When Pedro Ciriaco struck out in the ninth inning of a 4-4 tie, the Red Sox skipper had reliever Clayton Mortensen warming up in the bullpen. Valentine planned to evaluate Mortensen in extra innings.
Except, there was no 10th inning. After Ciriaco’s strikeout, Yankees manager Joe Girardi asked the umpires to call the game and walked off the JetBlue Park field, leaving Valentine frustrated.
“It was regretful that Mortensen warmed up though and we were told they weren’t going to play extra innings. I didn’t think that was very courteous,” Valentine said. “They had plenty of pitching. It was probably too long of a ride. They could’ve known that going in.”
Mortensen –– who came over in the Marco Scutaro trade –– remains in consideration to make the Red Sox roster, which irked the Red Sox manager the most and led to his pointed comments.
“I don’t care about not playing, just why do I have to warm up my pitcher, who’s trying to make the team, to come in a tie game against the Yankees and maybe help him make the team,” Valentine said. “Instead he has to walk off the mound and take a shower.”
When asked how the discussions between extending the game or ending as a tie functions among managers, Valentine shrugged the question off and placed the onus of responsibility on Girardi.
“I don’t know, I haven’t been around a long time,” Valentine said. “Joe knows better than I. I guess you just walk off the field.”
Giradi disagreed with Valentine’s appraisal. Considering the Yankees have early split-squad games on Friday, the New York skipper didn’t show any remorse over his decision.
“We used a lot in the last few innings,” Girardi said. “We’ve got a long day (Friday), too. We need pitching, and I don’t want to run out.”
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