Welcome to Saturday Scorecard. Let us begin today's edition by giving thanks that we got out of Las Vegas just in time to avoid the Britney Spears / O.J. Simpson debacles.

Assigning blame: Cincinnati behemoth Adam Dunn's ground-rule double had just hopped over the fence Friday night when the phone rang at Saturday Scorecard Headquarters.

Longtime friend Johnny and his younger brother, Jimmy, were calling from the ballpark and they were angry.

"Why the hell did Ned take Capuano out of the game?" Johnny asked, referring to Brewers manager Ned Yost and reliever Chris Capuano. "And, why the hell did he put (lefty Mitch) Stetter in the game? Where is (Brian) Shouse? Where is Ray King?"

Based on the background noise, most of the fans in Johnny's section -- and probably a majority of 42,944 fans in the ballpark - were wondering the same thing.

It was the top of the eighth inning. After looking lethargic on offense for much of the night, the Brewers had scratched out a run after the seventh-inning stretch to pull within two runs.

Stetter, a September callup from Class AAA Nashville, had replaced Capuano, who had replaced Ben Sheets. Stetter served up the leadoff double to Dunn, who took third on a wild pitch and scored an insurance run on Edwin Encarnacion's sacrifice fly.

The insurance run ended up being the difference in the game. Brewers catcher Mike Rivera, another callup, belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to make the final score 6-5.

That result, coupled with the fact that Chicago beat St. Louis to drop the Brewers 1 ½ games behind the first-place Cubs in the National League Central race, left many Brewers fans fuming about Yost's bullpen management (or mismanagement, depending on your viewpoint).

Second-guessing the manager is as much a part of baseball as dirt, grass and chewing tobacco. Yost has been roasted more this season than any skipper in Milwaukee baseball history. Some of the criticism has been warranted; some of it has bordered on an insane obsession.

Yost's decision to use Stetter was certainly worthy of a little point-counterpoint. To wit:

Point: Capuano had thrown four solid, scoreless innings in one of his better performances in months. He had only thrown 56 pitches. He's a former starter; he should have stayed in the game.

Counterpoint: Capuano hasn't pitched a lot lately, so his arm isn't as "stretched out" as it was when he first went to the bullpen. Also, recent history tells us that Capuano is prone to quick meltdowns that come without warning. In this case, shutting him down after four innings was the smart play.

Point: Stetter doesn't have a lot of experience. Friday marked his fourth big-league outing and he shouldn't have been pitching in a key situation during a pennant race.

Counterpoint: That may be true, but Stetter also pitched two scoreless innings last week in Cincinnati, striking out three batters including one named "Dunn" and another named "Griffey."

Point: Shouse has been the Brewers' most consistent reliever this season and should have been in the game.

Counterpoint: Shouse was rocked during his last outing in Pittsburgh. A case can also be made that saving him for the ninth, or even the 10th inning, was a decent play.

Point: The Brewers acquired Ray King from Washington to pitch in this exact situation. He should have been in the game.

Counterpoint: Have you seen King's outings since he came back to Milwaukee? He hasn't been very good.

The bottom line in all of this is that any reliever or combination of relievers that Yost used in the eighth that led to the Reds scoring a run was going to be the wrong move. It became even more wrong when Rivera hit his homer to close the final margin.

Let's say he left Capuano in and Dunn had hit a homer. He'd be ripped for staying with a pitcher too long. Let's say that Shouse came in and gave up a run in the exact same manner that Stetter did; well, Yost would be an idiot for not riding the hot hand of Capuano.

Debates like this one make for great barroom banter, but focusing on Yost's bullpen moves in the eighth inning is like seeing Pamela Anderson at the beach and only noticing her flip-flops.

The Brewers lost to the Reds on Friday primarily because the ace of their pitching staff, Ben Sheets, turned in unexpectedly hideous performance in what may have been the most important start since he beat Cuba for the gold medal at the Sydney Olympics.

The Brewers' offense was only marginally less disastrous.

Other than a two-run homer by Prince Fielder, who tied Gorman Thomas and Richie Sexson for the single-season franchise record (45), Milwaukee did nothing against Tom Shearn, a journeyman right-hander with one more big-league appearance than Stetter.

If it makes you feel better, vent your frustration in Yost's direction. We'll cling to the notion that the Reds won the game because their starting pitcher, who entered the night as a huge underdog, outperformed the starting pitcher from the other side.

That's basic baseball, and that's what September is all about. If your ace pitcher falters and your offense goes to sleep against a guy who wears No. 64, you might not deserve that playoff berth.

The Brewers have 16 games and 16 days left in the regular season. They are all hugely important, but today is especially big because the Cubs are playing a makeup doubleheader against St. Louis.

The margin for error is shrinking every inning. If the Brewers don't bounce back quickly, they'll find that their playoff chances are disappearing, too

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