Eighth inning role much ado about nothing

Brian Bruney and I agree on something: this whole eighth-inning thing is getting ridiculous. On Wednesday, Joe Girardi proclaimed that Bruney was his eighth-inning guy. That night, with a two-run lead in the eighth, the manager used Alfredo Aceves and Phil Coke, citing matchup preferences. Today, with a one-run lead in the eighth, Girardi again skipped over Bruney, using Coke and Phil Hughes to get the three outs to bridge the gap from A.J. Burnett to Mariano Rivera. Asked about it after the game, here’s what Girardi said: “I said the other day that Bruney was our eighth inning guy, but we need to get him going. We need to get him going and we need to get him right. We’ll get him right. “Brian Bruney was big for us last year and he was big for us at the beginning of this year. He went through an injury and he’s fighting his way back. To me, whether you’re pitching in the seventh or the eighth, we’re asking you to close down a game. We’ll ... (link)