The key play in yesterday’s Philadelphia Phillies-St. Louis Cardinals game occurred in the Phillies half of the seventh inning, but it was not Ben Francisco’s home run.
Shane Victorino started the inning with a single to center field, bringing up John Mayberry. Jamie Garcia’s first pitch to Mayberry got away from Yadier Molina, allowing Victorino to move to second base.
Mayberry was retired on a fly ball to right fielder Lance Berkman. Placido Polanco grounded out to third on a routine ground ball for the second out.
Some have speculated that if Victorino were still at first, the Cards might have gotten out of the inning with a double play. That is not likely, but it was possible.
With two outs, manager Tony LaRussa decided to issue an intentional walk to Carlos Ruiz. Ben Francisco followed with the three-run pinch-hit home run.
Whether Garcia should have faced Ruiz can be argued forever, but without Molina’s passed ball, Victorino likely would have been at first base, which would have eliminated the option of an intentional walk.
One can speculate that Victorino might have attempted to steal second or that the Phillies might have hit-and-run with Polanco if Victorino were still on first in order to avoid a potential double play or to get a runner on third with one out. Polanco is one of baseball’s best hit-and-run batter.
Instead, the Phillies had runners on first and second with two outs. Ben Francisco hit Garcia’s second delivery over the left field fence to give the Phillies their three runs.
After the game, Garcia spoke.
“The first pitch was a slider in the dirt,” Garcia said. “Then the second pitch, [I] made a mistake and paid for it. It was a fastball that stayed up in the zone, right over the plate, and he put a good swing on it.”
LaRussa cited the fact that in his career, Francisco had been one for nine against Garcia. One negative for relying too much on statistics and past performance.
But of the Cardinals 12 hits, nine were singles. All three Cardinals extra base hits were doubles by Albert Pujols. All came with the bases empty.
The Cards stranded 14 runners. One positive for the Earl Weaver school of waiting for the three-run home run that happened for the Phillies but never for the Cardinals.
Yesterday’s game graphically illustrated that plays that appear fairly insignificant are anything but that in close games.
Molina’s passed ball changed everything.