As last night's loss to San Diego dragged on, my viewing preferences began leaning over toward the Spike channel, who just happened to be showing something more interesting than their standard MMA fan-oriented programming.

Before that, I actually did see something I've wanted to see for a long time. Ken Macha managed a winnable game - as Ned Yost would have put it - like "the 7th game of the World Series". After Braden Looper left the bases loaded with no outs in the 6th, Macha used three relievers - all very good (yes, Claudio Vargas is good in relief) and very situation-oriented pitchers. Vargas came in to induce a popup or get a strikeout, and he did. Mitch Stetter came on to strike out Adrian Gonzalez. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. It was absolutely the right move, it just didn't work out. "Mariano" DiFelice was ready to go next. It reminded me again of this chart, courtesy of (ironically, perhaps?) Padres assistant GM and Moneyball hero Paul Depodesta:

The top of the 6th inning last night falls squarely in the upper-right square. Better luck next time, Ken.

The rest of the game illustrated why I'm not suited to root for a good team. A little bit of success spoils me. Back in 2002 or 2003, I would have been glued to the Brewer game, just knowing that Richie Sexson would hit a couple of dingers to get us back into the game. But last night, The Empire Strikes Back was on, and that won out.