The rap on Girardi: Too smart for his own good?

NEW YORK — If the knock against Yankees manager Joe Girardi is that he's been overmanaging his way through his first postseason, well, let's put it this way: At least he's got plenty of help.

Girardi has enough computer programs to make stat geeks envious and the best scouting department money can buy. A binder chock-full with matchups and color-coded charts is never more than an arm's reach away. The temptation to do something with all that information is strong, but never stronger than when your team just dropped the World Series opener at home.

So, naturally, Girardi took the bait — but not in the way everybody expected. That's why New York heads to Philadelphia tied at a game apiece — because of their manager's hunches for once, rather than in spite of them.

Girardi was asked about two of those moves late Thursday night, not long after the Yankees beat Philadelphia 3-1. The first had to do with Derek Jeter's decision to bunt with two strikes, runners on first and second and nobody out. He fouled out, killing a potential rally. Turns out Girardi had nothing to do with it, but he was not about to throw the guy who did under the bus.

"It was on his own," Girardi said, but added a moment later, "Derek Jeter is a very smart baseball man. If he feels he can do the job in that situation, I'm not going to bark at him."

The second was calling for the hit-and-run earlier that same inning, after Jerry Hairston Jr. — another hunch; more on that later — led off with a single from tiring Philly starter Pedro Martinez. Girardi set Hairston in motion with plenty of time to reach third when Melky Cabrera singled behind him. Then he sent Jorge Posada in to pinch-hit for Jose Molina — more on that in a moment, too — and a third consecutive single produced New York's third run.

But all Girardi would say about that move was, "I don't really like to talk too much about strategy."

Not in public, anyway, since besides the 25 guys and the handful of coaches in his locker room, he's not likely to find a sympathetic audience.

"People are going to say something. I don't pay attention to that and I know Joe," closer Mariano Rivera said, "he doesn't pay attention to it."