BALTIMORE — Seeing Chris Capuano replacing Michael Pineda in the fourth inning Sunday, long before the Yankees knew the Astros would lose to the Diamondbacks, wasn’t the most comfortable feeling.
The veteran lefty had been designated for assignment four times this year and brought back each time. Going into the final game of the season, Capuano was 0-4 with a 7.81 ERA in 21 games (four starts).
Joe Girardi brought Capuano into the game to face the left-handed hitting Ryan Flaherty with the Orioles leading 3-1. He gave up a double to Flaherty, walked the right-handed hitting Nolan Reimold and gave up a two-run single to the left-handed hitting Gerardo Parra.
Considering the importance of the game, did Girardi consider bringing lefty Justin Wilson into the game even though it was much earlier than normal?
“If you get to the later innings and you have a chance to win, I can have him for an inning,’’ Girardi said about not using Wilson in that spot. “And I would have felt comfortable with Miller going an inning. And it’s not something that [Wilson] is necessarily used to doing.’’
Girardi used Wilson and Miller in the eighth with the Yankees trailing, 7-4, to keep them sharp for Tuesday night’s wild-card game against the Astros.
There is no avoiding the Yankees miss Mark Teixeira in the middle of the order but Greg Bird enters his first postseason riding a seven-game hitting streak in which he batted .360 (9-for-25).