I really want to blame the entire loss on Girardi. The anger that maneuvered through my veins as the Angels hopped around the field like children on a snow day, almost caused a broken bar stool or television. But I managed to calm down and think. I walked from the bar to the subway and tried to figure out a reason why the Yankees didn’t pull off another extra inning victory.

There are a few contributers to the Game 3 Yankee loss and Girardi was definitely one of them. It’s quite obvious that Girardi is not a believer in the “feelin it” rule. I happen to be a huge supporter of the “feelin it” rule and can’t imagine a baseball manager not considering the rule when it’s time to make a big decision.

You see, if Girardi was in fact a supporter of the “feelin it” rule then he would have seen that lately, Robertson has been “feelin it” and Alfredo Aceves has not. The playoffs are a time where rhythm and flow affect the game more than ever. A player’s slump can be broken just as easy as another’s consistency. And usually a manager can see that one player is seeing the ball really well, or in this case throwing the ball really well and not want to screw with the aura that the player is “feelin.” But again Girardi doesn’t believe in this.

No Girardi consults bulky binders in the dugouts and thinks about the strengths of one pitcher over another without any solid reference, rhyme or reason. So out he marches in the bottom of the 11^th inning to take out one right handed reliever who has made a name for himself this post-season and who had retired the first two outs of the inning without surrendering a hit. And in goes Alfredo Aceves, the hero in the pen of the regular season, the bad start fixer upper, and the man responsible for making Saturday’s game a little closer than it needed to be; one righty with no history pitching against Kendrick for another.

And at that moment you could hear the groans of Yankees fans far and wide. The bar I was in seemed to be participating in the sit-down half of the wave as Robertson confusingly (and rightly so!) walked himself back to the dug out. What was Girardi thinking? Was he confused? Did he think that he had to try and use the entire bullpen every game in order to win? Whatever the reason was (he claims to have like Aceves’ “stuff” better against Kendrick…whoops) he better not go on the “theory” tonight and might want to consider who’s “feelin it” rather than who he’s “feelin.”

Although I do in fact want to blame the loss entirely on Girardi, I cannot. There were too many contributing factors to blame it on just one person. For one thing the Yankees left way too many runners in scoring position. Since the 7^th inning of Game 1 the Yankees are 0-20 with runners in scoring position and are 3-31 overall in this series with runners in scoring position. That’s pretty terrible. It’s no surprise the Yankees didn’t win yesterday with numbers like that. The only surprise was that the Yankees some how pulled off a win in game two going 0for with runners on the scoring bags.

The Yankees had been able to capitalize on big time pitching from their starters the first two games and almost did the same Monday afternoon. Andy Pettitte managed to pitch 6+ and escaped near flawlessly–Vlad decided otherwise. Mid way through Pettitte’s 6^th inning Vladimir Guerrero decided to hit a game tying 3-run homer, his first post-season home run since 2004. Pettitte wouldn’t leave the game until there was one out in the 7^th. He would get a no decision and leave knowing he was only one bad pitch from giving the Yankees a two run lead going into the final two innings.

Joba would take the hill and give up a run proving once again how lost he can really be up there. In a third of an inning he threw 10 pitches, allowed 2 hits and surrendered the go ahead run. It would be another 6 pitchers, no that is not a typo, until Aceves would blow it in the 11^th.

The key to tonight’s game is stringing together some hits and producing with runners on. The Yankees need to play team baseball and not rely on home runs to score all the time. Everyone on this Yankee ball club can hit but as a team they aren’t meshing like an offensive unit. You have to believe CC is going to fire pitches with avenges and make sure to stop the bleeding at 1 game. He has done well overall on three days rest despite what people say. Although he did lose while pitching on 3 days rest for the Brewers last year in the playoffs, we must remember that game was his 4^th in a row pitched on 3 days rest.

As for Girardi, the man has to let his players play. There are moments he should get involved. He might also be better off admitting that taking Robertson out was a mistake, but I won’t hold my breath. He might act like a World Series manager when he trots glaringly to the mound to take out one righty for another, but he isn’t…yet.

And as for the fans we need to realize a loss in the playoffs to a talented team on the road is inevitable. If the Yankees had to lose one I’m glad it was in extra innings and I’m glad we fought to the very last play (see Hairston Jr’s face on his atrocious jumping catch attempt). They’ve picked each other up on the field and on the mound all they need to do now is do it in the batters box. All we as fans need to do is realize that everything is fine, we’re still up and the big man is on the hill tonight.