In spite of Buddy

Last night was a big win. Down 2-1 for most of the game with our offense really struggling, the 8thy inning comeback was particularly sweet. Graffinino was big last night with a game tying single and providing an insurance run with a great slide after Sanders' double. Let's not forgot Mark Redman's very nice performance going 8 innings and scattering 9 hits with just 2 runs. Basically, it took heroic efforts from graffy and Redman to barely survive the pitching of Mark Hendrickson. Why? Well, the offense skuffled for most of the night until the heroic 8th inning. Let's look deeper to see why.

Bell decided to keep Teahen in the lineup after his 4 hit game, but felt the need to bench Dougie for Graffy because a lefty was starting. What does the numbers say for Graffy against lefties? Graffy has an OBP of .270 and an overall OPS of .613. Basically he doesn't get on base and doesn't hit for power. Yet, Buddy decides to use him in the 2-hole moving down Grudzie one spot. So what happens? You have no one getting on base after Dejesus, and then 2 guys who don't consistently drive in runs batting 3rd and 4th with Grudzie and Sanders. Through 7 innings we only had 1 run from 4 hits. Those 4 hits were from our 7-9 hitters, similar to the success we had the night before when 7-9 had a total of 7 hits. So, the top of the order struggled until the 8th when Buck walked, Dejesus singled and Graffy applied the law of averages by getting his 1st hit in his 4th at-bat. Also, we batted a guy 6th in German who provides no power threat whatsoever expecting him to drive in runs when instead he's a better fit at the top of the lineup. Surprisingly, Redman pitched a great game and we had a breakout inning. All of this inspite of Buddy.