Girardi Explains Why He Didn't Have Roberts Bunt in Today's Ninth Inning

After a lead-off single and a wild pitch, the Yankees looked to be in pretty good position in today's ninth inning.

Facing the Royals' Greg Holland, a closer known for his triple-digit fastball, the Bombers had the tying run in scoring position, with Brian Roberts, Mark Teixeira, and Brett Gardner due up.

At first thought, most would probably want to have the weak-hitting Roberts bunt to try to give Teixeira a chance for a routine sac fly, although Manager Joe Girardi didn't think so, instead letting Roberts swing.

Eventually, Roberts would unproductively fly out, followed shortly by a Tex groundout and a Gardner strikeout.

After the loss, Girardi explained to the New York Post's George A. King III why he let the .240-batting Roberts hit, claiming that since Holland's dominant it'd be tough to bunt off of him.

“You got a strikeout pitcher and also a guy who gets ground balls,’’ Girardi said. “It’s not an easy guy to bunt [off] throwing 97-98 if you ever tried it.’’

Despite that, you have to think that sacrificing in that situation would've been the smart thing to do, especially since the offense had struggled throughout the game.

Yes, doing so would have been kind of risky, but if it didn't work the result would've still been the same, something that, let's be honest, was likely to happen in the first place.