Yankees-Mets: Joe Girardi's Stupidity Pays Off As Yanks Sweep Mets

With Johnny Damon up with two on and one out in the ninth, I called my friend Brad. "He better get on or they're gonna walk Jeter and then Rivera will have to bat," I told my fellow Yankee fanatic. Inexplicably, Manager Joe Girardi failed to use a double switch when Mariano Rivera entered the game in the eighth inning, meaning he would have to bat during a crucial situation in a one-run game with the New York Mets. Girardi should have inserted Rivera into Robinson Cano's No. 5 spot in the order, because Cano made the last out in the seventh, and then replaced Cano at second base with Ramiro Pena or Cody Ransom, both of which were available on the bench. Instead, Girardi simply replaced Brian Bruney with Rivera in the No. 2 spot in the lineup, meaning Mo was due up sixth in the eighth inning, with the Yanks needing an insurance run to feel better about their chances. More amazing, though, was what Mets Manager Jerry Manuel did when Derek Jeter stepped to the plate with two on and two ... (link)