Decision to start Marcum doesn't work out

MILWAUKEE

The best baseball franchises operate with one eye on the present and the other on the future, walking that tightrope between the one-year plan and the five-year plan.

At least, that's the way they operate from the start of spring training through the end of the regular season. But when October arrives, the rules change for the eight teams still around. Those who don't step off the tightrope and narrow their focus likely will stumble in embarrassing fashion.

So the Brewers, facing elimination, found themselves in an early hole Sunday night in NLCS Game 6 at Miller Park. They started the struggling Shaun Marcum because, it seemed, it was his turn -- and they didn't want to push their best starting pitcher, Yovani Gallardo, to go on three days' rest.

Marcum continued his horrible postseason, allowing four runs in just one inning, leaving the Brewers with plenty of time to contemplate that maneuver unless they could mount a serious comeback.

"I feel really good about this decision," manager Ron Roenicke said before the game. "Whether he pitches well tonight or whether he gets hit a little bit, this is the right decision. For this ballclub, it's the right decision. And I've had many conversations with a lot of people in this organization that have been with us all year. This is definitely the right decision."

Eh. Marcum finished an overall solid regular season, his first with the Brewers, with three bad outings in his last four starts, giving him a September ERA of 5.17. He lost his NLDS Game 3 start against Arizona and his NLCS Game 2 start against the Cardinals, recording a 12.46 ERA in 82/3 innings.

To go to him again with the season on the line should have reflected the team's confidence in Marcum and his body of work. Instead, what seemed to occur was that the Brewers appeared too concerned about going to Gallardo -- who, to be fair, didn't pitch very well in NLCS Game 3 -- on short rest because he had never done so before.

But why let that stop you in such a desperate time? The Brewers believed that Marcum's problems stemmed from confidence issues in this, the first postseason of his career. Pitching to save his team didn't give him any greater resolve, however.

The Brewers' other option to start, lefty Chris Narveson, relieved Marcum to start the second and gave up five runs in 12/3 innings. So much for those who advocated having Narveson get the start over Marcum. Or it could be that sometimes you're stuck with a series of bad choices, none likely to succeed.

Nevertheless, the Brewers' mistaken caution stood as a stark contrast with Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who has enhanced his slam-dunk entry to the Hall of Fame with another spectacular postseason. This time his specialty has been lifting his starting pitchers quickly. He pinch hit for Game 2 starter Edwin Jackson in the top of the third, continuing a series-long streak of not allowing a starter to get into the sixth.

"In the starters' case, I think it's real clear to them that the pitching coach, the manager, we have their back," La Russa said before Game 6. "And the only thing that changes is the immediacy, and there's no reason to save anything for later, because there may not be a later."

Should Joe Girardi have changed his lineup during the Yankees' ALDS loss to Detroit, even if it meant upsetting Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira or Nick Swisher? Probably, yeah. October is no time to worry about hurt feelings.

The worst hurt of all, remember, comes from losing the game. Not losing face.