Once Brad Ausmus needed Shane Greene and Blaine Hardy to get through the sixth inning with a lead Monday night, he was going to need somebody besides the Wilsons to pitch one of the later innings. Alex Wilson, despite being well-rested, has pitched two innings only once this season, and Justin Wilson wasn’t going to get the call for more than three outs for reasons short of a matchup urgency.
Enter Francisco Rodriguez, the man who used to get the call to protect leads in the ninth, but hadn’t been called upon in a save or hold situation since his blown saves in Oakland a few weeks ago.