I’m angry. Very angry. That’s just as a general baseball fan. If I was a Rays fan, I would be furious.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. I lost sight of baseball for a while, but I got back into it this postseason. I wasn’t planning on writing about this game or series, but I was so angry and baffled tonight that writing on here was the best release I could think of.

So let’s get into this:

It’s the World Series, and the Dodgers are leading the series 3-2 over the Rays. Blake Snell is starting for the Rays, Gonsolin for the Dodgers. Gonsolin gives up a home run to Randy Arozarena in the top of the first to give the Rays a 1-0 lead.

Enter Snell. Snell is on fire. As a baseball fan, I love seeing a dominant pitcher in the postseason, and it’s especially impressive seeing one shut down a formidable lineup. Snell was doing it. I’ve been watching this series as well as the Rays’ last one where they ousted the Astros after 7 games, but I can’t think of a more dominant start, by either side.

Through 5 innings, Snell had allowed 1 hit, no walks, and had 9 strikeouts. It’s not just the numbers though. His stuff looked filthy. Up to this point, I had never seen the Dodgers strike out like this, and their swings on the strikeouts even looked bad. I’m loving every minute of watching this. As I said before, nothing beats watching an ace go out and own the mound in a 0-0 or 1-0 game. After 5 innings, I was starting to get excited of the thought of Snell getting through 8 or maybe even a complete game! Yeah, I know – this isn’t how baseball is played anymore. Pitchers don’t go that long. 6 innings is a long outing now. But to see a guy this dominant…I couldn’t imagine him being pulled anytime soon. He wasn’t perfect, but he was damn close. He was being extremely efficient with his pitches.

There was one point I remember specifically where he bounced a curveball when the hitter had 2 strikes. He gave a big hop up and down afterwards. I love that. To me that says he’s locked in, he believes in his stuff, he’s got energy, and the passion is there. That says he’s thinking “if I throw that pitch a little higher, that’s another strikeout.”

So top of the 6th comes. Snell gets the first hitter out. Then the number 9 hitter, Barnes, gets a soft single up the middle off Snell. Kevin Cash, the Ray’s manager, walks from the dugout for the ball. He did it. He pulled Snell. I was in shock. I was pissed. He left with 73 pitches thrown and 2 hits, 0 walks given up through 5 and 1/3 innings. And Snell was pissed, they showed his reaction when he saw Cash walking towards him, and there were some profanities thrown out there. Don’t blame him. The top of the order was up, Betts leading off. But Betts had 2 strikeouts versus Snell AND Betts was hitting worse off lefties than righties for the year. Who’d they bring in? Anderson, a righty. The first 4 hitters for the Dodgers were 0 for 8 with 7 strikeouts versus Snell.

Nick Anderson, the new pitcher for the Rays, gives up a double to the first batter he faces. Men on second and third now for the Dodgers. Then he threw a slider that missed badly and beat the catcher, and the Dodgers scored their first run. Dodgers now have Mookie Betts on third. The batter grounds to first, and Betts with his speed is able to score and Dodgers lead 2-1. And they never looked back. Turner for the Dodgers almost hit a 2-run homer the next at-bat. At that point I was so mad at Cash that I wanted to see them hit a homer. But it was caught at the warning track.

The Dodgers won the game 3-1 and in turn, the series 4 games to 2. I’m not saying if Snell pitched longer tonight that the Rays would have won the Series or even the game. But what I am saying is that was a bad move, a very bad move. I have no idea how you take Snell out in that scenario. It’s like me and Cash were watching 2 different games. And I think there’s got to be some leeway to let your guys play by what you see. The “numbers” or the “matchups” don’t always tell the whole story. This was overmanagment, and man it left a bad taste in my mouth. I was ready to see 8 innings, no runs by Snell. You know, pitchers are capable of that. At least they used to be, before managers pulled them.