I don't really place the blame on Gonzalez, I put it on Showalter. It only took about 2 hitters in the 6th until it was obvious that Gonzalez's arm was done, he had reduced control and no stuff. He should never have had the opportunity to be the loser in the game (I know he wasn't, but he could have been when he left). The fact that he got to face a 4th hitter surprised me, 5th shocked me, and then he gets the opportunity to walk the 6th guy up in the inning and give up his 3rd double of the inning to the 7th, at this point having let 6 men on while recording only 1 out on a hard groundball, before being told to intentionally walk the 8th hitter of the inning before finally being lifted.
That's totally unjustifiable. I realize that Showalter has been part of turning the organization around, and I'm not saying he should be fired, but more and more often he seems to be totally ignoring what's happening on the field. This came one day after an AL pitcher was allowed to bat before being lifted without facing another hitter. I don't care if it is 2 down and nobody on, you have 3 backup OF/1B on the bench, none of them are potential defensive replacements, and it's the bottom of the 7th. It is absolutely ridiculous that Tillman had to swing the bat (ok, technically speaking he didn't swing the bat, just stood there and looked at 3 strikes). Somebody needs to remind Buck that he's got work to do during the game. And if he can't keep himself awake, move him into the front office and find somebody that can.