- Reason #1 - Francisco Cervelli's defensive reputation has taken a dive this season. He's also below average with the bat, slow on the bases, has no power, AND he's a groundball hitter. And so with the score tied and a runner in scoring position with two outs in the 4th, sounds like a good time to pinch hit with your above average, power hitting catcher, right? Wrong. Cervelli strikes out looking, reducing the Yankees chances of winning by 4%.
- Reason #1.1 - Curtis Granderson, on the other hand, is an above average flyball hitter with power. And so in the 5th inning, with Derek Jeter on second with no outs, any base hit should score him, and there's a good chance that a flyball moves him to third base anyway. Sounds like a good time to let him swing the bat, right? Wrong. Granderson squares to bunt twice. Thankfully, this moronic sacrifice attempt is mercifully ended by Derek Holland's inability to throw a strike.
- Reason #2 - Five innings of good AJ is more than anybody could have asked for. And so with a 3-2 lead heading into the top of the 6th, now would be a good time to say "he kept us in the game", hand it over to the bullpen, and start playing with house money. Right? Wrong. And then to make matters worse...
- Reason #3 - With two outs and a runner on second in the 6th, Girardi decided to play the percentages, ordering the intentional walk on David Murphy, a move which actually reduced the Yankees chances of winning by nearly 2% at the moment. And then Bengie Molina hit a 3-run homer. Maybe Murphy would have reached anyway, and maybe Molina would have still hit the home run, but putting runners on base for free while simultaneously leaving your worst pitcher in the game is a formula for turning close games into blowouts.
- Reason #4 - Joe Girardi spent his only situational lefty in a two out, nobody on situation in the 7th inning, even though David Robertson is no slouch against lefties (.677 OPS). Come to think of it, this is exactly the OPS that Boone Logan has allowed to lefties over his carrier. But since the baseball gods have a sense of humor, Josh Hamilton hit a solo home run.
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