re: Starting Poche was the correct decision, even in hindsight

quote:

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Not true. Sorry. You pitch your freaking ACE

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This is right and I said it as soon as I heard the decision not to pitch our ACE game 1. Game 1 is the most important game of the series. You take your best shot at game one. How many times have you ever seen a major league team not pitch their ace the first game of a playoff series when they are able to set their rotation? And pitching your ACE early gives you a better chance of bringing him back later. In this case we have a guy with a sub 2 ERA. The chances of winning when your offense produces only 3 runs is much greater. We have seen this throughout the season. You don't think TCU was that much more pumped when they saw they would not face Lange. You don't play for game 2 in a double elimination tournament. CPM was wrong and it sends the wrong message to your players and your number 1 pitcher. Oh and can we please stop making the third out at the plate. Another fundamental rule that CPM and this staff doesn't seem to care about.