[dons rally hat]
I doubt it as Washington did the same thing in the last series, not using him in as they blew a big lead in game 1, while bringing him in blowouts on subsequent nights. It appears Washington is just only willing to bring him in with a lead in the ninth.
I will never understand why managers do that.
Well, I’m giving don his hat back; this thing’s worthless…
Well done Rangers…we’ll see you tomorrow.
Whoo-hoo!! Way to go Rangers!!
We finally played better. Yay Rangers!!
Feh. Well-played, Rangers. Until we meet again, my friends. Until we meet again.
Two reasons.
First, and foremost, because it lets them keep their job.
Managers, to a large extent, manage in a way that avoids criticism. They will generally NOT be criticized for keeping THE CLOSER limited to save situations, because that is THE CLOSER’s job. If they do unorthodox things, like using THE CLOSER in the seventh inning, and it fails, they get ripped; if they do orthodox things and fail, the players usually take the blame.
It’s unusual, and actually kind of refreshing, that Washington has gotten some flak over his non-used of Feliz. It may be that people are starting to realize that the role of THE CLOSER isn’t really very logical.
The second reason is that managers sometimes struggle to transition from the way they manage in the regular season to the way you need to manage in the postseason. In the long drag of the regular season, playing 162 games in 178 days or whatever it is, limiting your players to specific roles, especially the pitchers, might lose you a game in May but win you three games later on. Over the course of a season where the players rarely get a day off there is a lot of value in using them in predictable roles; it helps manage their workload, keeps them focused during the grind of playing every day, and keeps the entire team involved.
But in the playoffs, you may as well toss that shit out the window; if you lose today that could mean your season’s over two days from now. The manager who really, really understood this more than his peers was Joe Torre; Torre would happily bench guys who’d played regularly all year, use Mariano Rivera twice as much as usual, pull a starter in the third, whatever, because he abided by the philosophy that the best preparation for the next playoff game was to win the playoff game you’re currently playing. He figured that no matter who was tired or pissed off, winning that game would convey a vastly greater advantage that any miniscule effect on a player’s rhythm at a time when winning games isn’t a matter of scraping up enough wins over 162 games, but rather is a matter of winning four games in the next week or going home. Other managers started adapting to this and managing in the postseason in much the same manner; I suspect Washington, who has a reputation for being a smart man but who has never managed in the playoffs before, might just be learning this now.
Thank you Josh.
Oh man, GOOD CATCH.
That’s 2. Go Giants!!
woooooooooohoooooooo! 
Well crap. Nice swing Mr. Huff.
Freddy Sanchez is really doing some great stuff in this game.
Good Lord, is the home plate ump Stevie Wonder? His strike zone bears no resemblance to… anything, including itself from inning to inning.
It’s time for automated balls and strikes.
The top of the wall keeps being a friend to the Giants.
WTF is up with this version of God Bless America?
Posey!!!
Yes, fear the beard… 
Rick Sutcliffe has three times now said the Rangers are “The best offense in the American League.” No, they were not.
Well, now the Giants are up 3-1. The Rangers are going to have to play much, much better baseball, because the results so far have not been luck. The Giants are kicking their asses.