Jeff Hoffman navigates obstacle course in extra innings to set stage for win
Jeff Hoffman navigates obstacle course in extra innings to set stage for win originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
It isn’t easy to pitch two innings of scoreless relief. It’s even more difficult when the game is in extra innings because Major League Baseball, in its wisdom, has decided that those situations call for a runner to be placed on second at the outset for the sole purpose of making it easier for the offense to score.
So the fact that Jeff Hoffman managed to navigate that obstacle course in both the 11th and 12th innings Sunday at Citizens Bank Park, setting the stage for Kyle Schwarber’s walk-off sacrifice fly that gave the Phillies a 7-6 win, didn’t go unnoticed.
Especially in an era when most relievers are one and done. And especially considering he hasn’t been used in high leverage situations that often this season.
“We’ve been using him when we’re down or in the middle of games. But he was just outstanding,” said manager Rob Thomson. “He really stepped up.”
Added Bryce Harper: “Really big innings from him. I thought he threw the ball outstanding.”
Hoffman didn’t allow a baserunner. Except, of course, for the one that that rule book placed on second.
“It is what it is. It’s the new rules,” Hoffman said. “My thing is just to get that first guy out. Things tend to get a lot easier if you’ve got one out and a runner on second or third than nobody out with a runner on second.
“I didn’t know if I’d be asked to go two. But I was definitely ready for it. I always want the ball in my hands.”
Hoffman may have also inadvertently caused Padres manager Bob Melvin to be ejected in the 12th inning after pinch-hitter Rougned Odor was assessed a strike on a pitch clock violation.
“I knew the clock was ticking down. I don’t think the batter was eyes on (within the mandated eight seconds) because I wasn’t even engaged with the rubber yet. I didn’t get the pitch until a little bit later so I was actually going to step on and step off. I was going to disengage to get a fresh 20 (seconds). But (home plate umpire Brock Ballou) had already blown it dead.”
Sounds like Melvin had a good reason to argue. But he still had to leave the dugout.
BUT WHAT IF . . .
Thomson had a couple knotty decisions to make in the late innings and neither worked in the Phillies favor. Then again, there are no guarantees that the result would have changed if he’s made a different call. There are no good or bad moves a manager makes. Only ones that work and ones that don’t.
Lefthander Gregory Soto opened the eighth in relief of starter Zack Wheeler with the Phillies up by two. With two outs and a runner on second, he walked Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts to load the bases. Bob Melvin sent the dangerous Fernando Tatis Jr., who had been given a day off up to that point, to bat for Jake Cronenworth.
There were a couple reasons why Melvin did that. One is that Tatis, who hits from the right side, has a higher average and OPS (.316/.766) against lefties than against righthanders (.273/.714). More crucially, he’s just a better hitter than Cronenberg, who is batting .212.
There was nothing Thomson could do about Tatis’ talent. But he could have brought Yunior Marte, a righthander, out of the bullpen to face him, Especially since Soto appeared to be struggling.
Instead, the Phillies stuck with Soto. Tatis singled to left, driving in two runs to tie the score. Only then did Marte enter the game to record the final out of the inning.
“Tatis sprained his ankle, but we knew there was a chance he was going to pinch hit,” Thomson said. “That match-up between Soto and Tatis com[pared the Marte and Tatis is essentially the same. And although Soto walked two guys, it looked lioke he wasn’t missing by much. So we decided to stay with him.
The second incident occurred in the bottom of the ninth with the score still tied.
Like Melvin, Thomson had a couple cards to play since both Alec Bohm and All-Star Nick Castellanos had been given a rest.
Bohm pinch-hit for Drew Ellis to lead off the inning and almost provided a storybook ending with a long fly to right. But he didn’t get quite enough of the pitch and Padres rightfielder Brandon Dixon made the play right at the wall.
The next two scheduled hitters were Darick Hall and Johan Rojas, who was playing his third game in the big leagues after being called up from Double-A Reading. Castellanos remained on the bench as Hall struck out and Rojas grounded out to send the game into extra innings.
“I didn’t really want to use Casty unless the game was on the line,” Thomson said. “When we used him in the 11th, he was just going to pinch-hit and then come out of the game. I wanted to give these guys as much down time as we possibly can and let the other guys win this ballgame for us. But then it came down to that we had to use him.”
