2013 is a season for finding out what we've got. Sending the runner with 2 strikes and 1 out doesn't strike me as crazy strategy, trying to get a guy in scoring position for your good batter coming next - play for the tie at home, and all that jazz. You do need the right runner for it, as you point out. Bad track record for getting SB, but good speed, maybe the coaching staff thinks they can work on it with him. Fire Gardy for this, you probably fire most of the managers in the league at some point.