Predictably, Randy Dobnak's story ended in tears. Blame Rocco Baldelli

Seven months ago, Randy Dobnak was driving for Uber, saving money in preparation for a season of unlivable wages in the High-A Florida State League. Still seemingly light years away from the big leagues, the financial windfall that accompanies a promotion to the majors never crossed his mind.

A month into his stint with the Fort Myers Miracle, though, the resilient 24-year-old - an Alderson-Broaddus College alumnus who signed with the Minnesota Twins in 2017 as an undrafted free agent following a stint in independent ball - got promoted to Double-A. Then, four weeks later, Dobnak was promoted again. Finally, in August, after dominating at every minor-league level he pitched at in 2019, Dobnak's incredible journey culminated with a call-up. He had made it. He pitched well, too, managing a 1.59 ERA with a 1.13 WHIP over five starts and four relief appearances.

None of those juicy narrative strands, however, qualified him to start what was effectively a must-win Game 2 of the ALDS on Saturday against the New York Yankees, whose insatiable, homer-happy offense dropped a 10 spot in their series-opening victory over Minnesota - and ace Jose Berrios - the night prior.

His improbable success notwithstanding, Randy Dobnak is still Randy Dobnak - a no-pedigree sinkerballer with underwhelming stuff and less than a month of big-league service time - and the New York Yankees are, well, the New York Yankees. They finished second in the majors (behind only the Twins, as it happens) in home runs. They finished fourth in on-base percentage. They finished third in slugging percentage. They mash.

Yet, with the Twins desperately needing a victory to keep their chances in the best-of-five series off life support, manager Rocco Baldelli opted to start the kid for Game 2 in the Bronx over Jake Odorizzi, the veteran right-hander who earned his first career All-Star appearance earlier this year. It was the wrong call. Dobnak didn't last long.

Predictably, the Yankees' patient-and-powerful lineup pounded Dobnak, who found himself in a 1-0 deficit four batters in and survived the first two innings by virtue of a couple of timely double-play balls. And when the Yankees' best hitters got to face him for a second time, in the bottom of the third, Dobnak had no recourse: Aaron Judge singled to right field to lead off the inning, Brett Gardner walked on five pitches, then Edwin Encarnacion laced a single to left to load the bases.

At that point, Baldelli went to the bullpen, entrusting Tyler Duffey with a bases-loaded, no-out situation. Within a few minutes, the Yankees led 8-0. Dobnak was charged with four of those runs. Frankly, given that he allowed eight baserunners - and a boatload of hard contact - over two-plus innings, his final line could've looked much uglier.

In any event, the Twins - down 2-0 in the series after Saturday's 8-2 defeat - will now head back to Minnesota needing a miracle to advance to the American League Championship Series, and Dobnak gets to have this be the most enduring memory of his remarkable season. It's not right. And it's on Baldelli.

Everything, after all, was conspiring against Dobnak. He faced overwhelmingly bad offenses following his promotion - seven of his nine regular-season appearances came against the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, and Kansas City Royals - and yet was tasked with neutralizing the game's second-best lineup on the road, with his team down 1-0 in the series, in his postseason debut. That's simply an unfair burden to place on a rookie, even one who induces ground balls as effectively as Dobnak.

"It's also a stadium where you probably want to keep the ball down as best you can," Baldelli explained pregame. "Dobnak hasn't pitched in the big leagues for long, but he keeps the ball down and on the ground probably as well as almost any pitcher in the big leagues, I think. So that's definitely a factor."

Here's the thing, though: Do you really want to invite contact against this lineup, in this stadium, with this baseball? After all, when the Yankees put the ball in play this year, they produced a weighted on-base average of .422, according to Baseball Savant, with an expected weighted on-base average of .402. Those marks ranked first and second in the majors, respectively. Any pitcher who doesn't miss bats is virtually helpless against the Yankees, and Dobnak - who notched 132 strikeouts over 161 1/3 cumulative innings in 2019 - doesn't.

Odorizzi, on the other hand, does. Armed with some extra giddyup on his fastball, which averaged 93 mph this year, Odorizzi authored the finest season of his eight-year career, setting new personal bests in ERA+ (136), FIP (3.36), and, of course, strikeout rate (27.1 percent). Moreover, the 29-year-old absolutely showed up down the stretch, crafting a 2.89 ERA while fanning 70 batters and allowing just two home runs over his final 10 regular-season starts. He's just a better pitcher than Dobnak, ultimately, and he should've started Game 2.

Obviously, the Twins weren't going to make it through the series without using Dobnak at all. They were clearly intent, amid the struggles of Kyle Gibson and Martin Perez, to have him start. And that's understandable. But Baldelli was remiss not to call an audible and go with Odorizzi in Game 2 after his club's loss in the series opener. A victory would've allowed Dobnak to make his first playoff start under much more favorable circumstances in Game 3 - at home and without the crippling must-win pressure - while a loss would've taken the pressure off completely.

And again, beyond the potential psychological benefits to starting Dobnak in Game 3, Odorizzi is just a superior pitcher, and in a best-of-five series, your best pitchers should pitch as much as possible - just ask the Washington Nationals. Were Odorizzi to pitch in a potential Game 5 now, after all, he'd be working on only two days rest. That's suboptimal. But it's also, in all likelihood, moot.

Facing a 2-0 series deficit with a matchup against Luis Severino looming, the Twins' season is all but finished.

Call the Uber.

Jonah Birenbaum is theScore's senior MLB writer. He steams a good ham. You can find him on Twitter @birenball.