Going into the 8th, Volquez had retired 13 straight, and resting the pen should be a super high priority for Ned, so I'm fine with him out there.
After that, its flukey. The ball that stayed fair on that swinging bunt, was just luck. Escobar not fielding the ball hit to him when the infield was in, was just a fluke, and then Hos throws home and we can't get the tag down. Its baseball, innings like that happen.
At some point we were going to lose after leading late.
1) I don't want to overuse the Pen, but we will have more pitchers on the roster here in less than 3 weeks, so that can help rest the Pen then
2) I agree with Sys that it's puzzling they just sat Young as long as they did with no action. At the same time, Medlen has only thrown twice in last 2 weeks.
3) we need to keep 1 of those 2 available so if mid relief is needed, we have 1 of them.... But you can mix an outing in that's shorter for Med/Young every now and then.
4) he could have used Herrera/Holly last night. That would have been only the 4th inning in last 16 days for Holly, so he is not being overused. 4 other relievers would have had at least 3 days off. Plus I heard Wade should be available for this upcoming series vs LA.
5) bottom line...IMO... We could have thrown H-H and been totally fine. Herrera would have been the only guy that I would have said was "unavailable" for today then
I had no issue with Volqy starting the 8th. But the past 2 years, Volqy when facing a lineup for the 4th time, has now given up a .467 Ave and .543 OnBase. So he needs to be on short leash. After the single or the Single/4 pitch walk, he should have been pulled. Never should have faced Iglesias and Kinsler a 4th time in that spot