I'm writing this before the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 5, which you can believe or not, as you wish.
Look, I realize that Mike Matheny has little bench to speak of. His only real spare hitter is lefty-hitting Oscar Taveras, who doesn't stand a great chance against lefty-throwing Madison Bumgarner. Matheny's only right-handed bench bats are Pete Kozma, who's about as likely to pop a homer off Bumgarner as I am, and slightly less power-starved Peter Bourjos.
Still, you gotta take a shot, don't you? With two outs in the top of the seventh, nobody aboard, leading just 3-2, and your starting pitcher coming up? As well as Adam Wainwright's pitched, you can't let him hit in the seventh, can you? Only to face three straight left-handed hitters in the bottom of the seventh?
Update: Wainwright got all three of the lefty hitters in fine form.
