Girardi's decision puzzling, but not in Grady Little's league

Joe Girardi made a mistake.

With runners on second and third, two outs and the Yankees clinging to a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth, the Yankees manager opted to have Mike Mussina pitch to Manny Ramirez. It was undoubtedly a puzzling decision. After all, Ramirez is, well, Ramirez. And Mussina had been hit hard all game, though he was able to escape from trouble with the exception of a solo home run by.....yes, Ramirez.

"Well, we talked about it on the bench, and went to talk to [Mussina]," said Girardi, as quoted in today's Boston Globe. "We talked about the comfort level with both hitters [Ramírez and the next batter, Kevin Youkilis] was basically the same, and we wanted to give him a little wiggle room. If he could get Manny to chase something . . . [or] if he got behind Manny, then we would walk him. But we never got to that point."

Girardi also talked about how Mussina pitched well against David Ortiz, striking out the Boston designated hitter on a foul tip. Of course, every pitcher looks good against Ortiz these days. Big Papi was 0-for-4 yesterday and has started the season 3-for-43 (.070). Ramirez is stinging the ball, and though Kevin Youkilis (the No. 5 hitter yesterday) is off to a hot start, even the most casual baseball fan would agree that it is better to avoid Ramirez, create a force situation by loading the bases and taking a chance with Youkilis rather than facing Ramirez with runners at second and third and no potential for a force out.

It was the second head scratching choice in Girardi's young tenure. The other was starting Brian Bruney instead of Ian Kennedy, and then actually pitching Kennedy later in the same game.

That said, Girardi's unwise decision to not walk Ramirez is not comparable to Grady Little's brainstorm to leave Pedro Martinez in one batter too long in Game Seven of the 2003 American League Championship Series. An American League pennant, a rewarding series win over the Yankees and a trip to the World Series was on the line when Little stuck with Martinez. Only pride was at stake when Girardi chose to not walk Ramirez. Sure, every game matters, but months from now this will only be magnified if the Sox win the AL East by one game over the Yankees.

If Girardi encounters the same scenario tonight, and/or in the other 15 games these teams play this year, surely he will have his pitcher issue Ramirez an intentional pass, just as Terry Francona would walk A-Rod with runners at second and third - regardless of how many outs when the Sox are in the midst of a one-run game.