Victorino Move Pays Dividends
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Victorino Move Pays Dividends
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Before tonight, the last time Shane Victorino had batted No. 2 in the line-up was Sept. 8th in a game against the Florida Marlins. Since then, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel had used a combination of Jayson Werth and Chase Utley in the two-hole.
But tonight, in the second game of the National League Divisional Series, Manuel changed things around. He hit Werth sixth. He hit Victorino second. When explaining the move prior to the game, he said he liked Victorino against a power lefty like C.C. Sabathia. He pointed to a game in July when Victorino hit two home runs off of Arizona's Randy Johnson and said he thought Victorino might have similar potential tonight.
"Lefthanders that throw hard, especially if Victorino makes them bring the ball down, he can have strong games at times," Manuel said. "If you remember, Randy Johnson, he hit two home runs off of Johnson on balls that were low. He's hit three or four off of some lefties, especially that throw the ball hard down."
Score one for the skipper.
Victorino had hits in his first two at-bats, including a two-out grand slam off of Sabathia in the second inning that gave the Phillies a 5-1 lead. The play was set-up by a nine-pitch at-bat by Brett Myers, who earned a two-out walk after falling behind 0-2 in the count.
Oh, and Werth also has a couple of doubles out of the six-hole.
Here is a list of players who have hit grand slams in AL and NL Playoff History.
National League
Shane Victorino, Philadelphia vs. Milwaukee, Game 2 LDS, 2008.
James Loney, Los Angeles at Chicago, Game 1 LDS, 2008.
Lance Berkman, Houston vs. Atlanta, Game 4 LDS, 2005.
Adam LaRoche, Atlanta at Houston, Game 4 LDS, 2005.
Reggie Sanders, St. Louis vs. San Diego, Game 1 LDS, 2005.
Aramis Ramirez, Chicago at Florida, Game 4 LCS, 2003.
Edgardo Alfonzo, New York at Arizona, Game 1 LDS, 1999.
Andres Galarraga, Atlanta at San Diego, Game 4 LCS, 1998.
Eddie Perez, Atlanta at Chicago, Game 3 LDS, 1998.
Ryan Klesko, Atlanta vs. Chicago, Game 1 LDS, 1998.
Devon White, Florida at San Francisco, Game 3 LDS, 1997.
Gary Gaetti, St. Louis vs. Atlanta, Game 2 LCS, 1996.
Mark Lewis, Cincinnati vs. Los Angeles, Game 3 LDS, 1995.
Ron Gant, Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh, Game 2 LCS, 1992.
Will Clark, San Francisco at Chicago, Game 1 LCS, 1989.
Dusty Baker, Los Angeles vs. Philadelphia, Game 2 LCS, 1977.
Ron Cey, Los Angeles vs. Philadelphia, Game 1 LCS, 1977.
American League
J.D. Drew, Boston vs. Cleveland, Game 6 LCS, 2007.
Johnny Damon, Boston at New York, Game 7 LCS, 2004.
Vladimir Guerrero, Anaheim at Boston, Game 3 LDS, 2004.
Ricky Ledee, New York at Boston, Game 4 LCS, 1999.
Troy O'Leary, Boston at Cleveland, Game 5 LDS, 1999.
Jim Thome, Cleveland vs. Boston, Game 2 LDS, 1999.
Jim Thome, Cleveland at New York, Game 6 LCS, 1998.
Paul O'Neill, New York at Cleveland, Game 3 LDS, 1997.
Albert Belle, Cleveland vs. Baltimore, Game 3 LDS, 1996.
Bobby Bonilla, Baltimore vs. Cleveland, Game 1 LDS, 1996.
Edgar Martinez, Seattle vs. New York, Game 4 LDS, 1995.
Don Baylor, California at Milwaukee, Game 4 LCS, 1982.
Mike Cuellar, Baltimore at Minnesota, Game 1 LCS, 1970.
Way to go, Uncle Charlie!!!— joeolive- kaz matsui's not on the list? this year's series is a mirror image of last year's— respect
- Matsui's should be on the list. He's on there for the mlb.com list. ...but anyway...Victorino for player-of-the-game??— NewB45
- Great game, and one of the great innings in post-season lore. Meyrs at bats should rightly go down as the game changing moment of this game....that's a simple fact. C.C. was gassed. Phils in 3.— bigredmachinefan
Comment removed.- Have the Phils finally found a Mr. October? Vic has hit two homers and two doubles in the last three post season games going back to last year.— Dull
Man - Cholly makes some good moves considering what an "idiot" he is. I've never understood all the criticism - it must be the accent. Of course we in Philadelphia all "talk real good", don't we?— COskier- What a game!! I was watching the game on TV and couldn't believe they called Myers' walk "meaningless" It turned the entire game around. Up until then the Phils were timid at the plate, and looked surpized when they made contact. Afterwards, they were patient and CC was Hootenized. What a great game from Myers. WHat a great 1-2 pitching combo in Cole and Myers. Let's go Moyer for the clean sweep.— jeff gross
- So if Victorino went 0-4 it would have been a bad move? Werth demolishes lefties. Come to think about it, he had 2 doubles tonight. The move was mediocre. It just had outstanding results.— tpcapone30
- tpcapone30, you are an idiot. Decisions are graded on success and this one worked. Give the man his due. He's earned it.— fla
- I watched the game on TV as well and they did not call the walk meaningless. In fact they said that if nothing else it runs up the pitch count. Then after the homer they didn't stop talking about how the walk was the play of the game....particularly Smoltz.— Captain
- right, I'm the idiot. Your claim might be the worst statement of all time. Not to change the subject, but it's the same thing. If someone decides to drive intoxicated, whether or not there is an accident, is this ever a smart decision? If Manuel decides to sit Utley, Howard, Burrell, and Rollins on Saturday, and the Phils still manage to win, is this a good move? NO!— tpcapone30
- Good point Capone. That is why baseball is the toughest game to handicap. A guy could be a .220 hitter in the regular season a becomes a .400 in the postseason and vice versa. Take Sabathia for example, he was a machine during the stretch drive and did not last 4 innings yesterday. And Myers was the opposite, a great game after two stinkers. But somehow, the players respond to Charlie’s moves. It’s unbelievable.— EL Zorro
- Murph, can you research the biggest, most meaningful HRs in Phillies playoff history? My memory goes back to the 1980 season and I don’t remember any HR bigger that Victorino’s. Maybe Sarge in 1983. I think Victorino's GS have to be up there, if we make it to NL Championship.— EL Zorro
- capone, you're ignoring the fact that Werth was clearly feeling the pressure of the postseason in Game 1. Not to mention that Werth had been terrible in the last 2-3 weeks of the season. In Game 1, he was overswinging on every pitch, feeling the pressure to set the table for the middle of the lineup. Dropping him down to 6th allowed him to relax a bit and take better swings. I thought it was a great move when it was first announced, and the results were great as well!— danielswolf
