Mike Redmond says thank you, Phillies.
Thank you for possibly saving his job.
Redmond is the embattled manager of the Miami Marlins. He came into Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday presiding over a team that had gotten off to a 3-10 start.
Before Tuesday’s game against the Phillies, impetuous Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria prowled the area behind the batting cage as reports circulated that Redmond’s job was on the line.
The heat had cooled considerably on Redmond by the time the Marlins headed to the airport after Thursday’s series finale. The Marlins won that game, 9-1, to take the final two games of the series by a combined score of 15-2 (see Instant Replay).
The Phillies have played a ragged brand of ball throughout the early part of this season and these last two days, much to Redmond’s delight, were two of their worst.
In the field, they made a total of five errors — it could have had more if it weren’t for the whims of the scorer.
On the mound, they walked 10 batters.
Six of the 15 runs they allowed were unearned.
At the plate, they were just 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position. What’s worse there, the .143 average or the fact that the Phils had just seven opportunities with a runner in scoring position in 18 innings?
Truth be told, it was an egregious example of how far the baseball product has fallen in Philadelphia. And the fans have noticed. Oh, boy, have they noticed. Thursday’s crowd of 17,097 was the smallest ever at Citizens Bank Park. To put that in perspective, the team averaged over 45,000 in 2011 and over 44,000 in 2012.
“We’ve got some work to do,” manager Ryne Sandberg said. “We have to tighten up the defense. We have to play a little bit smarter. Tighten up the fundamentals. In those departments, it was not a good game for us.
“Fundamental baseball is a priority. Making routine plays is a priority. Hitting the cutoff man is a priority, so it’s been disappointing the last two games. It’s frustrating. It really is.”
The Phillies’ offense is so threadbare — they are averaging just 2.6 runs per game, worst in the majors — that Sandberg has recently started using Carlos Ruiz, who had just 11 homers the last two seasons, and Jeff Francoeur, who was pitching in Triple A last season, as his cleanup men.
The starting pitching depth is equally thin. Less than a month into the season, the Phillies found themselves so strapped for starting pitching Thursday that they had to ask reliever Dustin McGowan to take the ball even though he was only prepared to go three or four innings. McGowan, who was let go by the Dodgers at the end of spring training, had not started a game since the middle of last May.
McGowan did a nice job until the fourth inning when he admitted he “ran out of gas.” He walked three of the first four batters in that inning and all of them scored. The Phillies’ five walks left them with 66, which was the most in majors as night fell over Citizens Bank Park.
McGowan exited with the Phillies down, 2-0, and two men on in the fourth. Rookie Hector Neris was asked to clean up the mess, but he contributed to it by hitting the first batter he faced, opposing pitcher David Phelps, and allowing a two-run single to Martin Prado.
Sandberg’s decision to go with Neris in that tight spot was rather curious. Neris had just been recalled from the minors on Wednesday and he had just one previous game of big-league experience.
Sandberg said he wanted Neris against the Marlins’ right-handed hitters. He added that he hoped Neris could get the Phils “through the fifth or sixth innings and keep the bullpen intact.” Neris got through the fifth and Justin De Fratus got tagged for four runs in the sixth as the Marlins pulled out to an 8-0 lead, more than enough for Phelps, who pitched seven shutout innings and allowed just three hits.
Sandberg’s bullpen moves begged the question: Where was Jeanmar Gomez in the middle of the game? He was signed ostensibly to be the long man. Sandberg said he wanted hold Gomez back or keep him to one inning because he was going to provide the bullpen length on Friday.
As it turned out, Gomez got in the game when it was a blowout. So did Jake Diekman, who also pitched on Wednesday. Diekman threw a total of 33 pitches in those two games. He said that would not preclude him from pitching Friday, if needed.
Still unknown is whether McGowan will make another start next week. The Phillies still have a shortage in starting pitching depth, at least until Chad Billingsley is ready next month.
Come to think of it, this team is short in a lot of areas. Mike Redmond could not have been happier about that.