The virtues of an indestructible bullpen
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The virtues of an indestructible bullpen
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES — Roy Halladay was an interested observer when Antonio Bastardo jogged from right field to the mound at Dodger Stadium in the seventh inning. Two of his runners were standing on bases in a three-run game with the Dodgers' No. 3 hitter, Andre Ethier, stepping to the plate.
Bastardo fell behind 3-0 to Ethier. Given a green light, Ethier hacked at a 94 m.p.h. inside fastball only to foul it off. The next fastball, down and away, bounced toward Jimmy Rollins at short. He started a 6-4-3 double play and the bearded Bastardo walked into the visiting dugout with chin held high.
"Relief," Halladay said. "I obviously wished it was me. But it's a great feeling."
And no, the bullpen was not at its best in a 5-3 Phillies win Monday. But perhaps it took a night like this to truly appreciate the work of the relievers this season.
Or maybe not.
"It doesn't even take nights like tonight," Halladay said. "I've been on teams where it's never guaranteed, even if you get through eight innings. Our bullpen has gotten credit, but in a lot of ways they are unsung heroes. They've closed games down. You really feel like you get through six or seven innings and you have a chance to win the game. Even on nights like tonight when it's not the best you've seen them, they find ways to get it done."
That could be the understatement of the year. Consider this: The Phillies have three blown saves this season through 115 games. Only one of those blown saves has come in the eighth inning or later. Two of the blown saves were committed by pitchers no longer on the active roster (Danys Baez and Andrew Carpenter).
The Phillies have more closers (four) than blown saves (three).
Monday teetered on the edge of destruction. Bastardo's two outs on one pitch were huge. But Mike Stutes was rattled and Brad Lidge nearly tanked it all. But once Juan Rivera smashed into Chase Utley, the path toward a Phillies win was restored.
It was far from easy, as the beginning suggested, but the Phillies captured the first game of this series. Normally, it happens like so: Jump out to an early lead. Survive a minor bout of adversity in the middle innings. Ride the day's starter deep into the night.
That formula has yielded most of the 75 wins in 115 games, a clip rarely equaled in Philadelphia history. Games in September could carry the tag "meaningless" sooner rather than later. The postseason is not a goal; it's practically guaranteed.
It was murky in the eighth when Stutes allowed the first two runners to reach base and both eventually scored. The break came with Lidge on the mound. With runners on first and second, Dee Gordon tapped a grounder to second. Utley firmly planted his ground only to be bulldozed by Juan Rivera. Umpires stopped play, ruled Rivera out, and returned the runners to first and second.
That was important because the next pitch Lidge threw bounced to the backstop. Instead of the tying run crossing home, it moved only to third base. Eugenio Velez was stranded there because Tony Gwynn Jr. tried to tie the game on a bunt. Lidge pounced off the mound, snagged the ball and flipped it from his glove to Ryan Howard's for the third out. Utley, a connoisseur of glove flips, slapped Lidge on the behind as they ran to the dugout; the great escape complete.
Ryan Madson allowed a leadoff single in the ninth, but once he gained control of his devastating change-up, the inning was a breeze.
The whole night was not once Halladay departed. But it was a test the bullpen has rarely had to endure, and one that could pay off come October.
"They've been tremendous," Charlie Manuel said of his relievers. "I praise those guys all the time. That might have been one of the toughest ones tonight. We were digging a little hole for ourselves. But we wiggled out of it."
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Been saying it all year..... Starters are awesome but the real key to this team has been the performance of the bullpen, completely hurdling all expectations of them. Keep up the great work Bastardo, Madson, Stutes!— HAROLD Eskin- Stutes looks like he's finally hit a wall of sorts. The key to his impressing the brass in Spring Training was his stuff and his pinpoint control. 40 ks and 20 bbs is not pinpoint anymore and hitters seem to have a little book on him now, not fooled by his slider as much. Bastardo has impressed me more than any other RP in recent Phillies history. Lidge continues to be Lidge. My ulcer is starting to bleed again. Utley showed again why he is the smartest player in MLB. He completely forced the interference call by charging then stopping inRivera's way on that slow roller. If nobody on he comes in another 2 steps and scoops it to Howard to get the out at 1st. He had no chance stopping where he did and he knew it and forced the ump to make the right call. Brilliant! While I've not been much of a fan of 2-run madson over the years, the stuff he had last night was devastating. I don't think I've ever seen his change dart 2 feet in and down at the same time like that before. If he can keep that up he just may be unhittable.— Mark1npt
- Yeah, Madson's 1.82 ERA really sucks.— bill166
- And don't you forget it!
Frankly, the pen has been outstanding, but one key to that is the starters being able to see that they aren't used too much. At six and a part, Doc Halladay was below his average, but still beyond what most starters are able to give these days!— BEMiller - More than a little curious about how the playoff roster shapes up.— Grazman
- The Bastardo/Madson combo at the back end appears solid. Hopefully they can get solid contributions from Stutes, Lidge and maybe Perez. With Stutes faltering I think his role is up for grabs. I wish we had the 2010 Contratras.— mtairy1
- Phillippe Aumont might get a crack at a bullpen job on the big club before the year is up. His stats at triple A are excellent: 13.2 innings pitched, 24 strikeouts, 12 hits, 6 walks, 1.98 ERA.
— phillyl0 - So far, Brad Lidge has been pretty solid. Actually, the 2011 Contraras without injury would be great! Phillippe Aumont may be up in September but that doesn't count toward being post-season eligible. — BEMiller
- @mtairy1 - Perez is back in AAA. Phils are hoping Contreras returns in Sept. with our lead, we can afford to work guys back in slowly in order to get ready for the postseason.— dankil13
- I think Stutes has perhaps been a little over-used as of late - he's gone an inning+ in a couple of his more recent relief appearances and with Madson on paternity leave and the team "easing" Lidge back into the BP - the kid is probably a bit weary. I'd like to see him get a few days off - I'm sure he's not used to this excessive amount of pitching in the minors (or pitching with so much on the line). I have total confidence in Stutes, just think he could improve with a blow day or two— bingbangbong
- dank, I'm aware he was sent down ion lieu of Francisco. As I posted at the time I'm not enamored of that move...it leaves 1 lefty in the BP & puts more pressure on Stutes & Lidge. Last night's game showed what couls go wrong, they used Bastardo early to get a left/left matchup and he wasn't available late when Stutes & Lidge were shaky. With Polanco's right hand bat out they're forced to keep Francisco now but at the time I would have kept Perez.— mtairy1
- Have to agree with you, Mark1. Stutes is quietly giving up runs lately and, while they're not costing us games, a run here and two runs there from a middle reliever can definitely cost you in the playoffs. I think the league is onto him.— eman
- This is the time to get he kinks out, before the Sept 1 playoff freeze.
Look for Uncle Charley to pull his starters in the 7th more and more as the month goes on, to see if they really need a waiver wire deal. Then he'll let the horses go deep during September and reign them in as the season closes.— FatBoy90 - its time to use more David Herndon. he is clearly the best pitcher of the team— lonewolf100
