Dead man walking

Joe Torre has probably managed his last game for the Yankees, and if you had to pick two reasons why, they would be the swarm of midges that rose off of Lake Erie and the fact that he went with Chien-Ming Wang last night on three days rest last night. If Friday's game goes a little differently - one less wild pitch by Chamberlain, one more clutch hit by ARod - and then the series is 1-1 going back to New York with Clemens going against Westbrook. The swarm of midges took the Yankees best relief pitcher, Joba Chamberlain, off his game. He walked Sizemore, threw two wild pitches, and the Yankees were doomed to lose in extra innings.

Clemens left game 3 with an injury, so the Yankees had to pitch Philip Hughes, taking him out of the mix to start game 4. Mussina hadn't pitched since September, where he was 3-0 with a 3.49 ERA. But Torre went with Wang on three days rest because it was an elimination game. Well, if they won game 4, game 5 would still be an elimination game. So if Mussina starts the game, and Wang doesn't allow 4 runs on 3 outs, maybe the Yankees are starting a 19 game winner in a winner take all game 5. I will never understand why managers start pitchers on three games rest unless it's literally game 7 of the World Series, which is the only time I can think of it ever working out in the case of Josh Beckett shutting out the Yankees.