Hang this loss on Joe Torre

Baseball Betting Lines

10/14/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - I have gone out of my way to defend Joe Torre in this space the last couple of years. I could never understand why some people, especially Yankee fans, would say that those four World Series championships and 12 straight playoff appearances were all accomplished in spite of Torre, not because of him.

With that said, though, even I, the most ardent Torre supporter, cannot defend Torre for some of his moves in Los Angeles' Game 4 loss on Monday to Philadelphia. I will even go as far as to say that if the Dodgers go on to lose this series, you can squarely place the blame on Torre.

I had no problem with Torre starting Derek Lowe on three-days' rest. He is the team's ace and has been a horse, especially in the postseason. He and Philly's Brett Myers are probably the only ones that would even ask for the ball on short rest in this series.

Lowe got off to a rough start in the first inning, surrendering two runs, but settled down, tossing four scoreless innings after that. He sent the Phillies down 1-2-3 in the fifth, but was told after the frame that that was it for him, despite throwing just 75 pitches and coming off his best inning of the game.

"I was fine," Lowe said. "That [the fifth] was the inning I was looking for, an easy, 1-2-3 inning. I went down the stairs to the men's room, but when I came back, they said that's it. That's all I can give you [the media]. I wish I had more. I was in the game."

The Dodgers managed to go ahead in the home half of the fifth, but Torre still opted for 20-year-old Clayton Kershaw in the sixth, instead of Lowe.

"I thought at that point, especially when we took the lead, because it just looked like he was fighting his emotions the whole game," Torre said. "He said he felt fine. We were probably going to get only one more inning out of him anyway pitch-count-wise, and I just decided to make the move there."

Fighting his emotions? Lowe fights his emotions on a regular basis. I can't remember watching a Lowe start where he didn't fight his emotions. Now I know, had Torre let Lowe pitch the sixth and he unraveled like he did in Game 1, people would question why he left him in there too long, but he was getting stronger as the game went on.

Lowe wanted the ball, and Torre should have given it to him. This was a chance for the Dodgers - for the first time in this series - to really apply some pressure. Lowe could have gone another inning, at least. Stick with your ace, not a guy who has 1 2/3 innings of playoff experience under his belt. The situation did not call for it, not yet.

"He's the manager, he's made the decisions all year long," said Lowe. "What am I going to do at that point? Joe does what's best for the team. He didn't take me out because he thought the lead would be given up. He's a great manager who's made great decisions his whole career."

Kershaw, of course, put the first two runners on and after a sacrifice bunt put them both in scoring position, was lifted in favor of Chan Ho Park, who promptly uncorked a wild pitch, allowing the tying run to score.

After the Dodgers pushed two across in the home half of the sixth, Torre tried to mix and match his way to his closer, Jonathan Broxton. Again, Torre failed, as Cory Wade allowed a two-run homer to Shane Victorino to tie the game for Philly.

Torre then went to his closer, but with a man on first, Broxton served up a go-ahead two-run home run that to journeyman Matt Stairs that I am not quite sure has landed yet.

Forget the Lowe move for a second, had Broxton done his job and got to the ninth, Torre would have had to face the heart of the Phillies order - left- handed hitting Chase Utley and Ryan Howard - without a lefty reliever at his disposal, having already used Kershaw, Joe Beimel and Hong-Chih Kuo.

Again, I give Torre as much credit as anyone for the success his New York Yankees had, but he gets all the blame should the Dodgers lose this series. His trademark in New York was that he was always cool as a cucumber. On Monday, he seemed to panic.

By the way, if Dodgers fans need any encouragement, look no further than last year's Boston Red Sox, who rallied back from a 3-1 deficit to the Cleveland Indians in last year's ALCS on their way to a World Series championship. But, unlike the Red Sox, the Dodgers won't have the luxury of playing Games 6 and 7 in front of their home fans.