I don't bleed blue and gold, but...

...that loss to the Houston Astros in 10 innings killed last night.

I'm not going to claim that I am a baseball expert. I don't really understand what VORP is -- nor do I really care -- and a lot of the minutiae of the game is completely lost on me. I've only followed the Brewers closely this past year because they were competitive for once, so perhaps my opinion is invalid.

There has been a lot of Ned Yost hate going on around the internet lately, what with his mismanagement of the bullpen in tight games. I understand some of it. For one thing, this is the internet and that means there will always be someone, somewhere to bitch and nitpick about every little move he makes. Secondly, there have been some decisions that were definitely questionable. When I start picking up on those decisions, you know there's something wrong.

But this isn't going to be a "trash Yost" post (heh, that rhymed). I don't believe, as talented as this team is, that they got off to a 24-10 start despite him. He's gotten them where they are today -- which is better than they've been in 15 years -- even with his occasional screw-ups. And I say "occasional" because a lot of baseball decisions are "woulda-coulda-shoulda" in hindsight. Yeah, Yost coulda pinch-ran (run? what's the proper verbiage there?) for Bush at 3rd when he knew he was pulling him anyway, but there's no guarantee that the runner scores. That's just one example -- a small sample size to be sure -- but I think it's indicative of the types of things fans nitpick on. They're not any better than Yost is at gambling with the game on the line.

So, what about winning with your best guys? Isn't that a baseball manager's job? I'd like to think it is. Trouble is, sometimes you get burned with your best, sometimes you don't. A loss is a loss either way, so when Ned doesn't have the best guys out there, what's the difference? I realize that makes Yost sound like a horrible manager (and that I sound like I don't give a shit) that doesn't care about his team. Maybe on some nights he does give that impression. But to imply that if we had Lou Piniella or Joe Torre or someone of that caliber would guarantee a win in those close games is nieve, don't you think?

This is why I don't blame Ned Yost completely for last night's breakdown. The Brewers themselves shoulder the blame here. What about that bases loaded situation in the first inning? They pissed it away. How about the aforementioned Bush-on-third situation in the 6th? Dillon got him over there with a double... and the Brewers didn't bring anyone yet again. Those two things, if executed properly, would have made a shaky bullpen irrelevant. (figure three runs in those two situations with Rickie's shot in the 9th, and it's 7-4, not tied up)

Of course, none of those things happened, and the game was left up to the shaky bullpen. Linebrink almost got out of the 7th unscathed (which would have setup Turnbow comfortably in the 8th), but this isn't horseshoes or hand grenades. Shouse and Turnbow couldn't get it done either. Then, in the 9th, Ned Yost channeled Kenny Rogers and gambled on Chris Spurling and Mitch Stetter. After the inning was done and the score still tied, I decided I wanted to go to Potowatomi and have Ned with me at the blackjack table. There was no way I could lose then.

What happened here on both offense and with the pitching was that for the most part, the players didn't step up when they needed to. The whole point would be moot if the Brewers squeaked out a victory somehow... but then Yost had to go and put in Matt Wise in the bottom of the 10th, facing both Carlos Lee and Lance Berkman. Yeah, the same Matt Wise that nailed a guy in the face and hasn't been the same since. Even the staunchest of Ned defenders should know that was a dumb choice.

All is not lost for the Brew Crew though. Those guys have a way of bouncing back from tough losses. Plus, the Cubs are chokers of the finest order. If the starting pitching goes as well as it has lately (with the exception of Ben "Glass Joe" Sheets), I think they'll be all right. That is, unless they get into another situation against the Braves or Padres like they did last night.