Just wondering if anyone out there wants to weigh in on this. I was watching the game last night on TV and here's what I saw in the 8th inning with 2 men on base and Jesse Crain pitching to Adam Rosales: Crain gets Rosales to swing on a slider for strike one. Rosales then fouls off a fastball over the heart of the plate for strike two. Now usually, with two outs and the tying run on base, getting to an 0-2 count with the batter would cause me to breathe ever-so-slightly easier. Not so with Crainwreck on the mound. I thought I saw three more fastballs in that at bat, but Game Day says it went fastball, slider, fastball. No matter. The slider was a meatball too--belt high and breaking right over the plate. On the fifth pitch of the at bat--a 96 mph fastball right down broadway that was nearly identical to the second pitch of the AB--Rosales did not miss. Tie ballgame. Go ahead run on third base.

via i48.tinypic.com

Why didn't Crain try to get Rosales to chase a few pitches out of the zone? Where was Crain's curve? To me, this is nothing new. Crain just goes out and attacks major league batters with 96 mph strikes. The amazing thing to me is that he ever has good stretches. This guy is out there throwing batting practice. 

I know this wasn't a game destroying AB, but it sure could have been. Anyone want to defend Crain? Anyone want to blame Joe Mauer for calling such a ridiculous sequence?