Phillies use blown call to escape victorious
Carlos Ruiz hit a home run in extra innings to give Philadelphia a 5-4 victory during Thursday’s game at Sun Life Stadium, completing a three-game sweep of the Florida Marlins.
Roy Oswalt has not played his best baseball against the Marlins during his last three starts, so Philly fans were a little noisy in the second inning when the right-hander landed in some trouble early in the game. In the bottom of the second, Oswalt found himself in a bases-loaded jam, but managed to escape the inning without damage with a strikeout.
Then in the top of the fourth, it was the Marlins’ turn to play defence and get out of trouble with a key play from Hanley Ramirez. Phillies’ Ruiz hit a line drive that got away from Florida’s Logan Morrison and charged towards third base. But Ruiz was unable to outrun a Ramirez’s deep throw from left field and Ruiz was tagged out at third base, ending the scoring threat and keeping the game scoreless.
Ruiz did get his revenge in the sixth inning and drilled one into centre field for a two-run double to open the scoring and give Philadelphia a 2-0 lead.
"He's got a quick bat," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said of Ruiz. "This is the best I've seen him hit since he's been in the big leagues."
In the bottom of the seventh, Oswalt received a visit from Manuel and was pulled from the game after putting two runners on base. Oswalt left with a 2-0 lead and finished the night yielding only three hits, but walked four and struck out five. Lefty J.C. Romero replaced Oswalt, but he was unable to clean up his mess without surrendering an RBI double and a two run single that saw the Marlins take their 4-2 lead.
Philadelphia managed to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth and got a lucky bounce to send the game into extra innings. The third-base umpire Bob Davidson called Gaby Sanchez's grounder foul with a runner on base, but video replay clearly indicated that Davidson made the wrong call. Had the right call been made, the Marlins would have ended the game then and there.
Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez was disgusted by Davidson’s blown call.
"I've been in this game for 30 years, and I have the highest respect for the umpires," Rodriguez said. "That was the worst call I've ever seen in my 30 years in baseball. That ball was a fair ball by six inches. He was never even looking at the play."
Davidson feels no remorse about the call and stands by his decision. “It was very close. But I'm right there. I know what I saw."
This was the 12th victory in 14 games for the Phillies, as they improve their record to 60-48, keeping them two games behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League East. The Marlins are not so fortunate having now lost four straight, matching a season high, and they fell to 53-55
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