First, let me say I forgot that injuries were on in this league so this is my fault, I should have planned accordingly. Still, the logic escapes me.

It's end of the season, last game. I've secured my division, and my pitching staff is in fatigue hell. I've got two guys I'm not planning on using in the playoffs, so they're the only two set to pitch. Starter gets replaced; the reliever gets injured, so Sparky goes to the bench. He selects my best reliever (in a blow-out loss, btw), Eckersley, and leaves him in for 77 pitches!

Needless to say, Eck won't be available for the first few playoff games. Again, my bad for forgetting injuries were on, but still leaving Eck in for 77 pitches seems wrong ...

I would guess that once Sparky went to Eck he figured he was doing you a favor. Instead of running through all the guess on rest and totally boning you that he would just tank the one guy. I am pretty sure that the logic works in a way that once all the rested players are used, Sparky goes to the next best option. What was the score and the inning when Eck entered? Can you post a link to the boxscore?