Is there some rule in baseball that says a team can only use their best setup men in the 7th or 8th inning? I wouldn't think so, but watching the Brewers blow yet another lead in the 6th inning last night at Colorado got me wondering.

Chris Capuano had a nice outing going through 5 innings. He had given up 3 hits and 3 walks, but no runs. With the Brewers up 3-0, I was beginning to feel optimistic. The Rockies' half of the 6th inning started with a Troy Tulowitzki solo home run, followed by three straight singles. At this point, it was 3-2 with runners on first and second, nobody out.

Am I the only one who thinks that this is potentially the most critical spot in the game, where you absolutely must get out of the inning without any further damage? Carlos Villanueva has been good most of the season, but has been our worst reliever over the past month. Why would you put your worst bullpen option in the game in such a critical situation? We have three hard-throwing short relievers who are paid to come in and put out fires. Why couldn't we put in Scott Linebrink or Derrick Turnbow to get out of this jam, and then let Villanueva try to work out of his funk against the bottom of the order in the 7th? Is this really the best we can do?

Every inning counts equally. Runs scored in the 9th don't count any more than runs scored in the 6th. Why, then, do we have to save our best pitchers for the later innings? Maybe we need to start sending relievers to the All-Star game based on the number of holds instead of the number of saves. Or even get rid of the save altogether. If Ned sends Turnbow out in the 6th, and he blows it, fine - we simply weren't good enough, and I can accept that. As it was, Ned didn't put out the best players that give us the best chance to win, and we lost.