Struggles at the plate not fatal
Teams that can't hit in the clutch aren't supposed to succeed in the postseason.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The high-wire Phillies tempted fate and won again last night.
They went 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position, usually the first step to a painful loss. Instead, the Phillies ground out just enough offense to defeat Tampa Bay, 3-2, at Tropicana Field in the opener of the World Series.
"We didn't play our best game," said leftfielder Pat Burrell, who left a runner at third base to end the third inning. "We could have scored a lot more runs. We're lucky it didn't come back to bite us."
It has gone that way throughout the postseason for the Phillies.
During the regular season, they batted a pedestrian .263 with runners in scoring position, in the middle of the National League pack. The Phillies' home-run power enabled them to tie for second in the league for runs.
The postseason brings tougher pitchers, but even that makes what is happening with the Phillies' offense hard to comprehend.
The Phillies are hitting .195 in 87 at-bats with runners in scoring position during the postseason. Since the playoffs expanded to three rounds in 1995, no team has hit that badly in clutch situations and won the World Series.
The 1998 New York Yankees have the lowest team batting average among World Series champions in that span at .215. A year ago, Boston hit .363 with runners in scoring position during its romp to the World Series title.
"We know we can't go 0 for 13 like that and expect to win too many more games," first baseman Ryan Howard said.
Howard, the cleanup hitter, had the most obvious failures. He struck out three times with runners in scoring position. Two of the whiffs came when a routine fly ball would have produced a run.
With Jayson Werth at third and one out in the third, Howard waved at a Scott Kazmir slider that went well out of the strike zone. With Utley at third and one out in the seventh, Howard chased another bad pitch: a curveball from lefthander J.P. Howell.
Howard said he could not pick up the pitches of Kazmir, a lefthander.
"Today was a rough day," Howard said "You've got to let it go. You can't carry it into Thursday."
For the postseason, Howard is 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position. He has only two extra-base hits and three RBIs in 34 at-bats.
"The biggest thing about him is this guy wants to hit so much," manager Charlie Manuel said beforehand. "He wants to make sure he helps the team. Sometimes, that hurts his hitting."
Howard was not alone. Chris Coste, shoved into the designated-hitter role, failed twice with runners in scoring position. So did Shane Victorino.