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ANOTHER BUD BLACK BLUNDER by Jason Martinez posted 6/14/08 Maybe I've been too hard on the skipper during this frustrating season but I'm still not sure we're both watching the same game. Yes, there was a long rain delay, forcing starter Josh Banks to warm up, pitch to three batters, sit for nearly three hours, and warm up again. But he had thrown just 81 pitches when he was removed from the game. After giving up a cheap, wind-blown home run to Indians catcher Kelly Shoppach in the third inning, he had retired nine out of 10, including eight batters in a row. And those eight outs weren't hit the least bit hard. Watching the game, I got the sense that Banks had found his groove after a shaky start. You didn't get that sense, Bud? I thought Banks was cruising along. He could easily go six innings, maybe even seven. But I guess you were thinking that Cla Meredith, owner of a 6.56 ERA over his last 11 games, could do a better job in the 6th inning. Well, you thought wrong. And you can now make that a 7.52 ERA over Meredith's last 12 games. And the Padres are now a game further out of the NL West race. Thanks a lot. I could be wrong here. Banks might have been tiring. But he didn't look tired. He appeared to be getting stronger. On the other hand, he had first warmed up over five hours earlier. But so did Cleveland starter Jeremy Sowers. And he threw 94 pitches and was removed only because he was getting hammered. Sorry, I just can't justify taking Banks out of the game, at that point, especially for a stuggling reliever like Meredith. Bad call, Bud. |