"Victorino, he hit a great pitch. [Matt] Stairs, you know, out of the bench, pretty good hitter. They took advantage and took the game."
Joe Blanton pitched around Ramirez the first two times No. 99 came up last night, much to the frustration of the Dodger Stadium Manny-lovers in their dreadlocked wigs, who had come to see their midseason acquisition lead them to a National League Championship Series tie.
The first walk was straightforwardly intentional, the second was more a matter of giving baseball's best hitter nothing he could do damage with. But the third time Ramirez sauntered to the plate, Phillies starter Blanton had runners on second and third and nobody out in the fifth inning, the Phils up 2-1, and after a mound conference that involved just about everyone in the organization this side of Pat Gillick, it was deemed prudent to throw Ramirez an actual strike.
Oops. The first-pitch soft liner kissed down in front of Pat Burrell in left, and even though Burrell got everything behind a perfect throw home, he didn't quite nip Rafael Furcal with the tying run.
The Dodgers were off to the races, at least until the Phils started crushing bombs in the eighth. This was not the Joe Blanton who closed out the NLDS. But one thing about that - there was no Manny in Milwaukee.
It was not the first time Ramirez had bested Blanton. He came into the night 14-for-25 with eight RBI lifetime against the righthander, a record we can assume led to the early walks.
Had either of his two clutch hits led to a win, it might have blunted Ramirez' displeasure over being fined a reported $2,500 by Major League Baseball for Game 3's Jets vs. Sharks posturing. Somehow, seven people from the two teams were fined for restraining one another and jawing a lot.
