What the Hell?

We've been harping on Ken Macha's misuse of the bullpen for some time.

Last night should give you an indication that we might be right.

Hindsight being 20/20 and all, sure.

But, we've been saying this for weeks.

Last night Barry Zito went out to pitch the bottom of the 8th. Fine. No Worries.

Zito's pitch count was in the mid 90's and if he didn't fall behind a hitter or two he could get out of the 8th in less than 110 pitches.

Well, after Doug Mientkiewicz grounded out to second on two pitches things seemed fine.

Dustan Mohr doubled on the fourth pitch of his at-bat with one out.

Okay, Ken. That's enough. The tying run is at the plate and Zito has seen enough. Call it a day. Send him to the showers.

Zito plunked A.J. Pierzynski.

Okay, that's good. He signaled he wanted out by hitting a batter. Go get him.

Luis Rivas is not going to hit, so you might as well go to the mound and bring in Keith Foulke for the 5 out save or Chad Bradford for the one pitch double play.

Okay, Ken is going to wait until Bobby Kielty is announced, then he'll make the change.

Okay, Ken is asleep or he's drunk.

There's no excuse for leaving Zito in the game.

Zito is a flyball pitcher and with two runners on and only one out, a flyball in the gap scores the tying run. A groundball gets you one and maybe two.

Kielty battled Zito and narrowly misses a 3 run job by less than a telephone pole.

Hey, why not pitch around Kielty, load the bases and bring in a reliever Ken?

You've got the top of the order to deal with and you'd better not risk this game when your team has already fought back to take the lead.

Oh, okay, you're going to pitch to Kielty and have him hit a three run homer that will go down in Twins lore and possibly cost Barry Zito the Cy Young in a few months.

Way to go Ken.

In the top of the ninth, Ramon Hernandez and Mark Ellis battled in their at-bats for a combined 13 pitches before each struck out swinging.

Terrence Long came along and swung at the first pitch, fouling out to third.

If this wasn't the worst way to start a road trip, write us your entries for worse. We'll post them and discuss.

Should Ken Macha be worried about his job?

Maybe.

He was supposed to have a better idea what was going on with his team.

He sure doesn't seem to.

Eric Chavez is now 5 for 56 against lefthanders this season (.086). That's the worst batting average against lefties of any regular in MLB. His batting average is below .250 and his OBP is .332. This is a guy who was supposed to be an MVP candidate and who Macha called the most talented player he's seen in 30 years.

Chavez is talented, but has a tendency to get himself out. He's often remarked early in the season that he has no clue at the plate.

Somebody fetch a clue and get this guy some help.

Either that, or Ken should quit putting him in the number three spot against lefties. Both Eric Byrnes and Scott Hatteberg had two hits last night and Chavez ponied up a big 0 for 4.

Chavez needs an overhaul and Ken Macha should be getting down and dirty to help.