Why wasn't Garret a little deeper in Left? Why was he there at all? Why was Erstad batting fifth? And who disappeared Chone Figgins?
A lot went wrong early and the Yankees pretty much cruised in this one.
Shutting them out for 7 innings is an accomplishment. Check.
Having the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the 9th after just scoring a run off of Mariano Rivera is good too. Check.
But you do not get many chances in the Divisional Series, and now we have to play a little smarter.
The air was warm and dry - I have been to cooler day games in fact, so there was no marine layer to blame for the flyballs that whimpered out to the warning track. The team has barely any power and the placing of single-slapper Erstad at the 5th position in the lineup is moronic - more moronic than Garret in Left. If you are going to bother playing Steve Finley at all, (dubious, but he has woken up a bit, so not as dubious a move as in, say, August) you may as well bat Frosty 5th.
We lost the first game of the ALDS to the Yankees. Hey, we did that in 2002 as well. So this thing isn't over. It isn't easy either.