The Kansas City Royals walked off with a win against the Oakland A’s on Tuesday night in dramatic fashion to win the first wild-card game of the 2014 MLB postseason. Pedro Martinez feels that the Royals won in spite of manager Ned Yost, not because of him.
Martinez, who works as an analyst for TBS during the playoffs, blasted Yost after the game for bringing in Yordano Ventura to replace James Shields in the sixth inning rather than turning to a relief pitcher. Deadspin has a video of Pedro making the comments on TV, and the former Cy Young winner basically repeated his argument on Twitter:
I think Ned Yost was trying to give away this game, in any way possible. I dont agree with the situation of putting Ventura into the 6th
— Pedro Martinez (@45PedroMartinez) October 1, 2014
I think Ned Yost had a panic move and almost gave the game again. If they would have lost, he would have been the ugly goat.
— Pedro Martinez (@45PedroMartinez) October 1, 2014
Sometimes you have to question and second guess some of the movements managers make. What was Yost thinking when he brought Ventura in?
— Pedro Martinez (@45PedroMartinez) October 1, 2014
What Ned Yost it's saying about bringing in Ventura, it's horrible. How much gas do you want? Why don't you just go and get a gas station?
— Pedro Martinez (@45PedroMartinez) October 1, 2014
Ventura, don't feel bad about this move; it's not your fault, it's Yost fault. You should've never come out in a situation like this.
— Pedro Martinez (@45PedroMartinez) October 1, 2014
I think we can all agree with Martinez that Yost would have been crucified if the Royals didn’t come from behind in incredible fashion. Ventura, who pitched just 1/3 of an inning and gave up two runs, threw 73 pitches in a win over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. It would have made more sense if Yost replaced Shields with a fellow starter if he was pulling Shields in the first or second inning, but why not trust your bullpen at that point?
To say clutch hitting bailed Yost out would be a massive understatement.
Previously: MLB.com publishes wrong story saying A’s beat Royals
