GDT 5/8/21 Philadelphia Phillies (Velasquez) @ Atlanta Braves (Anderson)

[gmwannabe]

LB, i was just the opposite. was away all week in California and didn't see any phils games. flew in to philly last night and got home and was surprised they were still playing. i saw the end of Contreras' double and then the pitching change and subsequent winning hit. one full play. i guess i should have stayed away. this could be a real tough loss. we'll see. in the past few years when they've lost games like this, they have surprisingly come back the next day and won. i don't know about today. that was a real tough loss. from what i've read Neris was one pitch away from the win. wow.
gm

[xogfog]

It was a tough loss and a shame they lost a game they should have won with VV starting. I don't think there will be any lasting bad repercussions for the Phillies, especially with Bradley coming back soon. I am a little concerned that they may have woken up the Braves.

[BostonRoss]

I don’t necessarily think that the double switches cost the Phillies the game (after all, Maton got a big hit). But the net benefit of these specific switches was negative. Two good hitters left, and Kingery came in. With a lead, you want good defense, and so maybe Maton for Miller would make sense. But Cutch remained (though he was a big part of the offense), and Kingery made a key error. I know Joe can’t manage as if Hector was going to blow the save, but I suspect he wishes he had done things differently.

[zambonir]

Hard to say the double-switch hurt that much when they still put up a run in the 11th and three runs in the 13th. And yes, Maton had a hit and Kingery scored a run and so did Knapp for that matter. Once you get to the 10th these days nobody knows anything really, though last night was a bit much.

Don't see how anyone but Hector wears this loss, much as it would have been nice to have more scoring after the early innings (but what else is new) or better relief pitching at the bottom of the bullpen (ditto). Had he walked Pablo Freeman probably would have won it with a three-run bomb but how do you make the same mistake to the same player in the same situation twice in one month (or so)?

[bkox]

From @EliasSports : Last night marked the first time in Braves history they won a game they trailed in three separate innings––in the ninth inning or later. Atlanta trailed in the ninth, 11th and 12th innings last night.

— Buster Olney ( @Buster_ESPN ) May 9, 2021

[BostonRoss]

Kingery scored a run

Not going to give Kingery credit for being on base for popping up with two on and two out!

[zambonir]

No credit, and Knapp didn't do anything either really. Nevertheless (with the help of the extra-innings rule) they scored more runs in far fewer innings with the "defense" line-up.

[bkox]

and Knapp didn't do anything either really

Eh.. Knapp laid down a great bunt. in this era of baseball that should be applauded. There was even a chance that Knapp might have beat it, if fielded cleanly.

[andyb]

One can say that the precise substitutions on the double switch may not have mattered and still say that Girardi overuses the double switch. I just point to Segura seeing and hitting the ball better than anyone in the lineup the last couple of days and leaving early on a double switch. He would have had 2 more at bats. One would have been fairly certain in a close game and he is not a defensive liability. That double switch was overkill at the time. Sometimes one needs to be OK with using a pinch hitter and not getting an extra inning out of someone like Coonrod.

[BostonRoss]

It’s not Girardi’s fault that Kingery has to be on the roster, or that the entire roster had to be used in a game like this. But generally, his major league appearances have to be as limited as possible. Yesterday, he went 0 for 3, made a key error, and almost got picked off. Double switching him in should be a last resort.

[zambonir]

I am not trying to take away from his bunt, he still doesn't even get credited with an AB! And if the general argument is that Joe still needed to save some offense for an inning that would never be played, it took Bohm out of the game and exhausted the bench.

But yes the real issue is A) having a four-man bench and B) only having two guys who can hit on it (and one of those is Maton).

We could have used even more Coonrod last night though.