"Ken Macha undoubtedly has decided he must try somebody else to protect leads in the ninth inning.

But it wouldn't hurt if Trevor Hoffman walked into the office of the Milwaukee Brewers manager Wednesday and volunteered to fall on his sword.

With Hall of Fame-caliber players who appear to be at the end of the line - think Brett Favre blowing game after game with slews of interceptions - it always helps when all parties agree a change must be made. Otherwise, it gets messy for the man in charge.

Hoffman just might have run out of chances Tuesday with the most horrific meltdown of what has been a nightmarish season for him. Failing to retire any of the five hitters he faced, the all-time saves leader surrendered three runs in the bottom of the ninth to allow Cincinnati to pull out a 5-4 victory at Great American Ball Park.

The Brewers have experienced some crushing late-inning losses this season, but under the circumstances, this was the worst. It extended the team's losing streak to eight games, ruined a brilliant Milwaukee debut by right-hander Marco Estrada and left nearly everyone wearing a Brewers uniform without an ounce of confidence in the bullpen.

"You've got to get 27 outs, not 24," said Macha. "We've got to figure out what we're doing. The whole bullpen has been doing that.

"They didn't miss any pitches (in the ninth) today. That's the tough part of this game. You play your heart out and get to the ninth inning and you're not closing them off."

The numbers tell the story as to how awful Hoffman has been. In 14 appearances, he has allowed 21 hits and seven walks over 13 innings, with only eight strikeouts. He is 1-3 with an atrocious 13.15 earned run average.

Hoffman has blown five of 10 save chances, one more failure than in all of 2009, when he had 41 opportunities. He has surrendered seven home runs, five more than he did in 55 appearances last season.

Hoffman was so brilliant (1.83 ERA, .183 opponents batting average) last year, the Brewers quickly re-signed him for $7.5 million with a mutual option for 2011 for $7 million. Now, everyone is wondering if he reached the end of the line with no warning.

Even Hoffman was at a loss for words when asked to explain his performance this season."