Phils-Rays Games 3 and 4

Notes on Game 3:

A couple of points about Ruiz's winning swinging bunt. Although Carlos Ruiz has been swinging a good bat, he has been a double play machine all year and letting him swing away with the base loaded was a roll of the dice. A safety squeeze would have been the prudent play. The swinging bunt was successful because it replicated a safety squeeze, but it was very fortuitous. On the other side of the play, Evan Longorian has been second-guessed by some for not giving the ball a chance to roll foul. But I think this is unreasonable. Given the circumstances and the bang-bang nature of the play, the third baseman reacted the way most everyone else would have in a similar situation.

Notes on Game 4:

Pat Burrell was up with two men on in the 7th inning. Burrell is hitless in the Series and has shown no signs of breaking out of it. Dobbs, Stairs, and Jenkins were available to pinch hit. Burrell was soon to be taken out of the game for defensive purposes. Manuel should have pinch hit for Burrell. At that point, the Rays were still in the game and the Phils had an opportunity to blow it open. Manuel's loyalty to Burrell and a few other players can be admirable at times. But at other times it is downright foolish.

The Phillies struck out 4 times last night, an atypically low number. Half of those strike outs were by Chase Utley who was hitless. Utley has come up with key hits throughout the playoffs and has played solid defensively. But he is still not hitting the way we have come to expect. And he is not the type of hitter who should be striking out as frequently as he is. The Rays struck out 12 times last night. You would have to search far and wide to find another game this year where the opposition struck 3 times as many as the Phils.

Chad Durbin continues to struggle but fortunately he has not been needed in critical situations. J.C. Romero, on the other hand, has been rock solid; his sometimes wayward control has not been in evidence.

The Rays offense has been a study in futility. The ineptitude of Longorian and Pena, in particular, has been well documented. It would be satisfying to conclude that this is all due to dominant Phillie pitching or, as been reported, brilliant scouting reports. But it is likely that a large part of it is slumpingTampa Bay bats. This may continue but it would be wise for the home team to fight complacency.