Did the New York Yankees Blow the Game?

Heading into yesterday's games, the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays were tied for the American League Wild Card. With the Red Sox up 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth and the Rays down 7-0 in the top of the eighth, the winner seemed pretty obvious. 

But then a late barrage of runs by the Rays and Jonathan Papelbon blowing the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth sent the Red Sox packing. Being a New York Yankees fan living in Boston, it didn't take long before I heard Sox fans talking about how the Yankees "totally blew it on purpose," with no mention of the 7-20 September record that saw the Sox lose the nine-game lead they had over Tampa Bay when they entered September. 

No doubt it will be the talk around the water cooler in the Boston area, which is completely ridiculous because it should be immediately obvious that the Yankees didn't blow the game. First, why would they? The Red Sox are clearly struggling to win right now, while the Rays are red hot. The Sox pitching staff has a September ERA of well over 5.50 and are battling several injuries. Which team would you rather face? 

Even ignoring the issue of general motivation, why would Yankees players intentionally play poorly? Specifically, why would Boone Logan or Luis Ayala, the two pitchers who gave up six runs to the Rays, pitch poorly even if management wanted them to? Both pitchers are free agents at the end of this season and want their numbers to look as good as possible to ensure they get big money in free agency. The Yankees really have nothing to threaten them with (are they really going to bench two of their most consistent relieves in the playoffs?). 

The biggest piece of "evidence" Sox fans have thrown out is that the Yankees using 11 pitchers in the game somehow indicates their intent to blow the game, even though the first seven pitchers didn't surrender any runs. The obvious answer is that this strategy conserves the Yankees' arms for the playoffs.

However, let's take a look at the Philadelphia Phillies game last night. Like the Yankees, the Phillies had nothing to play for—division and home-field advantage were already obtained. And, like the Yankees, the Phillies chose to use a lot of pitchers (nine) to spread out the work and save their collective strength. And they won. 

It's completely nonsensical to believe that the Yankees management and players would blow a game just over a vibrant but petty rivalry. But hey, with the Red Sox spending so much money nowadays, I guess the "the New York Yankees spend so much money, it's not fair!" excuse doesn't fly anymore, so this excuse will have to do. Whatever helps you sleep at night, Boston.