The Philadelphia Phillies used Brett Myers in the 8th inning of a 1-0 game. Given Tom Gordon pitched the night before( and I am looking for reasons beyond the 6-SPs excuse), I thought this would be a perfect way to silence critics by having Myers pitch the 9th for a two-inning save.
If Myers was capable of being a Goose Gossage-like closer, then this move would begin to look smarter than the near-consensus believes. Myers would be used to preserve Gordon and also pitch important innings.
Unfortunately, Philliess manager Charlie Manuel didn't see it that way and brought Gordon in to pitch the 9th. He allowed a HR in the 9th to Scott Hatteberg and then another run in the 10th to take the loss.
There is little doubt that being a Phillies fan right now su... is unpleasant as does owning Brett Myers in fantasy leagues. However, there may be a silver lining.
If the Phillies manage to have a lead late in tomorrow's game, there is a chance that Brett Myers will get the call to close the game because Gordon has pitched back-to-back games with the second one being a multi-inning one.
If the Charlie Manuel calls on someone else to close, though, he will be even shorter for the job than I thought (May 9th).