FromWayDowntown
10-07-2004, 03:54 PM
I thought Ron Gardenhire really screwed the Twins last night and managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. But, with all of the hand wringing today about Gardy's decision to send Nathan out for the 12th last night, I didn't think that was his worst error.
I was appalled when Gardenhire let the rookie Jason Kubel hit in the 8th inning with 1 out and runners on second and third. The Twins had a chance to bury the Yankees going home after Koskie's double scored Torii Hunter. They had a runner with good speed at 3rd and needed only a sac fly to take the lead and likely win the game. Gardenhire let Kubel (who has 60 major league at-bats) stand in against Rivera, who managed to right his ship, regain his confidence, and keep the Yanks alive by striking the kid out on 3 pitches (all balls). I couldn't believe Gardenhire stuck with Kubel, given that he had both Matthew LeCroy AND Lew Ford sitting on his bench. All they needed was a ball in play, and either LeCroy or Ford was more likely to get that done than Kubel was.
Gardenhire made a bad decision with Nathan, but his decision to stick with Kubel probably cost them that game and may have cost them the series.
I was appalled when Gardenhire let the rookie Jason Kubel hit in the 8th inning with 1 out and runners on second and third. The Twins had a chance to bury the Yankees going home after Koskie's double scored Torii Hunter. They had a runner with good speed at 3rd and needed only a sac fly to take the lead and likely win the game. Gardenhire let Kubel (who has 60 major league at-bats) stand in against Rivera, who managed to right his ship, regain his confidence, and keep the Yanks alive by striking the kid out on 3 pitches (all balls). I couldn't believe Gardenhire stuck with Kubel, given that he had both Matthew LeCroy AND Lew Ford sitting on his bench. All they needed was a ball in play, and either LeCroy or Ford was more likely to get that done than Kubel was.
Gardenhire made a bad decision with Nathan, but his decision to stick with Kubel probably cost them that game and may have cost them the series.