Sometimes it's the little things that matter
by Scott Butler 4/25/09
Anyone who stuck around for the ninth inning of last night's game saw one of the best Phillies comebacks in recent times. Nobody will forget Shane Victorino's grand slam home run in this game for a long time. What people probably will forget is some of the little things that happened along the way. If these things didn't happen, there probably is no dramatic comeback. Let's analyze.
1. First inning: after walking the leadoff batter Emilio Bonifacio, Brett Myers picks him off at first. Pickoffs happen all the time, but imagine how the first inning would have turned out if he didn't get the pickoff. In the actual game, Uggla hit a three run homer with two outs, followed by two more hits before ending the inning down 3-0. Without the pick off, the score would have been 4-0 with two runners on and one out. Who knows what would have happened next?
2. Hanley Ramirez. In the fifth inning, Ramirez hit a ball that looked like a definite triple and maybe even an inside the parker, but he trotted around the bases assuming it was a home run and only got a double out of it. Later in the inning, he decided to make up for his mistake by stealing third, but he had a terrible jump and was thrown out by a mile at third.
3. Also in the fifth inning, with two on and two out, Cameron Maybin hit a slow grounder to Jimmy Rollins at shortstop and he just barely beat the runner on the force at second.
4. Jimmy Rollins' at bat in the ninth. Rollins was batting with the bases loaded, two outs, down by two. Matt Lindstrom was all over the place and had a 2-0 count on Rollins, yet Rollins decided to swing at a high and away pitch that was clearly a ball. He ended up walking anyway, but Jimmy was lucky he didn't pop out on that pitch.
I know I am super analyzing things here, but it is amazing how every tiny play can make a big difference in a game like this. That's what makes it so fun.
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