost did call for a straight up steal, or maybe he just gave Dyson the green light. It is a lot more difficult to steal second in a double steal when you don't know if the guy in front of you is going or not. If Yost gave Dyson the green light and didn't tell Gore that he had to follow Dyson's lead, then I have no idea what could have been going through Yost's head. The entire thing just smells of poorly thought out decisions.

[macnw]

Funny how everyone is bitching about a game two days ago and somehow forgets the two hit shutout Big Game James pitched. WTF? How about some support instead of all the bitching. Now I'm ready for all the statistics peeps spewing their crapola..... GO Royals!!!

[pash]

.

[brewcrew1000]

0-5 vs boston this year.

[phuqueue]

Shockingly, it turns out that sometimes the pitching and defense are less than absolutely perfect, and then you lose games if you can't score more than a couple runs. Who'd've thought???

[chaglang]

Shockingly, it turns out that sometimes the pitching and defense are less than absolutely perfect, and then you lose games if you can't score more than a couple runs. Who'd've thought???

How dare you question this team. All that matters is how they wind up at the end of the season. They're still in the playoff hunt, despite the hate from hating haters like you.

[phuqueue]

No worries, at least we still have a slim lead for the second wild card so that our entire season can hinge on a single play-in game and even if we lose Dayton Moore can tell everybody that he took us to the playoffs.

[brewcrew1000]

If we lose today and miss the playoffs I really think 1-6 vs a last place Red Sox team is a reason to look back as to why we missed out.

[aknowledgeableperson]

Has Butler gone on strike?

[WSPanic]

This team is feeling the pressure and Yost is starting to Yost.

Did anyone feel good about Crow pitching in the 6th? He has been brutal in the second half and has no business pitching in high leverage situations. Period.

[phuqueue]

It makes a lot more sense when you hear Yost's explanation, that Herrera can only pitch in the 7th inning. It sucks that we had to send Crow out there instead, but don't blame Yost, blame baseball for instituting these rigid rules that require you to pitch your best guys only in specific innings, regardless of what is happening in the game.

[smh]

It makes a lot more sense when you hear Yost's explanation, that Herrera can only pitch in the 7th inning. It sucks that we had to send Crow out there instead, but don't blame Yost, blame baseball for instituting these rigid rules that require you to pitch your best guys only in specific innings, regardless of what is happening in the game.

Them's the rules.

[Unknown JimmyD]

i turned the game off tonight out of frustration. *pause* i acted prematurely.

[chaglang]

Win Probability from last night:

[bobbyhawks]

I feel like I need to call Ned out for a good move, seeing as how I 100% disagreed with giving Dyson a green light in the game last week. I didn't have a problem with Dyson's getting picked off, but I did have a problem with Yost's tactical moves in that game.

Last night, Yost clearly played the right hand. There may not be another player on the team that scores on that play (perhaps Gore, but Dyson is the most experienced and best player for that job). Granted, I think 95% of all managers ever would have put their best baserunner in then, but gotta give credit where credit is due.

That play was also completely nuts. It looked like the third baseman was playing with indifference to Dyson (the tying run!). Making the final out of a game at third base is pretty much a cardinal sin, but if the guy doesn't even look like he thought to cover 3rd base, you kinda half to take it. He must have been so worried about a dink/bunt from Aoki, but he cleared the way for the Royals to take advantage of a large number of mistakes. The SOX were so bad in that inning, it reminded me of vintage 2000's era Royals.

[KCMax]

Yea, its funny, Ned gets all the criticism for bad moves, but if he makes the right move, its the players that are praised. Such is the life of a manager.

[beautyfromashes]

It makes a lot more sense when you hear Yost's explanation, that Herrera can only pitch in the 7th inning. It sucks that we had to send Crow out there instead, but don't blame Yost, blame baseball for instituting these rigid rules that require you to pitch your best guys only in specific innings, regardless of what is happening in the game.

Herrera in the 6th, Davis in the 7th....disaster.

[phuqueue]

Anything can happen and you can't predict the future -- you roll the dice with your best odds. The decision is right or wrong at the time it's made, not only after you see the results. Yost made the right call this time, but it didn't work out -- unless you think for some completely absurd reason that Herrera and Davis are actually incapable of pitching as well as they do outside of their ordinary innings. Would love to see you try to make that argument.