Fosse also mentioned that Macha might not want to lose his bat in case they don't score. Which is obviously part of his reasoning, but not the whole part.

Just because they didn't pinch run for him on first base and no outs doesn't mean they wouldn't pinch run for him later in the sequence, say, with one out and Durazo on second.

I've seen the A's do that before: not pinch run for a guy on first, but then pinch run for him later if he reaches second. There must be some way to calculate when it's worth it to pinch run and when it isn't, but I have no idea what that algorithm is.

seriously though, if all we needed was that one run, and we're willing to try things like bunting or hit-and-run with hatteberg(who is a good contact hitter), having durazo on the basepaths doesn't make a ton of sense. if CT was there and going on the pitch he might have either made it safely to second or at least broken up the double play. or if he stole second that changes the game entirely. or he could have scored from first on a double, which i don't see durazo doing. the point is, if you're in that situation and all you need is one lousy run to win the game, keeping durazo's bat in the lineup to possibly be used 2 innings later doesn't make a lot of sense to me(especially when he's been slumping anyway). if you only need one run to win, then play for the one run. that seems to me a situation(maybe the only situation) when small ball is appropriate.

I can imagine that the odds might say not to pinch run in that situation. If Hatteberg hits a double, and Durazo can't score, he's still on third with nobody out, and is likely to end up scoring anyway, which is not so much different from the odds with Thomas. It's different if there's one out or two outs; he's less likely to end up "scoring anyway".

As far as Thomas running on the pitch or stealing goes, that depends a lot on the pitcher. I'm certain the A's have charts that tell them what the odds are of each runner successfully stealing off each pitcher/catcher. Donnelly may not be the easiest guy to steal and/or hit-and-run against. (I don't know that; I'm just speculating). So maybe if it's an easier pitcher to steal off of, Macha does pinch run, but with Donnelly out there, he doesn't.

And I think Ken is right -- the advantages of removing Durazo for someone like Thomas on the off-chance that someone hits a gapper that can score a runner from first are outweighed by the disadvantages of removing Durazo from the line-up. Whereas, if it's nobody out and Durazo on second, it's probably a different story.