BOX SCORE
There wasn?t a whole lot of complaining in the clubhouse about the blown call in the ninth inning that might have cost the Phillies a ballgame Sunday afternoon.
Maybe deep down inside the Phils knew they didn?t deserve to win this game.
Oh, Tyler Cloyd might have. The right-hander that is often dismissed as nothing more than a Triple A pitcher turned a commendable start, holding a rugged Milwaukee Brewers? lineup to three runs (two earned) over seven innings.
But the Phils? offense ? save for one desperate reach in the ninth ? was insufficient again. So was the defense. And so, too, was the relief pitching as Mike Adams gave up his second home run in as many days, an eighth-inning shot by Jonathan Lucroy that ultimately provided the Brewers with the margin of victory in their 4-3 win (see Instant Replay).
The Brewers, who have the second-worst record in the NL, came into Philadelphia riding a six-game losing streak. They have beaten the Phillies on back-to-back days and go for a sweep Sunday.
Lately, it seems as if the Phillies have become a salve for struggling pitchers. On Monday, they were beaten by Boston?s Alfredo Aceves, who entered that game with an 8.20 ERA. Saturday, Wily Peralta beat the Phils. He entered with a 6.35 ERA.
With Carlos Ruiz and Chase Utley on the disabled list and Michael Young on the bereavement list, Phils? manager Charlie Manuel has been using several replacements in his lineup. The list got a little longer Saturday when Jimmy Rollins could not start because of a sore right foot. He fouled two balls off the foot Friday night.
?Hopefully,? said Rollins when asked if he?d be ready for Sunday?s game.
With Rollins out, the Phils had just one regular infielder ? Ryan Howard at first base, and he?s playing with a sore left knee because of a cartilage problem that is not going away.
The Phillies were just 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position in this game. They had just eight hits in the first seven innings and only one of them was for extra bases.
By the end of the day, they had been held to three or fewer runs for the 32nd time in 56 games. That will lose you a lot of ballgames.
There?s not much Manuel can do but play his replacement lineup until his regulars return, and when they do return there?s no guarantee they will stay in one piece very long. Age has caught up with this team, which has lost three in a row to fall to 26-30.
?Today?s lineup,? lamented Manuel. ?I was looking at it for quite a while and that?s what we came up with.
?I?m going to tell you something: When you?re missing two, three, four players, it makes a whole lot of difference whether people realize it or not. You can get by sometimes putting one young guy in there and trying to get him some playing time or really see what he can do at the major-league level. But when you start playing two, three, four, not only does it put a heavy load on your team, it also puts a load on those kids, too."
Cesar Hernandez was one of the kids who got to play Saturday. He had three hits and might have tied the game (after Freddy Galvis homered to make it a one-run game) with a double in the ninth had pinch-runner Kyle Kendrick ? in the game because the Phils were down to just backup catcher Humberto Quintero on the bench ? not been picked off second for the second out of the inning.
Replays showed that Kendrick was actually safe because shortstop Jean Segura dropped the ball, but no one in the ballpark knew that until they saw television replays and by that time it was too late. Even umpire crew chief Tom Hallion admitted that second base umpire Mike Estabrook blew the call. Estabrook was standing on the infield side of the bag and was blocked by the tangle of bodies at the bag.
Manuel didn?t argue the call because he couldn?t see the drop from the dugout. All he had to go on was Kendrick?s reaction and Kendrick didn?t know the ball was dropped until he saw the replay after the game.
That was moments after Hernandez? double extended the game which eventually ended on a groundout by Michael Martinez.
?Even if he did catch the ball, I still thought I was safe,? Kendrick said. ?It makes it even tougher to see he didn?t catch the ball. Obviously [Estabrook] was in a bad position to see that. That was the game. I score right there and we have a tie game and anything can happen. You never want to get picked off but to know you were safe ? it ended up losing the game for us.?
With runs at a premium, the Phils can?t afford to give them away and that?s just what they did when right-fielder Delmon Young ran down a drive to the wall by Segura in the fifth. Instead of catching it for the third out, Young dropped it and a run scored.
?It hit inside my glove and when I went to squeeze it it had already shot out,? Young said.
Should he have caught it?
?Oh, yeah,? he said. ?If it lands inside your glove -- but if the spring pops the ball out you can?t do anything about it.?
Spring?
Whatever.
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