Closing Thoughts: 'Hold me,' says Torre to Broxton

Fellow Jonathan Broxton(notes) owners, there's no way to interpret Saturday's hold as a good thing. Our guy pitched the eighth, George Sherrill(notes) pitched the ninth. That's not the preferred order. Sherrill hasn't allowed a run – earned or unearned – in over a month. He's become a problem. But the circumstances on Saturday were such that it made perfect sense for the most dominant reliever in the Dodgers' bullpen to pitch the eighth, so let's choose not to panic. For now. This was the scenario: With a runner on first, no one out and LA leading 2-0, the Cubs had the heart of their batting order due up. Broxton entered to face Milton Bradley(notes) (.221 vs. RHP), Derrek Lee(notes) and Aramis Ramirez(notes). He navigated the inning successfully without allowing a run. He struck out two. He was disturbingly effective. Here's Bill Plaschke on Torre's logic, via the LA Times:Torre said Broxton was a better bet in that situation, so he w...