Red Sox catch a break in 11th, outlast Phillies in 13

Greg Dobbs' shot over the right-field pole was ruled foul by first base umpire Jim Joyce, who elected not to review it, taking the win away from the Phillies and setting up a Red Sox rally in the 13th off Kyle Kendrick.

Beerleaguer: Comcast must have replayed it five times and each time strengthened Joyce's case just a little bit more. Indeed, it was a very close call. Unfortunately, close only counts in horseshoes, and if you're a Major League umpire. To mine eyes, Joyce missed the call. Damn straight he did. I tracked it on a high-definition 120 hz plasma with my index finger and it sailed fair, right over the yellow pole. Replay is academic anyway; Joyce, who was also the crew chief and had the final call, was sticking by his ruling no matter what. You could see it in his blood-red eyes. Eyes that will haunt my dreams.

It's a bad break on a call that could have gone either way and a demoralizing loss in a tight game where it looked like the Phillies had them right where they wanted them. In hindsight, it would have been better if Ryan Howard hadn't tied it in the 9th. The game was cruising along and we could have been down the pub, looking forward to tomorrow. Until Howard, the story could have been written as the Phils being on the short end of a great pitchers' duel. There would have been a certain comfort in that. Jon Lester is exactly the brand of hurler who can keep the Phillies off-balance. He whipped hard cutters in to the right-handers and just dominated the lefties with hard breaking balls and the cutter, striking out 11 and retiring 13 straight at one point. Those who tuned in late in the second, as I did, waited until Howard's bomb to see a Phillies hit. Joe Blanton was slightly less than equal to the task, but pitched another solid game, allowing two solo homers while striking out seven in seven innings.

But here's the real story. Recalled from Triple-A at Charlie Manuel's request, Kendrick's promotion was justified as someone who could devour innings, a job held by no fewer than three other relievers currently on the roster. Tonight shows why you can't have Kendrick in the bullpen. Besides the obvious fact that he's never done it before, he allows too much contact. One run is too much if you're a reliever in many cases. Pitching to contact is fine in the rotation. You live with three runs over six innings. Your job in the bullpen is to stop them, something Kendrick isn't hardwired to handle.

The irritability doesn't stop at Joyce and Kendrick. Most of the lineup, which has not been as good as advertised lately, had a terrible night. Rollins went 0-for-6 in the leadoff spot. Drop him, Charlie, and be done with it. Make a decision, and get up in Joyce's grill while you're at it. Eric Bruntlett. His purpose is to do the little things and he can't execute a bunt, and is this really the guy you want to double switch into the game when you're down 2-1? Jayson Werth striking out at a maddening rate ... Tomorrow can't come soon enough.

Tune in to 610-WIP tomorrow morning at 8:40 when I vent with Brian Startare. Follow my 140-character rants on Twitter.

Comments

[G-Town Dave]

(Reposted From Previous Thread)

Even more piss-poor umpiring aside, this loss is squarely on Charlie. Bruntlett? Really? I'll say it again: He either does not know why Bako was added to the roster, or he does not care & refuses to use him to free up Coste to PH. Either way, Bako's presence is not required.

And how 'bout that Rollins in the leadoff spot? What is he, 1-15 now? And you gotta love J-Roll's sudden GIDP prowess -- what a fun, new wrinkle to his offensive futility! Unless the shortstops's ego is more important than winning ball games, I suggest Charlie man the f*ck up & leave Jimmy's sorry a** in the 6 hole for a month or so.

Finally, I suppose it's easy to blame the bullpen, but let's not forget they pitched something like 16 straight scoreless innings in the past 4 nights before Kendrick's meltdown. Sure, Kyle himself is a problem, but I don't think it's asking to much for this offense to score more than 2 damn runs in a 13-inning home game.

Charlie has never been hailed as a genius when it comes to managing pitchers (& rightfully not), but he gets a lot of credit when the Phils hit, & none of the blame when they don't. Shouldn't he be applying his vast offensive expertise to getting these guys, & the supposed leadoff man in particular, to maybe put a crooked number or two up on the board when his starter goes 7 & gives up all of 2?

BTW - That's tragic how Peavy's "flu" spread to his ankle ... just tragic.

[vegas]

Man, is there anyway that call can be reversed on the Dobbs HR? They spent all that time and money on replay for homerun calls and it's not used?? The Met's choke job numbs the pain slightly.

[Rob]

Werth is driving me nuts at the plate. In his last two at-bats, he had only two swings and they were both strike three, yer out! It is a passive way to approach hitting and it gets him backed into a corner. I understand he leads the majors in pitches per at bat. That's all well and good, but the problem is that he is well scouted and all a pitcher has to do is drop two strikes in his lap and, bingo, he's in a deep hole.

Milt has to work on getting him more aggressive at the plate. More and more, Werth is reminding me of PTB and his annoying passivity at bat. He just may not be an everday player. It is evident that the scouts have discovered his weaknesses and they are being exploited. Great fielder, exposed at the plate!

[8thandpine]

20 strikeouts.
J-Roll - 0 for 6 but zero strikeouts.
strange night.

The slightest doubt should be impetus enough go to replay.

[Corey R]

I still can't understand why they refused to review it. Even if it was still foul that could at least give us the common decency to review the call. Chan Ho can thank Kendrick for now being my most hated Philly. Not too take anything away from Lester, he is a phenom, but some of our hitters are just not hitting i.e. Werth and Rollins. Hopefully the youngsters can S.O.S. (save our series). Keep your heads up!!

[philsphan]

I have no idea why it wasn't reviewed. It actually looked foul to me, but I still think it should have at least been reviewed.

[denny b.]

The Phils have only attempted 3 steals (and stolen 2) in the past 8 games.

This team has good enough team speed to do much more then that. They are seeing good starting pitching (for the most part) now and above .500 teams. Its hard to play for the 3 run HR (which seems to be the MO now) every night. A night like tonight (or in the late innings this week against K-Rod) was screaming out for some motion on the paths. They can't bunt for crap. Might as well start a runner sometime and see if you can manufacture something. Maybe one of those worm-burners Rollins keeps hitting can find a hole, if Ruiz or Bruntlett is moving. Couldn't do any worse then what has been going on for the past few weeks.

Werth should sit one of these next 2 games. So should Rollins, if they had anybody to put in there. I'd get Dobbs more starts in RF (I thought that might have been the plan when Chuckles put him out there for one game in SD; but that is the last start he has gotten). Werth's offense has been lacking for a while now after a great start.

This is a good team. Clearly, the best all-around team (right now) in the East. But they can be (and should be) better. They seem to be just "getting by" on most nights.

The offense at home HAS to improve and improve now. Are they swinging too much for the fences at home? Are they too tight at home? I don't get it.

The 2 latest callups have been impressive this week, huh? Bako gets his 1 AB and whiffs with the bases loaded and no outs in NY. Kendrick (who also was bad in relief if memory serves me last September in a couple of outings) looks just like he did last year and in Spring Training and most of the year at Lehigh Valley. Stuff is not nearly good enough, when he can't locate it. Falls behind and gets hammered. No secondary pitches. Its a broken record.

Bruntlett can't hit. He can't bunt. He has no stolen bases for the year. All he can do is play a few different positions, marginally well enough for a major leaguer.

Bako has no business here. End of discussion.

So what should happen, with the last few spots on the roster?

-Kendrick should go back to LV where he belongs.

-Escalona should be recalled to take Eyre's LOOGY spot for the next 2 weeks.

-Bako should be DFA'd or sent to Lehigh Valley (with Marson injured, he'd be big league insurance there).

-Bite the bullet and bring Mayberry up and leave him here. His future (if he has one here) is as a 4th OF. A bench player, who gets an occasional start, pinch-hits and pinch-runs. That will be his role in Philly. Don't need for him to get 4 AB's at night in AAA. He's already done that for over a year now. He needs to learn THIS role and be in THIS role now. Dobbs and Stairs would be good role models for him. He could basically be the right-handed complment to Stairs. Use him in specific situations that he has a chance to be succesful in. You don't throw Stairs up there against Felicano or Mike Gonzalez. You try and pick your spots. Do the same with Mayberry.

You have a real chance in the next few weeks to get a BIG lead in this division. The Mets are heading downhill quickly and have a murderous schedule from now until the All-Star break. The Braves can't string anything together. The Marlins don't seem to be players. The Nats are embarrassing.

But, its going to take more energy and offense at home and for Lidge to come back healthy mentally in a week or so, to really put the hammer down on everyone.

Plus health has to stay good. Any kind of injury to the starting everyday 8, would throw a big wrench into things. Depth right now is a huge concern.

[diehard]

I was at the game tonight and sat in sec 106, which is lined up perfectly with the foul pole, dobbs' ball was definitely foul. What a difference 2 feet can make, if it's fair were excited talkin about how we beat the red sox in a game we shouldn't have won, instead we sit here questioning all about the team.
Everyone seems to know Brunlett sucks, except Charlie, if you're hitting .200 you need to figure out a way to bunt, I'm tired of crappy players playing like crap. If they stink DON'T PLAY them. For some damn reason Charlie feels like he owes certain crappy players the chance to play. Well it's not high school anymore just play people who can actually perform.

[bay_area_phan]

Not reviewing the play was inexcusable obstinancy by the ump. I don't know what the outcome would have been but, without looking at the replay, there's no way in the world that anyone could possibly have claimed certainty one way or the other. This is the kind of stuff that gets NBA refs disciplined. It's like the ump was more interested in sending a message that he knew he was right than he was in actually being right.

[diehard]

denny b,
good post, agreed with everything there

[RSB]

Y'know. Tough loss and all. But the Phillies have been playing kinda awesome. 10-3 coming into tonight. 4-game division lead.

Is it really all so bad?

Not that I disagree with anything you said, L.A. - I mean, J.W. If Manuel wants to get Dobbs' bat in the lineup more often, it ought to be as a right fielder until Werth gets a semblance of confidence back. He's the easiest out in the lineup right now, Rollins included.

The good-Jimmy-now-you-can-have-your-cookie business is irritating. Kyle Kendrick's presence in the major leagues is irritating. Jim Joyce is several shades beyond irritating (and inspiring literary/eye patch jokes which will remain unformed here).

But I have to wonder if all this frustration isn't due mostly to Red Sox envy. Like if the Phils can't beat them and their manager with the Grandpa Stroehmann glasses, they're somehow not legit. But relax. They're legit.

[doubleh]

What is with umpires this season? How many crappy calls have we seen in just the past week? Whether or not it was fair--I couldn't tell from the replay myself--what's the replay for if you aren't going to use it?

At least we didn't lose any ground to the Mets. Wow. That game ending was embarassing.

I don't like losing in extras b/c now the BP is shot with 2 young pitchers going on the bump the next 2 days. But there's no shame in losing a tight game to the best team in baseball. We all chalked this up as a loss merely looking at the matchup anyway.

We can blame the loss on KK or Charlie, but truth is the offense didn't do it's job. 5 hits is BS for one of the most prodigious offenses in MLB.

What a horrible night in sports.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

Kendrick is done. Best of luck to him, but I have no desiree to see him again.

[doubleh]

According to Zolecki:
"Shane Victorino, who stood on first base when Dobbs hit the ball down the line, said he and first base coach Davey Lopes agreed with Joyce. The ball was foul, the at-bat continued and Dobbs struck out to end the inning."

So they concur it was foul, which is probably why Charlie didn't argue more vehemently.

Game of inches. Totally sucks, but there you have it.

If only Stairs could have won it when he PH.

[RSB]

Doesn't Joyce kind of look like Tom McCarthy with a Goose Gossage 'stache?

The stuff of nightmares, indeed...

That kind of facial hair is illegal in about 20 states, I think. Most people think it's a disease and panic breaks out.

[bay_area_phan]

In no way, shape, or form am I glad to see the Phillies lose, but i do feel like the ending provided a shot of comeuppance to Cholly & Ruben. It's not often that a stupid personnel decision comes back to bite you in the very first game after the stupid decision was made.

Ruben's 2 most recent call-ups have been in the 99th percentile of bizarreness. And Cholly's fingerprints are all over both moves, because we know that Cholly loves veterans who can't hit a lick (i.e., Bako, Bruntlett) and we know that he prefers what he already knows (KK) even if what he already knows is that the guy sucks. Still, Amaro is responsible for personnel decisions and it's his job to overrule the manager when the manager's personnel ideas are zany. And please don't tell me, "Bako makes sense because he frees up Coste for pinch hitting." There are only 5 spots on the bench. Name me one other team that gives 1 of those 5 spots to a guy whose job description is NOT to play.

[kells]

Great post Denny! Charlie continues to baffle me. Ultimately it's on Ruben why KK is brought up & used as a reliever. Escalona + Mayberry should be promoted ASAP. We are an elite team but we have no speed or RHB off the bench. Bruntlet is an embarassment off the bench. KK is not the problem it's Charlie & Ruben. Kyle is the guy you find hooking up w/ your girlfriend. You want to punch him but ultimately it's your GF fault(aka ruben). Send him to AAA ASAP. Does anyone have 1 ticket for tomorrow's game? I have 10 college buddies from Boston coming down for the game & need 1 more. Would rather sit next to philly fan than my degenarate Boston friends.

[kells]

I'm sure this must have been posted(if so ignore post) but David Murphy is getting ripped in the National web sites.

http://thebiglead.com/?p=14907

[Jimmie J.]

Forget putting Rollins in the #6 slot, #8 would be more like it.

Start platooning Werth with Dobbs. Werth never swings at the first pitch which is always a fastball right down the middle...and the pitchers know it.

[zudok]

Kendrick is here to pitch the 5th and 6th when the starter leaves early. Can't believe he made it through the 12th unscathed. He can't pitch in this kind of game because he is incapable of striking anyone out. Here or anywhere else.
On another front, we need another righthanded bat. I think I'd rather have have had Cairo than Bruntlett at this point.

[loctastic]

eric bruntlett is a ninny. there, i said it.

[4daysrest.com]

A couple thoughts from last night's game as a fan in attendance:

-When Kyle Kendrick was warming up, everybody in my section was extraordinarily upset and mentally defeated.
-Eric Bruntlett is not a major league baseball player. He is incapable of doing anything remotely productive at the plate. Just abysmal.
-Red Sox Fans are the biggest bunch of self-entitled homos I've ever seen attending a sporting event.

You have to read the first-hand account at our site of some dork going scoreboard on us. You'll enjoy it.

[4DaysRest]

A couple thoughts from last night's game as a fan in attendance:

-When Kyle Kendrick was warming up, everybody in my section was extraordinarily upset and mentally defeated.
-Eric Bruntlett is not a major league baseball player. He is incapable of doing anything remotely productive at the plate. Just abysmal.
-Red Sox Fans are the biggest bunch of self-entitled homos I've ever seen attending a sporting event.

You have to read the first-hand account at our site of some dork going scoreboard on us. You'll enjoy it.

[GBrettfan]

I am very impressed by Joe Blanton's pitching last night. Kyle Kendrick...not so much. Not at all, in fact. I'm giving the hitters a pass given that Lester is so good. As for Bruntlett...Anybody know of PHers from other teams who are good? I'm sure there must be some, but I also think it can't be easy to find a good bench player. Dobbs last year was exceptionally good.

[Rich]

If the pole was extended another 20 feet into the air, the ball would have hit it and it would have been a homerun. It was right equal with the pole only above the existing pole.

Why wasn't it reviewed? Joyce didn't want to be proven wrong, and that is the truth!