Re: taking out johan in the ninth
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He had retired 15 of the last 16 batters and was on a roll.
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The last batter in the 8th crushed a ball to the wall in DEAD center. Only a Torii Hunter-like catch by Lew Ford saved him from a 2B or possible HR. It looks like they are saving that catch for WebGems, so I'm not sure if it would have been out or not. Santana only gave up 3 hits, but he wasn't as dominating as he can be, they did hit some balls hard.
The decision to leave him in has very little to do with pitch counts. It has to do with the fact that a lot of dangerous righties are due up in a 1 run game including one that has 32 HR and hit one last week off Johan.
Pitch counts are overrated.
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