"Bob Geren and Andrew Bailey had a chat last weekend in San Francisco, and the topic of conversation played out in Thursday's 3-2 A's loss to the Cubs. The manager told the closer, who's not unfamiliar with outings lasting four or more outs, that he would try to limit his appearances to one inning. The purpose, apparently, is to keep Bailey strong all season and allow other relievers to fit into setup roles. As a consequence of the new philosophy, Bailey wasn't on the mound in the ninth inning Thursday. Jerry Blevins was. The left-hander issued three walks, one intentional, before surrendering a bases-loaded, game-ending single to Kosuke Fukudome. Blevins wasn't the only reliever to blame. Dallas Braden, who has been working with a tender elbow, pitched six innings of one-run ball, and Mark Ellis' seventh-inning homer put the A's up 2-1. With the game in the hands of the bullpen, the Cubs tied it in the eighth and won it in the ninth. "The starting pitcher pitches his ass off, and you basically lose the game yourself," Blevins said. "Just embarrassing. You want to throw strikes. It's the No. 1 job for a pitcher." With Braden gone after 83 pitches - he said his elbow was "tight the whole game" - Brad Ziegler and Craig Breslow combined on a scoreless seventh. But in the eighth, the Cubs loaded the bases off Michael Wuertz on two singles and a walk, and that's when Geren summoned Bailey. It was a tough save opportunity, and Xavier Nady's sacrifice fly handed Bailey his third blown save. Bailey got the final two outs of the inning on 10 pitches, but he was done. Bailey was scheduled to hit first in the ninth, and Geren replaced him with pinch-hitter Ryan Sweeney. The manager could have avoided replacing Bailey if he had executed a double-switch when he put him in the game. Asked if Bailey would have stayed in the game if the A's had maintained their 2-1 lead, Geren said, "That would have been a decision right there."" http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/18/SPKP1E0TET.DTL
