So did Mike Scioscia use his bullpen properly last night? Or should he have summoned Percival in a tie to begin the eighth inning, rather than keep 20-year-old Francisco Rodriguez on the mound? If I follow the logic that some have employed over the past few days, Percy should have worked the eighth because he’s the Angels’ best reliever.

Now, consider this scenario: Percival holds the Yankees in the eighth but throws 25 pitches. The Halos do not score in the bottom frame. A tired Percival blows the lead in the ninth, Yankees win. It’s a possible–and not all that far-fetched–outcome.

I truly believe that rather than be criticized for being a slave to the one-inning closer, Scioscia should be applauded for having faith in the guys who got him this far. The more I think about it, the more I don’t have a problem with the way he’s managed his bullpen. But that’s just me.

Now over here in the infallible corner, we have Joe Torre. We have the curious case of Mike Stanton. I understand bringing him in to face Darin Erstad in the sixth. That was the right move. And I’m okay with letting him start the seventh against Garret Anderson, another lefty. And, yeah, once Anderson doubles, you might as well leave Stanton in there to walk Glaus. Then you can force the Angels to pinch-hit for Brad Fullmer, against whom you bring in the ready, willing, and able Ramiro Mendoza.

Or not.

What in the heck was Stanton doing in there against Wooten? Okay, Stanton’s splits aren’t that great (680 OPS vs LHB, 668 vs LHB). But here are the splits of the key Angels involved:

               vs LHP         vs RHP
Anderson  .284/.301/.514  .316/.346/.551
Eckstein  .302/.387/.448  .289/.354/.365
Erstad    .280/.305/.358  .285/.316/.403
Fullmer   .222/.231/.365  .301/.377/.560
Glaus     .298/.389/.534  .230/.337/.422
Kennedy   .275/.320/.449  .319/.350/.449
Spiezio   .368/.448/.539  .248/.336/.389
Wooten    .282/.329/.451  .310/.333/.429

Okay, what does this show us?

1. Torre was correct in walking Glaus, who just abuses lefties and who has already done significant damage in the series, to get to Fullmer, the one Anaheim hitter who absolutely cannot hit southpaws. No problem there.
2. Leaving Stanton in against Wooten wasn’t that bad after all. Wooten’s splits are almost nonexistent, and Mendoza actually fared worse against RHB (711 OPS) than LHB (694). So I take back what I said about this move.
3. Leaving Stanton in to face Spiezio was a mistake. Yeah, I know that was Spiezio’s first career hit against him, but what are you going to listen to: 152 at-bats this year against lefties or 12 over a career against Stanton?
4. Bringing Stanton out again to start the eighth against Kennedy, Eckstein, and Erstad, while on the surface justifiable because of the two left-handed hitters coming up, was not a good move given the fact that none of the players involved has a significant platoon split.

I don’t follow the Yankees enough to know what Torre’s normal usage of Stanton is, but the latter averaged just over 4 batters and IP faced per game. Erstad in the eighth was his 10th batter. Stanton ended up throwing 39 pitches. Presumably he stayed in so long because the Angels have a lot of lefties in their lineup. Only problem is, Stanton doesn’t have appreciable lefty/right splits and, with the exception of Fullmer, who was lifted for Wooten, neither do the Angels’ left-handed hitters.

So what gives? We never did see Mendoza. And Steve Karsay (756 OPS vs LHB, 642 vs RHB) closed the proverbial barn door long after the horses had fled.

I don’t mean to be overly critical of Torre here, because he knows his personnel better than I ever will. But I do wonder whether the same folks who took exception to Scioscia’s use of his bullpen the previous two games will criticize Torre’s managing in this contest. They probably should.