I didn’t get to watch much of last night’s game. By the time I got home, Jim Edmonds was just singling home Scott Rolen in the fifth to give the Cards a 5-1 lead. The Padres had their chances to get back into the game and managed to cut the defecit to 5-3 thanks to the hitting of Brian Giles, Khalil Greene, and Ramon Hernandez, and the yeoman performance by Blaine Neal.

Then came the bottom of the seventh. Scott Linebrink had been warming up in the ‘pen, but because the Padres didn’t have a lead, rookie Steve Watkins got the call. No disrespect to Watkins, but the results were predictable. Back-to-back homers to start the inning. Cards up, 7-3. Game over.

From the U-T:

Bochy defended his choice of Watkins, saying that he chose against his well-rested setup relievers Scott Linebrink and Akinori Otsuka because the Padres trailed… "Two runs down, there’s no thought (of deploying Linebrink or Otsuka)," Bochy said.

I have two questions that maybe someone out there can answer for me:

1. Why would there be no thought of bringing in one of your top relievers late in a tight game of importance?
2. Is keeping your top relievers out of tight games of importance necessarily the most effective strategy in winning said games?

This isn’t the first time Bochy has brought in a less experienced guy over one of his horses in a tight situation. Back in May he chose Dennis Tankersley over Jay Witasick in a game at Philly. (Interestingly, I made the comment then that "I can understand not bringing in Linebrink or Otsuka because you don’t have the lead," which raises the additional question of whether a game in August should be handled differently from a game in May.)

I have no answers here. My hope now is that the good Adam Eaton shows up tonight and gives Bochy the opportunity to use his best relievers. Otherwise they might be rusty by the time Jake Peavy’s start comes up Thursday.