I was down at this game yesterday with my girlfriend my buddy and a friend of his. Nothing like 12th row seats behind the Phils' dugout. Quite a view.
It was muggier than a swamp down there yesterday and then the storm clouds rolled in, but it looked like it was going to be a quick shower. But, alas it was something more than that.
Some 45 minutes later the rain subsided and people made their way back to their seats like a procession at a high school graduation. And, once they got the tarp off the field, the skies opened up again in buckets. That was it for us. We bolted and some 2 hours after that play resumed. The word from Gary Matthews and Jim Jackson on the radio was that this storm cell just hovered above that area and kept circling for an hour and a half resulting in a hellacious downpour. I've almost never seen it rain that hard in my life when we were stuck in the stadium before we could leave during the brief slowdown in the monsoon.
This game was as much about the epic rain delay (2 hours and 50 minutes) as the crushing defeat itself. The game that started at 1:35, ended at 9:00-when we usually are deep into a 7:00 game!
For the first 7 innings the Phillies looked lost. They were stranding runners on base and aside from a little small ball in the first inning they looked as inept as they did against the AL during their June swoon.
After play resumed at around 7:00 it was a different game. Jayson Werth was clutch once again, sending a pitch into the left center stands to knot the game up at two apiece.
And, then it went into extra innings and wouldn't you know it, Carlos RUIN gets up to bat once again (it seems like once a night this happens) with the bases loaded and two outs. You knew before the first pitch how this would end up.
In the 12th inning Chad Durbin, who has been Mr. Reliable this year, allowed a 2-run shot to Fernando Tatis, who I can't believe is still in the league. Remember that name? As a rookie he was unbelievable. He hit 34 homers and became the only player in MLB history to hit a pair of grandslams in one inning. As a matter of fact, I can't believe Marlon Anderson is still in the league. Both of these guys are on the Mets.
Aside from Reyes, Wright, and Beltran, the Mets are fielding schleps out there. And, their pitching staff isn't all that either, but they have made the Phillies look like a bush league team the past two nights.
Saturday night it was Tom Gordon and yesterday Carlos Ruiz. I'm not one of those people who says Chris Coste should play every day, but he should start 55-60% of the games. And, Charlie Manuel needs to start replacing Ruiz with Coste in the 7th inning every night like he does with Burrell. If anybody should be benched in the later innings it's Ruiz. He has killed this team far too many times. He's amazing at one thing and that's killing rallies.
So, my advice for Charlie Manuel in this edition of the Monday Morning Manager is that Charlie Manuel start replacing Coste with Ruiz in the later innings whenever Ruiz starts.
Adam Eaton is on the hill tonight against Pedro Martinez at 7:05.
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