Thoughts on an Off Day

Every once in a while, something happens to remind us all that baseball is really a simple game.  If you do the little things and play the game the right way, good things will happen.

Take a look at last night’s win in St. Louis.  It was the 8th inning, and Jayson Werth was on first base with one out and Chase Utley at the plate.  Utley hits a smash to first, but Albert Pujols makes a nice play on the ball.  It could be a double play, leaving the Phillies with just three outs to make a comeback.

Instead of the Cardinals turning two, here’s what actually happened.

Werth makes a nice takeout slide at second, making it harder for the Cards to make the turn.  Utley hustles down the line and ends up beating the throw.  There’s two outs, but the inning is still alive.  It’s still alive because the Phillies did two things right on one play.  They hustled, and they played hard.

The end result is a hit by Ryan Howard, a game-tying hit by Pat Burrell, and a rally-capping homer by Shane Victorino.  The Phillies plate four in the 8th, all with two outs, and all because Werth and Utley decided to hustle to keep the inning alive.  It’s funny, but as crazy as this game can be, sometimes it’s incredibly simple.  If you do things the right way, good things happen.

One other thought about last night’s game.  I really liked seeing Burrell get the hit off Russ Springer, even when the Cards brought him in specifically just to get Pat.  It says a lot about a hitter when he can come through even when the other team dictates the match-up.  Pat deserves some praise for a nice at-bat that resulted in the game tying RBI.  Good teams do these kinds of things, and so it’s nice to see the Phils playing this way.