It began as well as the Phillies could've expected.Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino singled to open the first inning against Barry Zito, and with Chase Utley and Ryan Howard coming up, you thought for sure the Phils would have an early lead. Then, inexplicably, Utley dropped down a sacrifice bunt.
A sacrifice bunt.
Utley, who is batting .337 over the past 42 games and leading the National League in doubles and who is the most clutch hitter the Phillies have, dropped down a bunt, moving Rollins to third and Victorino to second. That opened up first base, allowing Zito to intentionally walk Howard. Jayson Werth, batting fifth and playing for the slumping Pat Burrell, flew to shallow right field, and Aaron Rowand grounded into an inning-ending force play.
Inning over. No runs.
So, Chase, what gives?
"I was trying to make something happen," he said. "You don't know how many times you're going to have an opportunity to score off [Zito]. We didn't get the job done. Worst-case scenario, you got two guys in scoring position with the middle of your lineup up."
But Utley and Howard are the middle of the lineup. And by bunting, Utley simultaneously took the bat out of his and Howard's hands. For the record, you can't blame this on Charlie Manuel, either. Manuel said Utley bunted on his own.
Regardless, it was a head-scratcher. Don't you think?
* The Phils went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position, stranded 12 runners and finished 2-5 on the homestand. If not for a stellar performance by Cole Hamels on Saturday night and Shane Victorino's walk-off homer yesterday, they may have gone 0-7. Up next: three games against the first-place Mets. Yikes!
* Martin Frank reports in Tuesday's paper that Brett Myers won't come off the DL Friday, when he's eligible to be activated.
Talk to you tomorrow from Shea Stadium.
7 comments:
Wasn't that in the movie Little Big League?
Scott,
First a question. Do you know how long Pat Gillick's contract is for? Is this his last year or does he have one more years? I googled it but can't seem to locate it.
Second, Im not as convinced as everyone else that it was a terrible move to bunt there. Zito's hooks against Utley in his future at bats made Utley look flat out silly. Im not so sure that wasn't the best option. The big reason for me to think it was a bad move is if they were positive the Giants were going to intentionally walk Howard. I wasn't sure they were going to walk him, but that's why I am just a fan I suppose.
Also, I heard Conlin say to Charlie, "In order to help us increase our baseball knowledge, can you tell us why Utley bunted in the first?" Why does he have to say that? Isn't that disrespectful? Conlin is a very talented and creative writer, but he plays the Phillies bashing tune in almost every article. I mean, sure there are plenty of things to bang on the organization for, but once in a while you have to find some positives in things.
Matt: Allow me to answer your questions, since I was the one covering the game (Scott got a rare day off). First of all, Utley was not sacrificing. He was bunting for a base hit. It's just that in this day and age, every time someone lays down a bunt with a runner on base, it's called a sacrifice. Secondly, it's not a smart play even if he is bunting for a base hit. He's the No. 3 guy in the lineup. The first two guys are on base. There's no one out. At that point, you're looking for a big inning, not moving the runners over. He also had to know that Howard would get walked. Who would you rather face, Howard with a base open or Jayson Werth with the bases loaded? Utley said afterward that he was "trying to make something happen." That wasn't the way to do it.
As for Conlin's question, I didn't think he was being disrespectful. He was just being his usual self _ trying to ask a question in a smart-alecky way that wouldn't tick off Manuel. Conlin had to know that Manuel wouldn't have Utley bunt there. I think he was just trying to see if Charlie could explain it. And basically, Charlie couldn't. Neither could anyone else.
As for Gillick, I think he signed a 5-year deal, but I'm not 100% sure on that.
Anyway, I hope that helps.
Matt In Philly: Gillick signed a 3-year contract on Nov. 2, 2005. His deal will expire at the end of the '08 season.
Completely agree with Martin about the Utley bunt play. Regardless of whether he was bunting for a hit or to move the runners over, it was a bad play. In that situation, the Phillies are looking for Utley to drive the ball. Charlie Manuel doesn't like to rip his players publicly. But I've had enough conversations with him to know he wasn't happy with Utley's choice there.
Scott, Do you sense any type of urgency yet from the players or are they still in that "we have 4 months left/it's a marathon not a sprint" mindset that they show us every year?
Tony: Going into this series at Shea, the Phillies have said all the right things about having to beat the Mets if they have any prayer of catching them. So, if you want to define that as a "sense of urgency," I guess they're showing it.
To me, though, the Phillies will display some urgency when they actually beat the Mets. Let's not forget: this is a team that declared itself "the team to beat" before it ever won anything. So talk is cheap. If they take at least two of three from the Mets, then go to Kansas City and sweep the dreadful Royals, then have a good homestand against two tough AL Central teams (White Sox, Tigers), I'll believe they feel a sense of urgency.
Scott,
Thanks for the info on Gillick's contract.
I'm still not totally sure I agree with everyone else about the bunt being terrible but nevertheless there's nothing fundamentally sound about the way this team plays. So, something like this is not at all surprising from a team that can't execute baseball basics.
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