Second guessing: Mattingly's risky decisions

Jorge L. Ortiz | USA TODAY Sports

ST. LOUIS – Don Mattingly's critics have been handed his head on a platter – by the Los Angeles Dodgers manager himself.

In his first postseason as a manager, Mattingly had already incurred a fair amount of second-guessing in the opening round of the playoffs, and that's bound to increase after the Dodgers' 3-2 loss in 13 innings to the St. Louis Cardinals in Friday's Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.

If Mattingly's biggest decision of the night had turned the way he envisioned, the game would not have lasted past regulation, let alone stretch to four hours, 47 minutes, the third longest in NLCS history.

The move did not pay off, though, and Mattingly is sure to hear about it for a while, especially if the Dodgers fail to advance to the World Series, which they haven't reached since 1988.

When cleanup hitter Adrian Gonzalez opened the eighth inning of a 2-2 game with a walk, Mattingly sent Dee Gordon to pinch-run for him, taking the Dodgers' regular-season RBI leader out of the game. Gordon was promptly erased on a fielder's choice, and L.A. got little in return for removing its biggest power threat.

"It's one of those that you've got to shoot your bullet when you get a chance,'' Mattingly said. "If we don't use him (Gordon) there and the next guy hits a ball in the gap and we don't score there, we're going to say why didn't you use Dee?''

Perhaps, but bringing in the speedy Gordon might have made more sense if he were going to attempt to steal. He didn't in the first two pitches to Yasiel Puig, who then grounded to short, forcing out Gordon.

The decision had reverberations throughout the extra innings.

Veteran infielder Michael Young, who replaced Gonzalez at first base and in the cleanup spot, came up with a runner in scoring position twice in extra innings and hit into double plays both times.

The first one was especially painful, as Mark Ellis reached third on a one-out triple in the 10th but was thrown out at the plate by Carlos Beltran on Young's lazy fly ball to right.

It was by far the Dodgers' best chance to score after their two-run rally in the third, but Beltran's strong throw got to catcher Yadier Molina in plenty of time to nab Ellis. Beltran later added to his history of postseason heroics with the game-winning single in the 13th.

Ellis said he and third-base coach Tim Wallach were of one mind on the play.

"He was telling me to go, but in your head you're going. It's a no-brainer,'' Ellis said. "You have to take advantage of that situation. They have to make a great play.''

Beltran and Molina did, but the next double play Young hit into was more routine. In the 12th, his double-play grounder killed a first-and-second, one-out threat.

Even worse, Gonzalez's removal effectively neutralized Hanley Ramirez, who hit .500 with six extra-base hits in the Division Series. Both times he stepped to the plate after Gonzalez left, the Cardinals merrily ushered him to first base with intentional walks.

"We're trying to win a game,'' Mattingly said. "We can look back on every decision. If it doesn't work, you can decide to go the other way.''

Mattingly was heavily criticized for his late-game pitching maneuvers in Game 2 of the Division Series, the only one the Atlanta Braves won.

His decision to start ace left-hander Clayton Kershaw on three days' rest in the NLDS clincher also came under intense scrutiny, even though it was not his alone and it worked out fine as the Dodgers came from behind to eliminate the Braves.

St. Louis figures to present a tougher challenge, in part because the Cardinals just don't beat themselves. They set a franchise record for fewest errors (75) and highest fielding percentage (.988) this past season and proved time and again on Friday how adept they are at catching the ball.

Besides Beltran's one-hop throw to erase Ellis, St. Louis got a number of outstanding defensive plays from shortstop Pete Kozma, who more than makes up for his lightweight bat with brilliant glove work.

"They're one of the best teams, one of the best organizations in baseball over there,'' catcher A.J. Ellis said. "They know how to play, especially this time of year. They're battle-tested.''

The Dodgers and their manager, not as much.

Mattingly also took a chance by starting Andre Ethier in center field, where he had not played since Sept. 13 because of a leg injury.

Ethier was involved in the game's biggest play before the 13th, sprinting to deep center and crashing into the wall in futile pursuit of Beltran's drive in the third. It was a difficult play, but Ethier appeared to stick his glove above where the ball hit the wall, and two runners scored on the double to tie the game.

Ethier said it wouldn't have made any difference if he had been fully healthy.

"I just didn't come up with the ball,'' he said. "I got to the wall right at the same time as the ball did and it kind of hit at the heel of my glove rather than right in the pocket. It was one of those bang-bang plays.''

Would backup center fielder Skip Schumaker have made it? Hard to tell, but going with Ethier would up as another Mattingly move that didn't get the best results in Game 1.