Did Cohen make the right decision last night?.....

[thekimmer]

After we tied the game in the top of the third it was obvious that lala is not a team that you can pitch to contact. I wonder what would have happened had he lifted Mitchell for Lindgren instead of Gentry? Perhaps JC got the feeling that the way the coonies were swinging last night he was better served holding JL for another night. If the wheels had not come off completely in the 4th I think we would have seen Lindgren. Last night was just one of those situations where we could not get an out when we needed it. The last 8 runs scored by lala were with two out including the 6 run 4th. I'm sorry but that just does not happen very often no matter how good you are.

What if Lindy had come in to start the 3rd would the outcome have been different? We'll never know but I am very happy that we have him waiting in the wings for tonight!

 

[ronpolk]

He didn't pull Ross until they put up several more runs. The game was not tied when gentry came in. With that said, I agree with how he managed the game. Lafayette was hitting the ball last night.

 

[rugbdawg]

Cohen did some dumb things last night (double steal down 9, starting Hendo, starting Rea). But, Saving Lindgren was smart

 

[57stratdawg]

I hate this synthetic turf BS. It kills cuts the legs out from under groundball pitching staffs.

 

[patdog]

He absolutely did. The start of the 4th inning is really early to bring Lindgren in in a tie game, especially with Holder not available to close it out. Mitchell has had several games where he gave up runs early and then settled in and pitched several innings of shutout baseball. I would have done it exactly like Cohen did. Try to get Mitchell through 5 without giving up more runs, but when that didn't happen, save all our best arms for tomorrow.

 

[ronpolk]

Cohen did some dumb things last night (double steal down 9, starting Hendo, starting Rea). But, Saving Lindgren was smart

Starting Rea was dumb? He had 3 RBIs last night. You may not have thought it was good when the lineup was announced but it ended up being a great move. I'm sure he's starting again tonight.

 

[Irondawg]

personally I think I would have pulled ross b/c it was clear he didn't have the good stuff. I'm fine with not bringing in Lingo there, but I think i would hav brought in tatum or Woodruff vs. Gentry.

But at the end of the day they only had 4 more hits than us, we made two costly errors and didnt' make the play in fout territory. They didn't have any errors unless you count the one where the ump called our guy at at second when their second baseman was 5 feet off the bag.

They just played better. Just need to clean it up tonight and get 4 decent innings out of Laster.

 

[57stratdawg]

I heard Butch say on the post game show that the final innings were basically scouting for today. Seemed like they might have picked up on something, because I don't think ULL scored the final 3 innings.

Hopefully Laster can live on the inside part of the plate tonight.

 

[kired]

Lindgren has gone more than 4 innings only once this year. No way you bring him in with 7 innings left in a tied game you can afford to lose.

There was no one who could relieve Lindgren. The only hope last night was that Mitchell could get us through 5 or 6 innings with a lead --- then you bring in Lindgren to close it out.

Tonight we can let Laster go as long as he can (hopefully at least 5). Then ride Lindgren to the end. But you've got the option to use Holder, Bracewell, or maybe even Fitts for a few pitches if the need arises.

 

[drt7891]

That's exactly what it looked like we were doing. I think pitching-wise, we were able to try some things that might work for us in key situations. They've already said they are going to go after lindgren's fastball, so it'll be interesting to see how we attack tonight from a pitching standpoint.

 

[NCDawg.sixpack]

Don't think we can use Holder because it's too soon. Bracewell can't find the plate, Fitts is mediocre-LALA would probably pound him as they did Mitchell and the rest of our pitchers last night. Seems to me our only hope is a good outing by Lindgren. I'm not real confident Laster can shut LA hitters down, and we don't need to get behind early.

 

[patdog]

It's an elimination game. Holder could go an inning if we needed him to.

 

[drt7891]

We will use whoever we have to use to win tonight without risking injury. Holder and Bracewell are both available for 20 pitches or so and fitts can probably throw 30-35.

 

[ronpolk]

Don't think we can use Holder because it's too soon. Bracewell can't find the plate, Fitts is mediocre-LALA would probably pound him as they did Mitchell and the rest of our pitchers last night. Seems to me our only hope is a good outing by Lindgren. I'm not real confident Laster can shut LA hitters down, and we don't need to get behind early.

Well hell let's not even play the game. Put the boys on the bus now and send them back to Starkville. Lindgren is the only one I have confidence that can shut them down for 3 to 5 innings but I would be fine with Fitts or Bracewell for an inning. Also, Holder for a few.