From espn.com–by David Schoenfield
In the eight previous wild-card games, we had one classic game — Royals over A’s in 2014, one of the most exciting playoff games ever — and seven duds decided by three runs or more. We now have a second classic. Edwin Encarnacion ended it in dramatic fashion with a three-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning off Ubaldo Jimenez, but this game will go down in lore as The Game Buck Showalter Didn’t Use Zach Britton.
1. Showalter uses six relievers but not the one with the 0.54 ERA. This is simple: Showalter screwed up. There are no excuses and no explanations that make sense. There is nothing that can make us understand why he would use Brian Duensing, who has pitched 13 innings with the Baltimore Orioles, or Jimenez, who pitched well down the stretch but isn’t a reliever and had a 5.54 ERA on the season. Showalter managed to get Britton a save — not to win the game. You cannot lose this game — especially when it goes 11 innings — without using the best reliever in baseball, the guy who allowed one earned run since April. It’s a disgrace. It’s one of the worst managerial decisions in postseason history.
“I considered a lot of things over the course of the game,” Showalter said after the game.
Any regrets about not using Britton? “You could do it afterward,” Showalter said. “We went four innings there trying to get to that spot.”
Sure, Showalter looks like a genius if the Orioles score in the ninth, the 10th or the 11th and then still have Britton to close it out. They didn’t score, though, and Baltimore’s season is over without Britton getting in the game. It’s going be a long offseason.
freddy from boca
not sure how using britton in the 9th inn makes buck smarter
· 11/12/2019