With all the talk about thinking outside the box when it comes to relief pitching roles, why not think way beyond the box as well and consider keeping pitchers in the game by slotting them in defensively negligent positions for a batter or two?
Would Mike Scioscia I just posted a comment on Rob McMillin's blog about a distant memory I had and if you are a retrosheet whiz perhaps you can find the game in question.
Without recalling the specifics of the situation, I recall Tommy Lasorda bringing in a reliever to face a batter late in a game. I do not recall the specific matchup, but let's say he brought in a LHP to face a Lafty batter. Instead of taking out the RHP, though, he took out the Left Fielder (again, the precise details of this memory may be incorrect, but the overall details occurred and are well within a manager's right to do) and moved the RHP to LF. After the LHP got the batter out, he moved the LHP to RF, the RFer to LF and allowed the RHP to continue pitching. I don't recall if it was the 9th inning, but the outfielding pitcher could of course switch positions once again until he was replaced by an adequate fielder once the manager was happy with pitching matchups ahead in the lineup.
This method would work seamlessly under the National League rules, but late in a game with the lead forfeiting the DH for the best possible pitcher withot definitively using a bullet MUST be soemthing that Mike Scioscia can at least investigate.
So last night is perfect example. Kevin Jepsen could have been removed from the mound, sent to LF and waited for Brian Fuentes to dispatch of David Ortiz and then move back to the mound with Fuentes going to RF and Gary Matthews Jr. or Reggie Willits moving to LF. IF Scioscia was pleased enough to think that Jepsen could handle any possible Red Stocking Pinch Hitter, he could have brought in a defensive replacement for his pitcher in the outfield.