Through the first four games of the World Series, Yankees manager Joe Girardi looked like a brilliant tactician.

Girardi opted to go with a three-man starting rotation for the Series, and when Johnny Damon and the Yankees ran off with a ninth-inning win in Game 4 after Joba Chamberlain blew the lead in the eighth, the strategy brought the Pinstripes within a game of their 27th championship and first in nine years.