HOUSTON -- Happy 4th, everyone! Hope you're firing up the grill and enjoying time with family and friends.Then again, if you're a Phillies fan, last night's game probably ruined your appetite.
If you missed it (the game didn't end until about 12:30 a.m. in the East), first-base umpire Lance Barksdale inexplicably called Carlos Lee safe on what would've been a game-ending double play in the ninth inning. In the 13th, Hunter Pence drove Jose Mesa's first pitch over the left field for a game-winning homer. But for as bad as Barksdale's call was (and it was awful), the Phillies had plenty of chances to win. They went 5-for-24 with runners in scoring position and couldn't score after having runners on first and third and nobody out in the 13th. Do that, you don't deserve to win.
Of course, the controversial call prompted questions about whether baseball should invoke instant replay. Off the top of my head, it was the third time in the past two years when replay likely would've reversed a call that went against the Phillies. The others:
1. Ryan Howard homered into the Crawford Boxes here in Houston last Sept. 16, but the ball was incorrectly ruled a double by umpire Larry Poncino after it bounced out of a fan's glove and onto the field. The Phillies won the game anyway, behind a Cole Hamels gem.
2. Chase Utley homered off the foul pole Sept. 26 in Washington, but umpire Rob Drake ruled it foul. It would've given the Phillies a 5-1 lead with Brett Myers on the mound. Instead, the score remained 2-1 Phillies en route to a 4-3 loss.
But Charlie Manuel said today he doesn't favor replay. "I've always thought, keep the human element," he said. "Let the human element play the game. That's what makes baseball." That said, Manuel wasn't happy that Barksdale's call cost the Phillies a win. "Yeah, it pisses me off. [Lee's] leg is up in the air, and Howard's got the ball. He was out."
1 comment:
The missed call was terrible, but it doesn't change the fact that the Phils couldn't drive in runs. Also, it doesn't help with the misuse of players that caused the Phillies (again) to run out of position players.
The Phils hurt themselves by pinch-running for Barajas with Ruiz, then using Burrell as a pinch-hitter for another position player. Then they used their best-hitting pitcher, Hamels, with two outs and nobody on base. Terrible.
And with Victorino on third later in the game, they could have tried a squeeze with Nunez, but of course didn't. Everyone knew Ruiz was going to be walked, bringing the pitcher up to the plate. Wouldn't Hamels have looked pretty good in that situation, at least compared to Jamie Moyer? Why even bring Moyer up? Could a Durbin at bat possibly have been worse?
You missed it, Scott, but Harry the K's call on the game-winning HR was priceless. Mesa serves up a meatball, Pence knocks it about 425 feet, and as soon as it leaves the bat, Harry just says, "Goodbye."
Also, can anyone tell the fans why Chris Coste can't stick with this team? He can catch and play both corner infield positions. He can flat-out hit. And yet, when Jason Werth returns from the DL, Coste will be the one to go. Meanwhile, we'll be stuck with Rod Barajas and his .210 average, along with his propensity to avoid any physical contact at the plate.
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