The Phillies blew a game that would have given them a commanding two-games-to-none lead with three to play in Philadelphia. They squandered a truly masterful pitching performance by Pedro Martinez. And they did it in slow motion, with a series of mistakes and just plain bad breaks that could haunt a team that believed in ghosts.
"You have to give a team opportunities in order for them to capitalize on them," shortstop Jimmy Rollins said. "Unfortunately, we gave them that. They were able to put together two runs with a walk and a ball that was thrown away. We're very confident, regardless of what happened today. It's not like we got out there and they just pummeled us. It was a game that got away from us. I like the way we're playing."
The fatal bottom of the eighth inning really began in the top, when manager Charlie Manuel decided to hit for Martinez. It was not a bad decision. Manuel could have tried to go one more inning with Pedro, but he'd gotten just what he'd said he hoped to get in Martinez's first real start in a month.
Manuel went to Chan Ho Park, who looked terrific the night before. Park looked just fine yesterday afternoon, too.
Stuff happened.
Leadoff man Casey Blake hit a sharp grounder that would normally be a routine play for third baseman Pedro Feliz. But the Phillies had Feliz guarding the line against a double.
"We shade the lines, tie ball game or one run up, in the late innings," coach Sam Perlozzo said. "We're guarding against this guy hitting a double down the line. If he hits a single, they have to bunt him over and they need a hit."
Blake's grounder ticked off Feliz's glove and rolled into left field. Ronnie Belliard pushed a bunt that got by the charging Park and rolled, as first baseman Ryan Howard put it, "into no-man's-land." Both runners were safe. Dodgers catcher Russell Martin came up looking to bunt, too.
