Red Shocktober: It's All Over
Jayson Werth stood on the warning track and looked up at the top of the right field wall in disbelief. Jimmy Rollins trotted in from short stop, grabbed the rosin bag, and spoke a few words to the pitcher standing on the mound. All around them, a stunned silence hung in the late-October air.
Red Shocktober: It's All Over
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Jayson Werth stood on the warning track and looked up at the top of the right field wall in disbelief. Jimmy Rollins trotted in from short stop, grabbed the rosin bag, and spoke a few words to the pitcher standing on the mound. All around them, a stunned silence hung in the late-October air.
The final blow in this National League Championship Series was delivered by Juan Uribe in the form of a two-out home run off of Ryan Madson in the eighth inning. It was an opposite field shot that barely cleared the top of the wall in right, but for a Giants team that has never left itself much in the way of breathing room, the 3-2 lead it provided was more than enough.
"We let a lot of people down," Madson said, "and ourselves as well."
Really, though, the loss did not fall squarely on the slim shoulders of Madson, who was two outs into his second inning of work when he unleashed the fateful pitch, nor the broad shoulders of Ryan Howard, who struck out looking on a 3-2 pitch at the knees to end the game. The Phillies had plenty of opportunity to provide their bullpen with some breathing room. But as was the case throughout most of the first five games of the series, they could not muster the right hit, or the right play, at the right time.
Backed by a boisterous crowd that sounded as if a Game 7 were inevitable, the Phillies chased an erratic Jonathan Sanchez out of the game two batters into the third inning, leaving the Giants bullpen with six frames to kill, the first of which began with runners on first and second and no out.
But veteran lefty Jeremy Affeldt provided the first of several immaculate escapes, striking out Ryan Howard to prevent the runners from advancing, then gettingWerth to fly-out and Shane Victorino to ground out to end the frame. It was just the latest instance in which the Phillies failed to display the opportunism that defined them in the last two postseasons.
Some of it you could trace back to good old fashioned rotten luck, which makes some sense when you consider how fortunate a team must be to accomplish what the Phillies have over the past three seasons. There is a cosmic balance to the baseball universe. It giveth, and it taketh away.
Last night, with one out in the eighth inning, it tooketh away a potential game-tying base hit by Carlos Ruiz, whose sharp line drive screamed directly into the glove of Giants first baseman Aubrey Huff, who then threw to second base to catch a stunned Shane Victorino scrambling to get back to the bag. Double play. Inning over.
In the first, Werth was a centimeter away from a three-run home run in the first inning, instead crushing a moon shot that petered out in the glove of Pat Burrell at the warning track for a sacrifice fly.
In the third, Victorino came within inches of making a tremendous sprinting catch of a fly-ball that Andres Torres crushed to the warning track in dead center. Later in the frame, with one out and men on first and second, Buster Posey hit a dribbler to third base, forcing a charging Placido Polanco to make an off balance throw that Ryan Howard could not adjust to. The ball sailed past the first baseman, and Aubrey Huff scored from second on the play.
The inning ended with the next batter, the Giants having tied the game at 2-2 on a pair of runs produced in part by a leadoff single from the opposing pitcher, a near-catch, and a dribbled grounder that turned into an error.
When the Phillies were afforded opportunities, they failed to take advantage. They managed just two runs against a wildly ineffective Sanchez.
In the fifth, third base coach Sam Perlozzo held up a stop sign for Jimmy Rollins as he rounded third on a double by Ryan Howard to the alley in left center. The play at the plate would have been close, and hindsight is 20/20, but after the Giants intentionally walked Jayson Werth to load the bases, Victorino grounded out to end the frame. In two other innings -- the third and the sixth -- the Phillies had a runner on second base with no out and failed to drive him home.
"One hit away, one out away: That's the game of baseball," Victorino said.
Now, for the first time since 2007, there will be no World Series for this Phillies team. Instead, they will make peace with the offseason, and all of the questions it had to offer.
As Werth looked up into the right field crowd after Uribe's home run, you wonder if he was aware that he might have just watched the end of his career in Philadelphia.
Will the Phillies' make a serious attempt at re-signing their soon-to-be high-priced right fielder? If not, will they have money to add a right-handed bat to replace him? Or will 2011 be Domonic Brown's first season as an everyday player?
And what about the other free-agents-to-be, as few as they are: Righthander Chad Durbin, who has been with the team for the last three seasons. Fellow reliever Jose Contreras, who proved to be one of the best bang-for-buck signings of the offseason. Others: Jamie Moyer, Mike Sweeney, J.C. Romero (who has a club option that will likely be declined), Greg Dobbs (who seems like a good possibility to be non-tendered), all of whom at one point or another played a role in getting the Phillies to a place like last night.
The difficult thing in assessing this Phillies team is that we might never know just how good they were. Does Perlozzo send a healthy Jimmy Rollins on that Howard double? Would Chase Utley have endured the same postseason struggles if he did not miss more the six weeks with a thumb injury? Did the sprained ankle Ryan Howard suffer rob him of some power? What about Placido Polanco and his sore elbow?
The downside to expectations is that they become harder and harder to fulfil. And in a postseason in which they were heavy favorites to win the National League, the finality of last night's done-in-six loss reeked of disappointment. The final out said it all: Howard looking at a borderline 3-2 pitch near his knees, the tying run on second base and the go-ahead run on first. Close. But not close enough.
"I thought it was down," Howard said. "He kind of paused before he made the call. It's kind of a outgh way to end teh season, to end the game. . .To me, if you are going to call it, call it."
In the clubhouse after the game, Howard sat in front of his locker in full uniform, solemnly replaying the events of the night through his mind.
"It's a little humbling, a little embarassing," Howard said. "I'm not going to lie."
Fate had Howard at the plate for the final out. But it would be a mistake to pin him -- or Madson, or Utley, or Rollins -- with the blame. That's baseball, several of them said afterward. And it is the truth. Take a round bat and a round ball and set them in motion and all of a sudden Lady Luck has more to say than you might wish her to. There is a reason no National League team has appeared in three straight World Series since Jackie Robinson first broke into the game.
Now, they are left with this: watch Cliff Lee pitch to Pat Burrell in a World Series, and try to avoid wondering what might have been.
howard had zero RBI's who cares if he has some cheap singles with no one on,,atleast utley scored runs and had rbis and clutch hits walks,HBP and got on base in the ninth inning...howard chokes against good pitchers and releivers a 25 mil disgrace,he's only going to get worse.....wolf.— wolf 4- The Phillies overcame a great deal and deserved to be in the postseason. They earned the victory over Cincinnati even though they were given one game. But they did not earn another trip to the World Series, plain and simple. They got precious few inning lead off men on, they played less than average defense, botched key double plays, didn't hit with men in scoring position, had poor base running coaching, had no power, 1 RBI total from 3 & 4 hitters. They looked a 3rd straight World Series in the eye...and farted.— sportsreader
- Good game. Phillies will be back. Thanks for a good season. They could have quit along time ago, be they keep on fight'in, but came up a little short. So lets get over it, see you next years. GO PHILLIES!!!!— freaknasty2121
- I live in San Francisco and am, obviously, a Giants fan. Why did the Phillies let Cliff Lee go? The buzz is Jayson Werth won't be with the Phils next season. Why? He's great. I guess I'll have to listen to Tony Bruno to get answers to my questions. The Phillies have ALWAYS tormented the Giants. So as a San Franciscan I am happy there is finally some joy on the West Coast tonight. And let's give it up for Pat Burrell and Aaron Rowand. Ciao.— Leerossh
- Very classy Muddy14. Well your team just lost to a AAA team then - and the Rangers are about to lose to a AAA team. You Philly fans are blind - you dont watch west coast baseball and you didn't realize there are teams way better than your stupid team out there. Phillies - full of talent but not a team. Giants - a true team that's about to prove they are the best team in baseball. Say what you will - you guys are going home. Giants play Wednesday - when do the Phillies play next?— gmocrick
- I think its funny reading about how all you loser fans are moaning about your loss and how your team messed up tonight. The Giants were just the better team! Howard couldn't hit a ball and Utley wanted to throw a ball back at the pitcher and cause a fight. Goes to show you fans what can happen. Your team is Chockers!— MRD
- .318 in the series. Single with a man on 2nd. No run. Double with a man on 1st. No run. Lay off.— p1stol
- Thank you for removing McNabbag's racist drivel. Hey moron, Utley cost us more runs than Howard! But oh, that's right, he's white, so he must not be the problem.... ignorant hump!— revned78
- It's interesting to see the views of life that baseball represents. Those who yell 'choke', those who are bitter and angry and blame blame blame. And then there are the comments of those who praise the excitement and drama and pathos and just plain luck of baseball, appreciative for the chance to be fully engaged in an event with so much meaning and emotion. Hey the Phils made it so close, despite so many injuries. And as for Howard, he performed like an all star in 09 so he's no choker.
Congratulations on another great year, on a team that will still be the team to beat at least for one or two more years, and for those who are bitter and angry - lighten up and appreciate what we have rather than curse that wasn't to be.— oderb - Resign Werth!!!!— camtheman
hey MRD, why are the fans losers ? we cheer for our team til the end. go to bed and kiss your significant other on the cheek..- I give this team props for everything they've accomplished over the last few years. That said, this 2010 version of the Phillies is the most disappointing Philadelphia team I have ever witnessed. People will say all those Eagles teams that lost were more disappointing, but none of those teams were anywhere close to as talented as this Phillies team was. If you were to go position by position comparing the Phillies to the Giants, you would take the Philly. The Giants deserved to win this series because they were hungrier, grittier, and flat wanted it more, and that is what is so disappointing. And I hope Ryan Madson isn't hanging his head anymore after giving up that go ahead run. The pitchers have nothing to hang their heads about. The position players lost this series, not the pitchers.— Hemingway
- Its going to be a great series between the Rangers and Giants. Even better now that the Phallies are out. For once we have two new teams! Way to go Giants for beating these losers!— MRD
I don't know what's more damning - that Howard hit .318 in the series to lead the team, or that he could do that without driving in a single run. That's amazing. I'll tip by hat to the Giants, but that was an entirely winnable series for the guys in the red pinstripes. That should leave a rotten taste going into 2011. They'll still have the pitching, but they've got to get healthy and fill some glaring holes.— Doctor D- Funny how no credit is ever given to the Giants pitching.
The Giant's didn't get to the playoffs by hitting. It was the pitching.
Why not admit that the Giants' pitching won it?
— Wadsworth1
