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It didn't take a strong pair of glasses to see that Severino wasn't fooling Red Sox hitters in the first three innings. He'd given up three runs Jon Gray Jersey , andthe amount of hard contact indicated that the 24-year-old was lucky it wasn't worse.Even with the bottom of Boston's order due up in the top of the fourth, Boone was thus taking a chance simply in allowing Severino to return to the mound. After he allowed a leadoff single to Brock Holt鈥攈is first step toward the first cycle in postseason history鈥攖he hook should have come out immediately.Instead, Boone let Severino give up another hit to Christian Vazquez, followed by a walk to Jackie Bradley Jr.Only then did Boone signal for a new pitcher.He screwed that part up, too.In a bases-loaded, no-out situation, Boone's first move should have been for one of the top arms from the most overpowering bullpen in Major League Baseball history. Boone instead opted for Lynn, a career starter who's in New York's October pen as little more than a long man.The move worked about as expected, which is to say not at all. Lynn walked Mookie Betts to force in a run, and then came Benintendi's three-run gut punch.By the time Boone called on Green, Lynn had allowed another hit to put two runners on with only one out. Despite Green's best efforts, three more runs scored, and whatever hope the Yankees had of mounting a comeback was all but gone.Elsa/Getty ImagesBoone did lead the Yankees to 100 wins in his first season at the helm. He also managed about as well as he could have in the AL Wild Card Game against the Oakland Athletics. And apart from the first three innings of Game 1, the Yankees mostly had the upper hand in the opening games of the ALDS. As such, it's in fairness to him to note that ineptitude has not been a feature of his managing.However, there's simply no explaining away Boone's blunders in Game 3.The long leash he put on Severino might have made sense if this was the same Severino who dominated throughout all of 2017 and most of 2018. But everyone is aware Severino struggled (5.57 ERA in 12 starts) in the second half. And while he refused to break, he definitely bent in his four innings in the Wild Card Game.Boone's decision to make Lynn the first man out of the bullpen is equally baffling. If he was going to bring in Lynn Adam Ottavino Jersey , it should have been with clean bases at the start of the inning. Once that ship sailed, Boone's first move should have been for a pitcher accustomed to dominating in high leverage.The Yankees have a bunch of those, including the only foursome in history to record strikeout rates north of 30 percent:Green, David Robertson, Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman.Why was Boone slow to call on his big guns? He told reporters (including Marc Carig of The Athletic) that it had something to do with Betances' limited availability:Marc Carig MarcCarigBoone says he wanted to steal some outs from Severino partly because Betances was available for only one inning.Bring on the skepticism. Betances did pitch two innings in each of the first two games of the ALDS, but there was an off day in between Game 2 and Game 3. All hands should have been on deck Monday.Indeed, a skipper like Boone has no business being a conservative bullpen manager. He's supposed to be the new-age guy who can take the Yankees to heights they couldn't reach under Joe Girardi's more old-school approach. Creative roster manipulation, up to and including aggressive bullpen management, is supposed to set Boone apart.No such creativity was present in Game 3, which is the worst postseason loss in the history of the Yankees. Now they need to win Game 4 on Tuesday to extend their season. Even if they do, they'd then have to win a Game 5 at Fenway Park to move on to the American League Championship Series.In so many words, the Yankees are in trouble. And in this case, it's very much trouble of their own making. Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphsand Baseball Savant. MILWAUKEE (AP) — Daniel Murphy sees no panic in his new Chicago Cubs teammates.The Cubs needed a win Wednesday night to avert a three-game sweep by division rival Milwaukee, and Murphy played a big role with three hits and a solo home run in Chicago’s 6-4 victory against the Brewers.Pedro Strop closed out a tense ninth inning as Chicago boosted its NL Central lead to four games over the second-place Brewers. Milwaukee is a half-game ahead of St. Louis for the top NL wild card.Jose Quintana (12-9) gave up two runs in 6 2/3 innings, improving to 3-1 at Miller Park with the Cubs.Strop allowed a walk and a single to open the ninth but got the final three outs, striking out Curtis Granderson with two runners on to preserve the win.“It’s a young group with a veteran mindset http://www.rockiesfanproshop.com/authentic-pat-valaika-jersey ,” said Murphy, who joined the Cubs in a trade with Washington on Aug. 21. “You lose a tough one (Monday) and they played really well yesterday. All you can do is come out and try to win this ballgame.”Granderson belted his first home run as a member of the Brewers in a pinch-hit role in the seventh, a two-run shot that cut Chicago’s lead to 6-4.After Travis Shaw walked and pinch-hitter Christian Yelich singled to start the ninth, the crowd of 37,427 was on its feet, nearly equally divided between Brewers and Cubs fans. Eric Thames flied out before Strop got Lorenzo Cain to ground to third for a force play. Then a nasty slider on a 2-2 pitch struck out Granderson.“I thought he gained his composure nicely,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said of Strop. “He’s got 95 or 96 (mph) with that sink. The slider he got Granderson on, it’s good against righties and lefties.”Jhoulys Chacin (14-6) had tossed 16 consecutive scoreless innings against the Cubs this season before Murphy led off the fourth with an opposite-field homer into the Brewers’ left-field bullpen.“I was able to leverage the count in my favor and was able to look for something up in the zone,” Murphy said. “I didn’t think it was going to get out of the ballpark.”Javier Baez followed with a single and his aggressive baserunning helped the Cubs extend their lead. He raced for third on a single by Anthony Rizzo, and when Cain’s throw from center field sailed, Baez scored and Rizzo went to third on a second error by shortstop Orlando Arcia. Ben Zobrist doubled to score Rizzo and give the Cubs a 3-0 lead.A soft RBI single by Willson Contreras capped the four-run rally.Jonathan Scoop’s bad-hop single drove home a run in the bottom of the inning, and the Brewers loaded the bases with two outs. Quintana induced Arcia to hit a pop fly to shortstop to escape the jam.Zobrist drove in his second run in the fifth with a two-out single, but Rizzo was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second base.Kyle Schwarber belted his 25th homer into the second deck in right field in the sixth to make it 6-1.Quintana allowed a leadoff single to Jesus Aguilar and a double to Ryan Braun in the sixth, but the Brewers managed just one run on a groundout by Schoop.“It was his best fastball of the year,” Maddon said. “He primarily could have pitched with his fastball today — it was that good.”The Brewers and Cubs will meet again in a three-game series at Wrigley Field next week.“It was a fun series,” Granderson said. “It’s definitely something both teams can look at and say, all right Daniel Castro Jersey , it’s going to be a fight to the end.”NOT MOVINGA funny moment came in the fourth after Baez singled. He never moved off the base while Chacin threw over to first twice.“They know I wanted to run,” Baez said. “Right before Rizzo stepped to the plate, I saw the catcher (Erik Kratz) and he wasn’t giving signs, so I knew (Chacin) was coming back (to first). Then after the first one, and he tried to act like he was giving signs. But I saw he was so fake about it, I just stayed there.”Baez scored moments later after Rizzo singled and Cain overthrew third base.TRAINER’S ROOMCubs: Schwarber injured his back and left the game after homering in the sixth. “Before he went up to hit he told me it was tight,” Maddon said. “But he may have taken his best swing of the year.” . RHP Brandon Morrow may be reaching the point of no return for the Cubs, and Maddon said he will have to use several relievers in the closer role the rest of the season. Morrow, who posted 22 saves as the closer before being injured, has been sidelined since July 18 with right biceps inflammation. He has yet to throw off a mound in his rehab. “We’d love to have him back, but even if he does come back, how do you utilize that?” Maddon said. “You just can’t push him two days in a row.”Brewers: Yelich was not in the starting lineup as the Brewers headed into the final stretch of the season. He singled as a pinch-hitter in the ninth to reach base in his 22nd straight game. “He needs a day off,” manager Craig Counsell said before the game. “Friday was a thought, but it just reached a point where it had to be today.” Yelich had not been out of the lineup since July 3.UP NEXTCubs: RHP Kyle Hendricks (11-10, 3.77 ERA) will open a four-game series in Washington on Thursday night.Brewers: RHP Chase Anderson (9-7, 3.96 ERA) starts a three-game series against the Giants on Friday at Miller Park.