Closers in tournament so far: Britton not used, Familia conventional blown tie, Miller unconventional win.

Tale of three managers and their use of their closers.

2016 Wild Card Game (1-0): Toronto Blue Jays (89-73) over Baltimore Orioles (89-73)
Tuesday, October 4, 2016, 8:00 pm, Rogers Centre
Attendance: 49,934, Time of Game: 3:25
Blue Jays 5, Orioles 2 in 11 innings
Edwin Encarnacion: walk off three run home run (HR).
Orioles

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	BF	Pit	Str	Ctct	StS	StL	GB	FB	LD	Unk	GSc	IR	IS	WPA	aLI	RE24
Chris Tillman	4.1	4	2	2	1	4	1	4.15	18	74	44	27	5	12	4	9	2	0	50			-0.134	0.91	-0.6
Mychal Givens	2.1	0	0	0	0	3	0	0.00	6	19	14	7	2	5	2	1	1	0		2	0	0.300	1.35	2.1
Donnie Hart	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	1	7	4	2	1	1	0	1	0	0		0	0	0.021	0.82	0.1
Brad Brach	1.1	2	0	0	1	2	0	0.00	6	27	16	8	4	4	3	0	0	0		0	0	0.040	2.27	0.1
Darren O'Day	1.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00	4	14	10	5	1	4	1	2	1	0		2	0	0.353	2.46	1.5
Brian Duensing	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00	1	5	3	1	0	2	0	0	0	0		0	0	0.059	2.28	0.2
Ubaldo Jimenez, L (0-1)	0	3	3	3	0	0	1	0.00	3	5	4	3	0	1	0	3	2	0		0	0	-0.417	3.31	-3.0
Team Totals	10.1	9	5	5	2	11	2	4.35	39	151	95	53	13	29	10	16	6	0	50	4	0	0.222	1.56	0.5

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/7/2016.

Missing was ace closer Zach Britton, who has some backing for the Cy Young award. Baltimore manager Buck Showalter was waiting for his Orioles to take a late inning lead so he could use Britton to protect it. That opportunity never happened. Britton pitched 67 regular season innings: 0.54 ERA, 827 ERA+, one HR.
_________________________

2016 Wild Card Game (1-0): San Francisco Giants (87-75) over New York Mets (87-75)
Wednesday, October 5, 2016, 8:00 pm, Citi Field
Attendance: 44,747, Time of Game: 3:11
Giants 3, Mets 0

HR: Conor Gillaspie (1, off J Familia, 9th inn, 2 on, 1 out to Deep RF).
Giants

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	BF	Pit	Str	Ctct	StS	StL	GB	FB	LD	Unk	GSc	IR	IS	WPA	aLI	RE24
Madison Bumgarner, W (1-0)	9	4	0	0	2	6	0	0.00	32	119	78	47	11	20	8	16	4	0	83			0.585	1.20	4.4
Team Totals	9	4	0	0	2	6	0	0.00	32	119	78	47	11	20	8	16	4	0	83			0.585	1.20	4.4

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/7/2016.

Mets

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	BF	Pit	Str	Ctct	StS	StL	GB	FB	LD	Unk	GSc	IR	IS	WPA	aLI	RE24
Noah Syndergaard	7	2	0	0	3	10	0	0.00	25	108	70	34	19	17	7	5	0	0	80			0.439	1.06	3.4
Addison Reed	1	1	0	0	2	1	0	0.00	6	20	10	7	2	1	2	1	0	0		0	0	0.106	3.33	0.5
Jeurys Familia, L (0-1)	1	2	3	3	1	1	1	27.00	6	27	16	13	0	3	0	4	2	0		0	0	-0.460	2.17	-2.5
Team Totals	9	5	3	3	6	12	1	3.00	37	155	96	54	21	21	9	10	2	0	80	0	0	0.085	1.62	1.4

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/7/2016.

Met manager Terry Collins learned his lesson from last year's World Series when he stayed with starter Matt Harvey in the 9th instead of using closer Jeurys Familia to protect a lead. The lesson was follow conventional wisdom because it won't get you fired. In the 2016 wild card game Collins was pretty conventional in using closer Familia in the 9th inning of a scoreless tie. That was what Orioles manager Showalter had not done the day before and Showalter was criticized. Familia gave up a three run homer, which prompted Giants manager Bruce Bochy to let his starter bat in the 9th and then pitch the bottom of the 9th, never using any relief pitchers.
____________________

2016 AL Division Series (1-0): Cleveland Indians (94-67) leads Boston Red Sox (93-69)
Thursday, October 6, 2016, 8:00pm, Progressive Field
Attendance: 37,763, Time of Game: 3:33
Indians 5, Red Sox 4

Indians

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	BF	Pit	Str	Ctct	StS	StL	GB	FB	LD	Unk	GSc	IR	IS	WPA	aLI	RE24
Trevor Bauer	4.2	6	3	3	0	6	2	5.79	19	78	52	23	11	18	4	9	3	0	46			-0.040	1.02	-0.3
Andrew Miller, W (1-0)	2	1	0	0	1	4	0	0.00	8	40	24	9	6	9	1	2	1	0		0	0	0.148	1.18	1.1
Bryan Shaw, H (1)	0.2	1	1	1	0	0	1	13.50	3	13	8	6	0	2	1	2	0	0		0	0	-0.047	1.42	-0.6
Cody Allen, S (1)	1.2	2	0	0	0	4	0	0.00	7	40	26	12	11	3	2	1	1	0		0	0	0.248	2.49	0.9
Team Totals	9	10	4	4	1	14	3	4.00	37	171	110	50	28	32	8	14	5	0	46	0	0	0.309	1.36	1.1

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/7/2016.

Indians manager Terry Francona went rogue, using his "closer" (best relief pitcher), Andrew Miller, in the 5th inning. Through four innings the Indians led 4-2 but Bauer allowed a lead off homer to number 8 hitter, catcher Sandy Leon. Bauer then retired two but Francona brought in Miller, who allowed a double and walk before striking out David Ortiz. Cleveland scored in the bottom of the 5th to lead 5-3. Miller retired all three Red Sox in the 6th and the first two in the 7th when Francona relieved Miller. Cleveland held on to win 5-4.
______________________

Box score:
Showalter: dope
Collins: ____
Francona: smarty and/or daredevil

The Cleveland - Boston series is best of five games. Andrew Miller threw 40 pitches, so his use in game one may cause negative results in subsequent games. But Cleveland won and that advantage seems to make Francona's move smart. The daredevil part was Miller having problems when he first entered.

There was no fire for Miller to put out. Miller needed to restore order, which he eventually did.