Tito did have a point about Saito's pitch count. Add in the 8 intentional balls and Saito's over 30 pitches. A guy with a bum elbow. And the alternative is a guy who isn't used to warming up for the pen. Really, at that point, no option was really a good one. It was just a question of how terrible.
The whole Longoria thing was just WHEN we lost, it was not HOW we lost. The game ended when Pedroia grounded into a bases loaded, 1 out double play to kill our best late scoring threat. Everything else was just aftermath, home field advantage and a desperate hope that somehow we could still steal one.