Are the fans giving him a lot of sh*t again?

This is one of the stupidest - if not the stupidest - managerial decisions I have ever seen.

I am not happy with pulling Lowe in favor of Pedro. Lowe is doing so well. This makes no sense. This is not the Pedro of yore....I am cringing on this one....

Steph (who is now going to go hide under the bed)

This decision is baffling not because I think Pedro will blow it - the lead I think is safe - but because there is this little matter of a World Series that needs playing. Why would you put your game one starter in the game now and throw off the rotation?

Wow. It's looking like a bad decision already.

This move will be universally panned. Even if he would have struck out three batters on nine pitches. Just stupid.

If there's anything that's dogged Pedro all year it's first-inning troubles. This is his first inning.

You must win THIS game first before worrying about rotation issues in the World Series. You get two days off before Saturday night's opener. This move makes absolutely no sense to me.

Well, for what it's worth, it will probably be one inning only.

Timlin in the 8th.
Foulk in the 9th.

Timlin in the 8th.
Foulk in the 9th.

Timlin in the 8th.
Foulk in the 9th.

Guys, I'm DYIN' here!!!!!!!!!

I don't think I can stand it if history repeats itself!!!!!

I will tell you one thing though, watching Pedro pitch like he did to Olerud, and Cairo so far, is always incredibly fun.

The only reason I can think of for this is if Pedro asked in: because, as the announcers have speculated, he wanted some actual gamework to get ready for Sunday, or because he wanted to pitch in Yankee Stadium to show up the fans. Not saying either is a good reason, just trying to figure out why he is in there.

Well, now the Boston press will have something to complain about.

Joe, they complain. It doesn't matter whether anything happened worthy of complaint.

To defend Francona (not that I agree with the move), Lowe is pitching on 2 days rest and is subject to tremendous meltdowns, where he looks like he's pitching well then just falls apart. Pedro needs to get his throwing in anyways, better to have him start an inning. Leskanic and Myers could have combined just as easily to give up two runs.

Timlin will be in to pitch to the heart of the order, with Myers and Embree to back him up.

I didn't want him to start Game 1 anyways...

This is a bafflingly dumb decision - and yes, I say that with the seventh over, only two runs in - but you have a choice of:

A) keeping a dominant starter in (low pitch count so far), keeping the crowd quiet (WHO'S YOUR DADDY?), keeping Pedro Martinez available for Game 1 of the WS, saving your bullpen until you need it, and keeping the *threat* of Pedro Martinez in your back pocket;

*OR*

B) taking out a starter in a series that's been a war of bullpen attrition (five games, five days - a starter going six as effectively as Lowe is infinitely valuable here), letting the crowd back in, letting the Yankees see a new pitcher ("Anyone but Lowe!," they must be thinking), preventing Pedro from pitching WS Game 1, digging into your bullpen *AGAIN*, and exposing Pedro as mortal.

I hope it works out for the Sox, but it just seems like a really bad idea on a number of levels, any of which would be sufficient to make a responsible manager think twice.

I'm not sure they can realistically count on Schilling for Game 1.

Jeez. It's amazing we're even talking about Game 1. There are two more Yankee At-Bats.

I'd have put Pedro in for inning 9 if any at all; I figure this is Francona's way of giving Pedro some payback time for last year, but, that would have made more sense if he finished them off. The other agenda might be that Terry wants to honor Pedro (Pedro must have asked for this) so that the negotiations are a little easier during the off-season when Pedro is a free agent.

But I think it's stupid baseball. Never let your foot off the Yanx throats!

Retribe

Lowe's going on two days' rest. I'd kind of forgotten about that...

Still, why not let Lowe into the seventh - a short leash, perhaps one baserunner or three batters - then the short relievers as necessary?

I think Bill Simmons is right. Pedro's gonna rip his jersey off after he closes the game out in the 9th and reveal a shirt that says, "Who's your Daddy now?"

The Red Sox are really getting ahead themselves here. Just take the win. You don't need to rub salt into the Yankees' wounds.

It's not just that they shouldn't rub it in to the Yankees, but that if they win, they'll also need to play a few games next week.

I don't think throwing one inning is really going to throw off the Boston rotation in the WS. It's like an enhanced bullpen session.

Adam, I hope you're right. It's just hard to watch... harder to manage, I'm sure, but still hard to watch...