Where was Saito?

I know you don’t want to wear out your closer, but honestly, where was Takashi Saito in last night’s encouraging then deflating loss?

Saito pitched 2/3 of an inning in Friday night’s win, throwing all of seven pitches. Same for Thursday, 2/3 of an inning, seven pitches. That’s fewer pitches than he would throw just warming up to take the mound. Yet he was nowhere to be seen in the Dodgers bullpen last night. He could have thrown two innings if necessary.

Any manager knows that in a tie game at home, you don’t get to use your closer in a save situation. Any win will come in the last at-bat. So you use your bullpen backwards, throwing your strongest pitchers first and then the next-strongest after that, and so on, hoping you don’t have to get to Roberto Hernandez.

Then again, the way the Dodgers were hitting, having Saito throw an inning would merely have prolonged the agony.

Did we learn nothing from Eric Stults’ satisfying performance on Friday? Give the kids a chance. They can’t do any worse than the aging losers in the bullpen, and they might even provide a needed lift. Houlton or Hull instead of Hernandez is a no-brainer. And a whole lot cheaper for the skinflinty McCourts who can’t even pay Abreu the major league minimum while on the DL.

Today’s game will tell us a lot about this team. Do they rally from last night’s loss and continue their winning ways, or do they return to the form of the past two weeks? Brad Penny shows some cojones by going out on three days’ rest. Can the rest of the team follow his lead?