The Rundown: Girardi's All-In Shove

Anyone who's ever watched ESPN in the wee hours of the morning has seen reruns of the World Series of Poker, which the Worldwide Leader milks to the tune of 50 or so episodes every year. It's all tournament play, and the most exciting moments come when a player is low in chips and desperate and utters those two unforgettable words: All in.

It's usually a move for those low in chips (or, for the poker savants out there, for the big stacks who want to bully people with fewer chips). It's as high risk as it gets, because if it backfires, you're done.

It's not often done when you're ahead and have everything to lose. But with a 3-1 lead in the World Series, it's exactly what Joe Girardi did  .

Entering Monday's Game 5, the Yankee manager had two choices. He could stick with his pre-Series plan of a three-man rotation and throw A.J. Burnett on three days' rest (with Andy Pettitte and C.C. Sabathia slated for equally short rest in a possible Game 6 and 7). Or he could start the mediocre-but-consistent Chad Gaudin, who was 2-0 in six starts with the Yankees but hadn't started a game since Sept. 28.

Girardi chose Option A, and so far it has backfired. Burnett, often a head case on the mound, was awful in a series-clinching game on short rest, giving up six runs in 2+ dreadful innings. By the time he'd gotten an out in the first, the Phillies had three runs.

At this point, I'm going to forget Game 5 -- with Phillies' ace Cliff Lee going, the Yankees were not expected to win. But Girardi placed his team's championship hopes on three -- and now two -- very tired arms.

Girardi hasn't said anything, but we all know 37-year-old Andy Pettitte will go in Wednesday's Game 6 on three days' rest. For his career, Pettitte is just 5-7 with a 4.18 ERA on short rest, and most of those starts came before his mid-30s. The Phillies will throw Pedro Martinez on full rest, and if the Yankees' old nemesis duplicates his Game 2 numbers (six innings, three runs) expect the Phillies to win.

That would leave Game 7 for Sabathia, the Yanks' bulldog of an ace who is 1-0 this postseason on short rest (and would be 2-0 if not for Joba Chamberlain allowing a game-tying home run to light-hitting Pedro Feliz in Game 4). Whether Phillies' skipper Charlie Manuel throws unproven lefty J.A. Happ or 2009 postseason burnout/"Can't wait for it to end" Cole Hamels, the Yanks should have an advantage with Sabathia.

But every game is different. And Sabathia has now thrown a career-high 266.1 innings in 2009. And it would be an awfully long offseason for Girardi if the Phillies came back from the brink and won the series off the Yanks' weary arms.

NEW YORK GIANTS: Paging Michael Strahan. Paging Michael Strahan. The New York Giants are requesting your presence on the defensive line. And if you could get Lawrence Taylor and Sam Huff down here too, that would be great.

Actually, what the Giants' defense really needs is Jason Sehorn, circa 2000. Big Blue's secondary looks like a college team at this point, pointing fingers and waving arms at each other while opposing wideouts, running backs, waterboys and team mascots rack up receiving touchdowns in bunches.

The Giants have given up 122 points in their last three games -- all losses (you think?). In those games, opposing quarterbacks are 60-89 for 840 yards, eight touchdowns, one interception and a combined 122.9 quarterback rating. With safety Kenny Phillips out for the season and cornerback Aaron Ross well behind in rehabbing from a hamstring injury, the Giants are left with the likes of cornerback Kevin Dockery and safety C.C. Brown (who was the target of this recent gem from New York Times' writer Mike Tanier -- scroll to the third paragraph).

Barring injury, the next five quarterbacks the Giants will face are San Diego's Philip Rivers (over 2,000 yards passing in the first seven games); Atlanta's Matt Ryan (12 TDs); Denver's Kyle Orton (one INT all season); Dallas' Tony Romo (12 TDs); and Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb (four TDs against the Giants on Sunday). Wile E. Coyote had a better chance of success than the Giants' secondary has in the next month.

NEW YORK JETS: I can't figure these guys out. They have a shutdown defense and a killer running game, but they can't stop Mark Sanchez from throwing INTs. They're 1-0 against the Patriots but 0-3 against the Dolphins and Bills. They've allowed 16.8 points per game, fourth in the NFL, but they gave up three defensive/special teams touchdowns in one game and two in another. They're 4-4, but all the losses can be explained away. In one loss, they had the most rushing yards in defeat (318) since 1964. In another, they outgained their opponents 378-104 but allowed Ted Ginn to become the first player to return to kickoffs for touchdowns in the same quarter since 1967.

It makes my head hurt. Good thing Rex Ryan and his coaching staff have a bye week to sort it out.

NEW YORK KNICKS: The Knicks got their first win of the season Monday night, beating the New Orleans Hornets 117-111, so we'll put them ahead of the Rangers for one week (and one week only). Among other positives: Danilo Gallinari is off to a sizzling start, um, David Lee is still on the team, ummmmm.... did I mention Gallinari's hot start?

NEW YORK RANGERS: After two losses in a row, the Rangers basically got on the backs of their two stars and went for a ride Monday. Marian Gaborik, in his first game back from injury, has his 11th goal of the season, and Henrik Lundqvist had 29 saves in a 1-0 win over the Bruins. That'll only work for so long.