ESPN NY: Matthews: Yankees manager should’ve opted for Rivera with game still in reach

Holy Dolans! Is this THE Wallace Matthews?

I mean, why do you even have a Mariano Rivera on your staff if you are not going to use him to give your team its best chance to win ballgames?

...“Well, I’m not gonna bring him [Rivera] in in that situation when we’re down by two runs,” Girardi said. “I’m just not gonna do it.”

The natural follow-up, of course, is why not?

“I been used that way before,” Rivera said, “But not that often. If we’re down by one, yeah. Down by two? It’s a hard, hard call. But it’s not unheard of, not at all.”

Certainly not, especially when he hadn’t worked in four days, and even then, the last time he did work, Girardi sent him out to get the final three outs of a game in which the Yankees were leading the inept Houston Astros by four runs.

In fact, seven times this season Girardi has called on Mo to pitch a ninth inning in a nonsave situation, once in fact when the Yankees were leading by EIGHT runs!

So if it’s OK to use your closer in a game that calls for a mop-up man, why isn’t it OK to use him in a game that calls for a lockdown reliever?