Phillies bullpen puts together a winning formula to help keep the Dodgers juggernaut in check originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
Deploying the bullpen used to be something of a paint-by-numbers proposition. When a team led, the third-best reliever would pitch seventh. The second best was eighth. And the closer the ninth came.
It generally worked very well. And if that didn’t happen, well, the manager could hardly be questioned for following the rules.
Soon, however, some very smart people began to realize that this didn’t make much sense. The key inning could easily come before the ninth and if the substitutes didn’t do the job, the closer might not have a lead to protect.
The Phillies have been reluctant to designate a deal for years. This season they’ve taken it to a whole new level, mixing and matching as circumstances and matchups dictate. They can do this because they have a smorgasbord of good options in the bullpen, and Wednesday night’s 4-3 win over the Dodgers illustrated that perfectly.
With the help of a shaky Dodgers defense, the Phillies took a 4-2 lead in the top of the seventh. With three right-handed hitters in the game, right-hander Orion Kerkering came in to start the inning. At the same time, manager Rob Thomson was acutely aware that if Los Angeles managed to extend the inning, Shohei Ohtani would bat fourth.
Sure enough, with the two-time MVP left-hander walking toward base, the Dodgers had runners on first and third and just one out. Thomson called up lefty Matt Strahm, who not only struck out Ohtani but also retired Teoscar Hernandez. It was a save for Strahm everywhere but in the record books.
“I just wanted to stay who I am and attack,” he said with a huge smile. “Attacking is all I do. Give blows. Obviously, you know who is in the box. He is one of the largest to ever catch a bat. So it’s cool.”
It was only after getting Hernandez lined up that he allowed his emotions to show.
“You saw it all come out after Hernandez,” he said. “You know you’re there to get two outs. Yes, it’s Ohtani for the first one, but I need to make sure I get the second one. The second is the most important.
“Great moment of the game. That’s what we play for. One of the main memories of my major league career is arriving at Fenway Park with the bases loaded and facing David Ortiz.
And what happened?
“It was like a 184-mile-per-hour ground ball into a double play,” he recalled happily. “I remember it very vividly. Drew Butera called a curveball. I shook him. He called the curveball again. He shook it. He turned his head to the side, gave me the heater and that’s what I wanted.”
The Phillies had a lead to protect, actually, because they received some assists from the baseball gods.
It started with the score tied at two when Whit Merrifield led off starter Gavin Stone with a routine fly to center. Except, between the lights and dusk, Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages never saw him. As he helplessly spread his arms, the ball dropped behind him and Merrifield rolled to third with a triple.
The Dodgers added to their infield, and two ground balls later, Merrifield was still at third. But the third grounder, hit by Trea Turner, was the charm. Shortstop Miguel Rojas was unable to catch the ball cleanly. Had he done so, it would have been a close play at first, but the official scorer conceded a hit to the speedy Turner. Merrifield scored easily.
With the inning still alive, Alec Bohm doubled and Bryson Stott beat out a slow play to second to bring Turner home for the second run of the inning.
And then Jose Alvarado and Jeff Hoffman shut it all down. Exactly as the Phillies planned. It’s just that it’s a plan that can change every night.
