NEW YORK -- As the Boston Red Sox continued to pile it on Monday night at Yankee Stadium in their historic 16-1 Game 3 ALDS rout, Yankees manager Aaron Boone schemed up an outside-the-box plan in the bottom of the eighth after rookie left-hander Stephen Tarpley had just taken a turn at taking some lumps.
Boone had used half of his eight-man bullpen to get through eight innings, and with Tarpley's pitch count up to 31, he needed one more pitcher for the ninth.
With an elimination game on the horizon the next night, Boone decided to keep his late-inning guys who hadn't pitched fresh .