Cardinals' Matheny on using Wacha in the 9th: 'I put him in a tough place ... that's on me'
With the St. Louis Cardinals' season on the line in the ninth inning of Game 5, manager Mike Matheny elected to go with Michael Wacha over closer Trevor Rosenthal.
"We can't bring (Rosenthal) in, in a tie-game situation," Matheny said after the game. "We're on the road."
Matheny's decision likely had a hand in sending the Cardinals home, after Travis Ishikawa's three-run homer off Wacha broke a 3-3 tie and the San Francisco Giants advanced to their third World Series since 2010.
Wacha, pitching for the first time in 20 days, struggled in his return to the mound. The right-hander issued a hit, walk and six straight balls before Ishikawa's blast ended the Cardinals' season.
"I put him in a tough place without giving him much work lately. That's on me," Matheny said, according to MLB.com. "He's a star. I can't wait to watch him pitch again when he's healthy and watch over a full season what he's going to do."
Wacha earned MVP honors as a rookie in last year's NL Championship Series, and pitched well this season before a shoulder injury in June cost him nearly three months of the year.
"I can imagine a lot of people are going to second-guess how he was used and why," admitted Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak. "But this guy, what he's shown and what he's done in the past, he wanted this opportunity. Unfortunately, it just didn't work out for him."
Wacha spoke about his inability to throw strikes, but insisted he felt good.
"I felt just as strong as I did last season," the 23-year-old said. "Coming back from that injury, they gave me plenty of time, and I came back and my arm's been feeling great and my body's been feeling great. I was ready to pitch."
Matheny said he preferred the hard-throwing Wacha against Ishikawa rather than a left-handed pitcher because he believed the latter would have forced the Giants to the bench for a pinch-hitter, resulting in a less desirable matchup for St. Louis.
It worked out just fine for the Giants, and Cardinals fans now have an entire offseason to second-guess Matheny's strategy.