I didn’t love that Sam Dyson had to pitch the ninth inning on Tuesday, and I didn’t love that Nick Martinez got off the bullpen bench in the third inning on Wednesday, starting to get loose as Oakland was busy sending eight hitters to the plate against Derek Holland.
Hours earlier, Jeff Banister had hinted in an MLB Network Radio interview that Martinez, recalled the day before to replace Tom Wilhelmsen on the big league staff, was the odds-on candidate to take Yu Darvish’s start (rather than Cesar Ramos) Saturday in St. Louis.
Now he was having to prepare to enter a game that already felt like it was slipping away, possibly used in a loss and potentially compromising the team’s chances in another game three days later.