If Tony La Russa didn’t have someone as clutch as Scott Spiezio, he said he would have started Scott Rolen in Game 2 of the NLCS. Last night, Spiezio built upon his staggering postseason success and made his manager, known for making good strategic decisions, look even more intelligent.
With Rolen in a 1-for-14 playoff skid and battling a balky left shoulder, La Russa benched his unhappy third baseman for Spiezio, who ripped a game-tying, two-run triple in the seventh and an insurance RBI double in the ninth inning of the 9-6 victory over the Mets. Rolen was a defensive replacement in the ninth and made a diving play on a David Wright grounder for the second out.
Spiezio, a hero for the 2002 Angels, collected 19 RBIs in 16 games that postseason. The 34-year-old ripped a sixth-inning RBI single in a Game 4 Division Series-clinching victory and is now an unreal 14-for-20 in his playoff career with runners in scoring position, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
His two-out, two-run triple off Guillermo Mota in the seventh deflected off the glove of a leaping Shawn Green at the right-field fence and was nearly a three-run homer.
“One of the things I’ve learned is, it’s just like any other game,” Spiezio said yesterday afternoon, referring to heightened playoff pressure. “You have more fans screaming and things like that, but you really have to try to block everything out and just go out and play your game and make it simple.
“Look for your pitch and put your swing on it.”
This was the second time this week La Russa has pulled Rolen, who had downplayed how badly his surgically-repaired left shoulder was hurting during the NLDS. When the skipper found out, he yanked Rolen for Game 4 versus San Diego. Rolen took a cortisone shot that night.
La Russa said it was “not an enjoyable decision.”
“Just to me, something is prohibiting [Rolen’s] stroke from being right, and I don’t think this is something that would be good for him or good for us,” La Russa said.
Rolen said he was “disappointed” and “surprised” and only learned of the benching when looking at the lineup in the clubhouse. La Russa said he didn’t need to discuss the matter, but would be open if Rolen came to him.
“This is not a time for an individual to be upset, when you’re down 0-1 to the Mets in Shea Stadium,” Rolen said.
Wire services contributedto this report.