It’s comforting to know that Phillies manager Charlie Manuel hates his baseball team as much as you do.
After the Phils’ excruciating 6-5 loss in 10 innings to Toronto on Saturday, Charlie Manuel closed the clubhouse doors and ripped his team a new one.
Again.
“We don’t get it done. We can’t play in the moment. We make mistakes. In about every phase of the game we make mistakes. We could have more wins. We don’t have them because we don’t play good baseball. Solid, all-around, we don’t play good baseball. We keep making the same mistakes over and over and it goes right from our defense into our offense and also to our pitching. That’s kind of how we play. We find a way to lose the game.”
Cliff Lee remained winless on the season after blowing a three-run lead in the eighth, thanks both to his own ineffectiveness and a Rollins error that set up the Jays’ three-run rally.
The offense rolled over and gave up once again after Toronto tied the score in the 8th.
And Manuel did himself no favors by once again refusing to pitch Jonathan Papelbon, his best relief pitcher, in a tie game on the road. Instead, Manuel opted for rookie Joe Savery, who lost the game in the 10th on an 0-2, two-out hanging breaking ball to Rajai Davis. The winning run, scored by Yunel Escobar, only made it into scoring position because Savery balked him there.
(The Phillies, by the way, are 0-16 in games that Joe Savery has pitched. They’re not all Savery’s fault. It’s just a thing I’m writing because it’s a cool stat and I want to impress you with my ability to steal information off of Twitter. Thanks to @DEKerr77 for the info.)
So, once again, the Phillies suffered yet another walk-off loss, their 8th walk-off loss of the season. No other team in Major League Baseball has more. And Jonathan Papelbon has not appeared in any of those eight losses.
That’s inexcusable, and hopefully, Cholly took some time to take himself to the woodshed after Saturday’s loss as well.
Look Charlie, we hear ya. You hate your team. Believe me, we know. We hate your team, too. Most of your players stink right now, even the “good” ones. But you’re responsible for a little of this mess too, aren’t you?
Even with all the injuries and the replacement-level players trying to fill the void, the Phillies are losing games they shouldn’t lose. And games like today have been all too common.
The Phillies are going out of their way to lose baseball games. When Cliff Lee has a three-run lead in the 8th, the $125 million starter MUST protect it. Jimmy Rollins, the $33 million shortstop, MUST make the plays defensively, because he certainly isn’t doing anything with the stick. And Charlie Manuel MUST start using Jonathan Papelbon in tie games on the road before going to rookie relievers who are still learning on the job.
Fortunately, we can turn off the TV or stay away from the ballpark every time the Phillies begin to yack up another lead like a disgusting hairball. Manuel has to sit through it and watch all these players that he hates screw things up over and over and over again.
Because as we all know, baseball managers really have very little influence on how these ballgames turn out.
So yes, Charlie. Scream at your players! Assault them with rhetoric! Let them know these types of performances will no longer be tolerated!
Just don’t include Jonathan Papelbon. Because he’s the one guy you can be sure had absolutely nothing to do with the outcome of walk-off loss number eight.