Why would you pitch to Ortiz or Manny with 2 outs, and no one on, in a tie game? You are just asking for this.
Come on, this is baseball. You can't intentionally walk 2 guys in a row in a friggin regular season game in the 5th inning.
Who said intentionally walk? You just don't give them anything in their zones. How do you throw a ball on the inside half of the plate to Ortiz when you don't have to?
Pitchers make mistakes, I'm sure he didn't throw it there on purpose. When you say "they should've walked him" it sure sounds like an intentional walk to me.
To begin with, I would intentionally walk Ortiz every time I faced him if there is an available base. Hell, I'd even walk him and Manny with the bases loaded, but that's just me. Seriously though, there is no reason to pitch inside to Ortiz in that situation. Keep the ball away from him, and let him earn it if he can. That pitch was meant to come inside. Posada set up inside. The pitch went where it was supposed to. It's not the first time I've seen the Yankees do it either. They throw him inside way too often.
Jeez, does anyone actually describe games anymore, or is every broadcast one big joke? These clowns are terrible.
To get them they gave up Hanley Ramirez who is hitting .268 with 11 home runs as a rookie shortstop, Anibal Sanchez who is 4-2 with a 3.70 ERA as a rookie left hander, and two other pretty good pitching prospects. They didn't just buy them like the Yankees do.
The book on him used to be that you could get him out inside. Not anymore. He closed up just about every hole in his swing and there is not really a way to pitch him and consistently get him out.
Honestly, I can't remember a time when the inside pitch wasn't something he could turn on and tear toward the right field fence. I know I've heard that it was the place to pitch him, but I don't know when that was actually true. The only place to pitch to him is down and away. Sure, if he makes solid contact, with the extension, it's probably gone, but it's better than serving him a pitch he can turn on so easily.
Sorry to bring this to your attention, the Yankees gave up their first round pick from last year to get Abreau and Lidle. As far as we know CJ Henry is just a minor leaguer with potential, just like Rameriz was before this season started.
