Score one for the “Never Bunt” crowd.
The Phillies’ season is on life support after manager Rob Thomson’s controversial decision to bunt down one run in the ninth inning backfired in a 4-3 Game 2 home loss to the Dodgers.
With the tying run at second and no outs, Bryson Stott bunted and the Dodgers tagged out Nick Castellanos while he attempted to advance.
The Phillies ultimately did not score another run.
Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said he preferred bunting in that spot due to the pitcher-batter matchup and the situation.
“Just left on left. Trying to tie the score,” Thomson said. “I liked where our bullpen was at based on, as compared to theirs. We play for the tie at home.”
Monday’s pivotal bunt call could be one that Phillies fans think about for a long time — and perhaps never forgive Thomson for — should Philadelphia not rally from this 2-0 series hole.
After trailing 4-0, the Phillies rallied for one in the eighth inning and scored two in the ninth on a two-run double by Castellanos.
Castellanos is not fast, but the Phillies didn’t have the bodies to pinch run for him.
The Dodgers brought in lefty Alex Vesia to face Phillies’ lefty second baseman Bryson Stott, who hit .225 with a .575 OPS against southpaws this season and is a career .251 hitter against them.
Stott laid off a high pitch for ball one and then bunted toward third base on the second offering.
The Dodges executed the wheel play, with third baseman Max Muncy fielding the ball and firing to shortstop Mookie Boots, who beat Stott to the bag.
Betts placed the tag to get the crucial first out.
“They couldn’t have run it better,” Stott said, per MLB.com.
Thomson also tipped his cap to the Dodgers, stating they disguised it well enough that the Phillies stuck with the bunt call.
“Mookie did a great job of disguising the wheel play,” Thomson said. “We teach our guys that if you see wheel, just pull it back and slash because you’ve got all kinds of room in the middle.
“But Mookie broke so late that it was tough for Stotty to pick it up.”
With baseball becoming such a statistical-oriented sport, Thomson’s polarizing decision had many detractors from multiple angles.
For starters, most experts and data is against bunting.
FanGraphs’ win expectancy chart had the Phillies’ chances of winning greater with a man on second and no outs than a runner at third and one out.
Home teams also almost always play for the win rather than the tie.
“No, I wanted to play for the tie,” Thomson said. “I liked where our bullpen was compared to theirs.”
The Phillies still had had two more outs to play with and Harrison Bader followed with a single to put the tying run at second, but Veisa retired Max Kepler on a force out and Roki Sasaki induced a ground out from Trea Turner — thanks to a fantastic scoop by Freddie Freeman — for his second save of the series.
Philadelphia is now in danger of losing three straight postseason series dating to the 2023 NLCS, carrying a 1-7 record in its last eight playoff games into Wednesday’s Game 3 at Dodger Stadium.
“We’ve got nothing to lose now,” Turner said, per MLB.com. “It’s not over. As much as people like to say that it’s not over, we’re not going to quit until they tell us to go home. We’ve got a great team. We’ve won three games in a row before. We’ve swept good teams. We’ve played good baseball. We’ve got to find that. We’ve got to find it quick.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
