At the same time, the pitching formula that has worked so successfully -- a dependable starter lasting deep into the game and Mariano Rivera finishing up -- has largely broken down in the face of age and injuries.
Signed as a dependable middle-of-the-rotation starter, Trachsel has mostly done that, pitching at least five innings in each of his seven starts and allowing more than three earned runs only twice.
Tugging at his uniform pants or jersey, blowing into his left hand on a muggy 85-degree night and working both sides of the plate efficiently, the left-hander Neagle pitched eight dependable innings in beating Curt Schilling and making his first day on the job one to savor.
Lacking the dependable late-inning options they had the last couple of postseasons, the Dodgers anticipated being more dependent on their starters, with manager Dave Roberts acknowledging he was more open to pitching them deeper into games.
"Pitching, pitching, pitching," Cashman said.
Go go go, pitching, pitching, pitching.
Since the last game Antonio Osuna pitched, on June 13, the Yankees have had no dependable right-handed setup man.
Now 32, Buehrle has been a Cellular Field fixture since 2000, as dependable as your grandpa's Buick while leading all of baseball in innings pitched and not missing a start since his first one on July 17 of that year.
Besides, Zambrano can pitch in the No. 5 spot behind Johnson, Ricky Nolasco, the ever-dependable Mark Buehrle and the underrated Anibal Sanchez, who somehow managed only eight victories last season despite a 3.67 E.R.A. and 202 strikeouts.
Two previous times in the past two seasons, Leiter has pitched well enough to earn playoff victories only to see the Mets' usually dependable bullpen waste them.
