Last night's Yankee game had two things that warrant comment:
- awarding a win to a pitcher on the winning team, despite his pitching briefly and ineffectively; this is an official scoring rule
- losing contact with the bag by a runner for a nano second and being called out.
Plus, the stupid check swing strike.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | New York Yankees | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 0 |
 | Tampa Bay Rays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| WP: David Bednar (4-5) • LP: Pete Fairbanks (4-4) • SV: Devin Williams (18) | ||||||||||||||
Note two Yankee relief pitchers: Bednar and Williams:
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | BF | Pit | Str | Ctct | StS | StL | GB | FB | LD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cam Schlittler | 6.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 3.22 | 23 | 95 | 67 | 35 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0 |
| Luke Weaver, H (14) | 1.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2.63 | 5 | 20 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| David Bednar, BS (3), W (4-5) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2.66 | 6 | 27 | 19 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Devin Williams, S (18) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5.21 | 5 | 24 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Team Totals | 10 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 1 | 2.70 | 39 | 166 | 115 | 63 | 32 | 20 | 14 | 6 | 1 |
Of the four Yankee pitchers, starter Schlittler pitched the most and did not allow a run. The next three pitched only one inning each and all three allowed a run. Winning pitcher Bednar allowed double runs of the other two and blew the save. Bednar was only eligible for the win BECAUSE he blew the save.
Schlittler pitched 6 perfect innings (no batter reached base). He faltered in the 7th and left with two outs and three runners on. Weaver struck out the only batter he faced in that inning for the third out: catcher Hunter Feduccia OPS+ 536. In the 8th Weaver allowed a home run to Bob Seymour, the first home run of Seymour's career.
The official scorer has very limited discretion in designating the winning pitcher. Common sense demands that it be Schlittler but that is not permitted. The pitcher of record when his team takes and keeps the lead gets the win. That was Bednar but only because Bednar blew a two run lead in the bottom of the 9th.
https://www.baseball-almanac.com/rule10.shtml
WINNING AND LOSING PITCHER ...
(3) Once the opposing team assumes the lead all pitchers who have pitched up to that point are excluded from being credited with the victory except that if the pitcher against whose pitching the opposing team gained the lead continues to pitch until his team regains the lead, which it holds to the finish of the game, that pitcher shall be the winning pitcher;
(4) The winning relief pitcher shall be the one who is the pitcher of record when his team assumes the lead and maintains it to the finish of the game.
EXCEPTION: Do not credit a victory to a relief pitcher who is ineffective in a brief appearance, when a succeeding relief pitcher pitches effectively in helping his team maintain the lead. In such cases, credit the succeeding relief pitcher with the victory.
_________________________
It doesn't define either ineffective or brief. Plus, in this game the next Yankee pitcher also sucked. Williams had the inherited runner on second base that has MLB has done in extra innings since the short 2020 season. When that runner scores it is not an earned run against the pitcher. Williams had a three run lead and went double, single, SO, SO, SO.
The scoring rule should be such that if one pitcher obviously pitched the best, he should get the win. Conversely, if no one pitched well enough to deserve a win, then no win should be awarded. Otherwise, default to the current rule.
**********************
Losing contact with the bag by a runner
In the top of the 10 inning pinch runner Jose Caballero was called out attempting to steal second base. The Yankees appealed but it was denied. The replay showed that the runner was safe but the issue was whether he had lost contact for a nano second. The replay was inconclusive on that and so the challenge was denied and the runner was out. To make matters worse, the second base umpire ejected the runner for arguing even though the runner's behavior was not egregious.
My problem with this is that it's an unexpected byproduct of replays that were inconceivable just a few years ago. If the runner is not trying to advance, don't bother with his losing contact inadvertently for a ridiculously short time. Geez. Safe is safe.
**********************
Check swing
Years ago they gave up on having the home plate umpire call this. The base umpire with the open view is asked to make the call. Often it's difficult to determine. Always it's absurd. Did the batter "break" his wrists? What?
Abolish it! If the batter didn't swing hard enough to hit a home run, it's not a swing. The despicable pitchers have every advantage, why let them have this silly one?
