Pick off by Jonathan Papelbon leads Philadelphia Phillies to victory - MLB Update
The St. Louis Cardinals’ outfielder Carlos Beltran cost the team a defeat at a time when they were about to steal the show from the Philadelphia Phillies.
The game ended with the Phillies winning 3-1. The closer Jonathan Papelbon was throwing for the Phillies in the last inning with the base runners set to reach the home plate on the occurrence of any opportunity. Therefore, even a single hit may have proven
disastrous for Philadelphia.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Beltran out of nowhere sprinted to steal second base only to be tagged out through a pick off by Papelbon.
The presence of mind shown by Papelbon was appreciable, because he was starting to throw before he realised that Beltran is running and thus he reacted quickly by flying the ball straight into the hand of shortstop Jimmy Rollins.
Papelbon is a most successful relief pitcher for the Phillies in the season. In most of the occasions when he was sent on the mound, the Phillies were able to protect the lead. As an acknowledgement of his great performances under pressure, he was awarded
the prestige of throwing in the All-Star Game this year.
Other than Papelbon, most of the Phillies’ relievers have been unimpressive with regard to blocking runs late in the innings. Frequently, Philadelphia saw the offence posting sufficient number of runs before their relievers came to spoil the whole effort
of the hitters.
While Papelbon has been commendable so far, on Friday he was close to causing a defeat for the team. However thanks to the blunder by Beltran, he managed to escape an unfriendly situation that he was throwing under during the game.
Papelbon, while talking of what he felt during the situation when he hurled the throw toward Rollins, said he was concerned he dropped the ball too fast from his hand.
“I think anytime you put a play together and it works, you kind of get surprised at first,” Papelbon said. “And then, you know, I kind of rushed the throw a little bit, but I knew I had somebody who was gonna be there.”
Meanwhile, Papelbon will be looking to keep his present run of form in the season afloat and record saves for the team.
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