Managers seem to manage in the ninth like there’s no next inning. Hence, the PR for Richie.

Earlier this month, there was abn instance when I was sure that Hargrove should have used a PR but didn’t.

It went something like this: Petagine PH for Betencourt in the 8th and reached first, then ws on second with two outs and the M’s down by a few runs. Bloomquist HAD to come in to play SS the next half-inning, and there was no way Willie was going to PH for the top part of the order. Willie would have had a much better chance of scoring from 2nd on a single than Roberto, and he was detined to come in (and did) in that same slot in the batting order.

It was the 11th, not the 12th.

Anyway, the situation last night reminded me of two different games in recent Division Series games.

In game 3 of the 2004 ALDS, Red Sox vs Angels, David Ortiz walked with two out in the 8th inning with the score tied. ESPN analyst Rick Sutcliffe was all over Terry Francona for not running for Ortiz in this situation. “You’ve got your closer in the game! You’ve got to make something happen here!” The Angels got the last out and the game went into extra innings.

Ortiz came up to bat in the 10th inning and won the game on a HR on the first pitch he saw from our old friend Jarrod Washburn.

Contrast that with game 4 of last year’s NLDS between the Braves and the Astros. It went 18 innings because the Astros’ manager, Phil Garner, took one of his best hitters, Lance Berkman, out of the lineup for a pinch runner with 2 out in the 10th.

In fact, Gibson pinch-ran for Edgar and was caught stealing a grand total of one time in his brief tenure with the club. Once. And they won that game two batters later.

But I do agree, they (hitters of Richie’s ilk) shouldn’t be pinch-run for unless the potential need heavily outweighs the loss; subjectively of course, heh.

I hope the link works *crosses fingers*

Someone else can paw through last year’s.

I called a friend at the game who has been going to M’s games since 1991. I swear, it didn’t sound like he was at a game. He made the comment that the low noise and low attendance made it have an early 90′s vibe. Perhaps Mariner management has unwittingly launched a new retro feel to the games.