Piniella Did Not Lose the Game by Replacing Zambrano With Marmol

In 100% agreement here, so I guess we can start our own little group thinktank.

I guess two things are easy to forget: 1) just how awesome Marmol has been this year, and 2) how 24 hours ago everyone would have been thrilled to get six strong innings from Zambrano, who of course has been less than awesome over considerable periods this year.

Really, I think those line drives you mention were the biggest factor. Webb is an extreme groundball pitcher, a little less so this year but he still had a 2.70 groundout/flyout ratio. Yet the Cubs had quite a few line drives off of him last night, but other than Zambrano's double couldn't seem to get them to fall. Not an extraordinary number of line drives, maybe, but more than Webb is used to giving up.

I actually thought they did a decent job against him, but it just wasn't their night. Hopefully that evens out tonight.

A couple of comments here in the bottom of the fourth:

1) One of my pet peeves is when broadcasters are unable to explain what is happening on the field. I bring this up because the Diamondbacks' Augie Ojeda led off the inning with a bunt attempt up the first base line. Derrek Lee fielded the bunt, and dove towards Ojeda in an attempt to apply a tag. Ojeda ran around the tag, and was called safe at first base. Piniella came out to argue that Ojeda should be out since he ran out of his baseline.

Commentator Ron Darling at this point says that the umpire is explaining the rule to Piniella. However, neither Darling nor play-by-play man Dick Stockton bothered to explain the rule to the viewing audience.

Here's the deal, though: baseball is a very easy sport to watch. Man pitches a ball, man swings at the ball, man runs bases after ball is hit. This is not a sport that we really need anyone to tell us what is happening. In fact, once you acquire a very basic understanding of the game, it's quite easy to follow 90% of the game without any sound at all. So what good are broadcasters who are completely unwilling and/or unable to explain the few things that are not self-evident? This is something that I would consider basic competence.

2) The rule, as per the MLB site (scroll down to Rule 7.08(a)(1)):

Any runner is out when ... He runs more than three feet away from his baseline to avoid being tagged unless his action is to avoid interference with a fielder fielding a batted ball. A runner’s baseline is established when the tag attempt occurs and is a straight line from the runner to the base he is attempting to reach safely.

I think Lou had a valid argument.

3) Irony strikes when Lou, a day after taking heavy criticism for pulling his starting pitcher too early, leaves his starting pitcher in too long. Ted Lilly had the kind of night that so many were afraid Zambrano would have last night (further irony), and he had little business hitting for himself with a man on in the top of the fourth. He struck out, and then was unable to finish the fourth inning, giving up two more runs in the process. Meaning that the decision to let him hit resulted in pretty much the worst possible scenario.

I thought Piniella made the right decision last night in pulling Zambrano, but I can't defend this one.