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Todd (nolemmings)Nathan needed to go for it. The alternatives were Romero, who had been scored upon in something like 4 of his last 6 appearances, or the rookie Crane. Nathan still had good stuff, he just got no calls in the 12th. The guy was a long reliever last year and a starter before that--to think he couldn't handle a third inning is ridiculous, IMHO.
The Kubel thing is baffling, although I think Lew Ford really needs to take a step back and evaluate things. The guy had 4 hits on Saturday to get his BA up to just over .300, and hasn't hit since. I watched those weekend games, given what was on the line, and it looked like Ford couldn't believe Gardy would risk his .300 BA by making him play the final game, never mind it was must win. The guy took meatball pitches for strikes, almost hoping he could draw a walk, and when his BA slipped to .299, it was like he was a whole different player. Pull your head out, Lew.
As for JJ in RF, I seriously doubt it would have made a difference with Ford out there, given the way that particular ball was hit. Unless the man was playing deeper and could charge that ball to get momentum (a risky strategy), it would have been tough to get a strong throw on line.
I'll save most of my Yankee vent for another post, but will say that I get so irked to see an inside pitch miss the corner by 1-2 inches, yet Jeter, Cairo and others flop backwards like they're doing the limbo, with the so-called "knowledgeable" Yankee fans booing like the pitcher is head-hunting. What a flippin joke.
Not to worry, we're still taking 'em down!!!!!!!!