I'm quickly getting to the point where I agree Gibbons needs to go.
As was already mentioned, why do you bring up a washed up bum like Benetiz in a high pressure situation instead of the better pitcher in Carlson (who didn't pitch yesterday). Downs probably should've been brought in too, but he pitched yesterday so that could've been an issue.
My biggest beef is pinch hitting Stairs for Eckstein and not Stewart. First of all, why the hell is Shannon Stewart even in the majors, let alone leading off? Eckstein has better numbers in every hitting catagory, both traditional and sabermetric. In spite of that, look at how the game progressed. Stewart was his typical pathetic self with an 0-4 night up to that point. Eckstein was 1-2 (2B) with a walk, sac fly, and his only counted out was about 3 feet short of a homer. Eckstein's been hot lately and Stewart is 1 for his last 25. So, the summarize: you pinch hit for the better overall, hotter, and the hitter having the best night to let Stewart and his .631 OPS (from a freakin' corner outfield position) ground-out to pitcher. I guarantee if Eckstein is at the dish he at the very least grounds out to short and brings him the tying run.
It's time to hit the waiver wire again because Stewart's career is over.
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