Brewers' Game 4 extra-innings loss rightfully spurs critiques of World Series roster decisions

Look, because of how Game 4 ended, there's a lot of second-guessing in order for Pat Murphy right now. Aaron Ashby was absolutely cruising over his 2⅓ innings, requiring just 31 pitches to mow down the Tampa Bay Rays -- did he really need to be taken out? Or what about Antonio Senzatela, who was asked to start the bottom of the 12th in a save situation, only to be taken out after a throwing error put a man on first?

Obviously, what Murphy did do didn't work. Asking Shane Drohan, a starter by trade, to close out the most important inning in franchise history with a man already on the bases now reads like a questionable idea. They probably should have gone with Jacob Misiorowski in that spot, playing to finish off the World Series then and there, possible Game 5 ramifications be damned.

Failing a turn to The Miz on short rest, however, what's abundantly clear is that Murphy simply ran out of options in the 12-inning affair. Once Junior Caminero reached first base via that error, Drohan was the best-available option to take on lefty-hitting catcher Liam Hicks.

More than anything else, that's a failure of the organization's roster construction for this Fall Classic.

Chad Patrick was Brewers' best option to close out Rays, but Kyle Harrison was the one waiting in the wings

I don't want to shield Murphy from the blame he deserves here -- the pitcher-usage dilemma was created by his bizarre choices, which often felt as though he was managing to win Game 5 rather than Game 4. However, his options in that all-important 12th frame were far too uninspiring for the moment.

Only two non-starters on the roster failed to get into last night's contest: Brandon Woodruff and Kyle Harrison. The former, having made his triumphant return from a long layoff in Game 3, was never likely to pitch on back-to-back days after nearly five months of injury recovery. Perhaps one could argue that saving him for this moment in Game 4 would have been prudent, but that would have been one heck of a situation to drop him into after that lengthy hiatus.

The real crime here is Harrison continuing to waste away in the bullpen. Despite making the team's roster in every round of the playoffs, he still has not appeared in a single game this October. Clearly, his struggles down the stretch removed him from Murphy's good graces. That's fine. But why is he still here if he's just taking up space?

Chad Patrick, who likewise made the NLDS and NLCS rosters and didn't get into a game, was left off the World Series group ostensibly to make room for Woodruff. But in reality, the choice to keep Harrison over him is what might have cost the Brewers their Game 4 victory. Patrick, who recorded six saves this season while pitching primarily out of the bullpen (and had a lot of success during last year's playoff run as a reliever), would have been a far better choice than Drohan in that fateful 12th inning.

Because they racked up a 3-0 lead beforehand, this probably won't come back to haunt the Brewers. But the door is now open, however slightly, for the Rays because of some questionable decisions from all parts of the management ladder.

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