Ned makes his mistakes but is a fairly decent manager. He blew last game, by not warming up Medlin early, allowing Cueto to get killed even more. Cueto had 40+ pitches after two innings and clearly wasn't on (the Jays were doing a great job of fouling off a ton of pitches. He then proceeds in the third to give up a single, walks a guy on 4 pitches, and then gives up the bomb. Worse decision of the series by far. I think he was thinking way too much about being up 2-0, but that is no excuse. The Royals were hitting well last night and if they could have kept it close after the 3rd inning, who knows....
However, Escobar leading off works. The statistics don't play out like the stat geeks want, but the Royals, somehow, win with him leading off. As of right now, Escobar could very well be the MVP of the series if the Royals are able to win the series. He is 8 for 14 with 6 runs scored and 2 RBIs. If the Royals hold on today, Ned is 17-7 in the playoffs in the last two years