More than a few postseason managers have played their chips the way they did throughout the regular season.

Even if a regular or key reliever isn’t getting it done, a manager often sticks with the struggling regular or keeps calling on a certain reliever for a certain inning with playoff games on the line. Staying with what worked all season is the easiest way to ward off second-guessing at playoff time.

That doesn't appear to be Joe Maddon's style. To close out the ALCS and split a pair of games with Philadelphia in the World Series, the Tampa Bay manager has played the hot hand.

That’s been 24-year-old rookie David Price, the left-hander drafted first overall out of Vanderbilt barely more than 16 months ago. The 6-foot-6 phenom had worked just 14 big league innings and didn’t pitch out of the pen as a pro until mid-September, yet closed out the Rays’ 3-1 win over Boston in Game 7 of the ALCS and Thursday’s 4-2 victory over the Phillies in Game 2 of the World Series.

Price picked up his first major league save when the Rays bounced the defending World Series champions in Sunday’s Game 7. He entered with two outs in the eighth inning, the bases full and Tampa Bay protecting a 4-0 lead. The (big) kid struck out J.D. Drew to end the threat.

After recording the final four outs against Boston, Price nailed down the final seven outs Thursday. It seemed unlikely the rookie would finish the game, but Maddon stayed with Price in the ninth, and he struck out Chase Utley and induced a grounder from Ryan Howard to end the game.

When Price has thrown first pitch strikes in his 18.2 major league innings -- that's regular-season and postseason innings -- those hitters have rarely succeeded.

Price After a First-Pitch Strike — 2008
(regular & postseason)

Opp BA. . . . . . . . .086 (3/35)
Opp OBP. . . . . . . .195
Opp SLG. . . . . . . .200
Strikeouts. . . . . . . .15
Walks. . . . . . . . . . . .4
HR Allowed. . . . . . . .1

Calling on a rookie still comes with risk. Trouble in the ninth inning Thursday could have put the Rays in a 2-0 hole in the Series, and that would have subjected Maddon to rabid second-guessing for abandoning what worked for six months.

Pitching critical postseason innings is a lot to expect of inexperienced talent, but Maddon has made it clear that he believes Price has both the poise and ability to handle big-game situations.

“You feel pretty comfortable when he goes out there under those circumstances,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said after Game 2. Talk about having the confidence of your manager.

Meanwhile, the reliever who led the Rays in saves during the second half, Dan Wheeler, entered Game 2 in the sixth inning, taking over for starter James Shields. In Wheeler’s last four appearances, he has come in in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings -- and the ninth-inning stint was to get the last out with the Rays losing 3-2 to the Phillies in Game 1.

How strange was it that Wheeler entered the game in the sixth inning Thursday? He had come into a game in the sixth only once since the All-Star break -- and that was the last day of the regular season, when pitchers were simply getting some work to prepare for the playoffs. Wheeler also came on with two outs in the seventh inning of ALCS Game 5, when the Rays pen blew a 7-0 lead. The last time he had entered during a seventh inning was Aug. 5.

At the same time, Grant Balfour, who had a terrific regular season and pitched more than his share of big innings, has hardly been seen in key situations in recent games. The hard-throwing right-hander has struggled with location, and Price has taken over his innings.

Not doing the predictable has been the Maddon way offensively, as well. Calling on Jason Bartlett to execute a safety squeeze in Game 2 wasn’t completely out of character, but with Rays senior citizen Cliff Floyd stationed at third, how about calling it a second time and having Bartlett work it to perfection? Despite his bad knees, Floyd lumbered home easily to give the Rays 4-0 lead.

Most of Maddon’s decisions have worked for the Rays. Call it intuition, luck, winging it, flying by the seat of his pants, thinking outside the box, whatever you like. The guy has had the guts to make atypical game-changing decisions, and he doesn’t look too bad making them with that Mohawk tail sticking out from under the back of his Rays cap.