azdad1978
Championship!!!!
Decision pays off for Brenly, Diamondbacks
By Ed Price, Tribune
PHILADELPHIA - Here was the decision Bob Brenly faced in Saturday’s sixth inning at Citizens Bank Park:
With the Diamondbacks down by two runs to the Philadelphia Phillies, two out and men on second and third, should he let Randy Johnson — pitching well and having allowed three runs only because of some suspect defense — bat?
Or should Brenly, the DBacks’ manager, turn to his bench for offense, even though his pinch hitters were in a collective 0-for-19 slump and Johnson had thrown only 78 pitches?
Brenly swallowed hard and chose the latter, and it took 11 pitches for him to be proved right.
Carlos Baerga snapped a three-week hitless streak with a pinch three-run homer to spark Arizona to a 6-4 victory.
"Randy pitched a great game today," Baerga said, "but B.B. went with his instincts."
Arizona trailed 3-1 at the time, and Brenly had seen his team score just one run in 14-plus innings since Richie Sexson went on the disabled list.
"As good as Randy was — and he was real good tonight — we had to score runs," Brenly said. "Randy’s worked a lot on his hitting, but we like Carlos Baerga up there in that situation better than him."
Said Johnson: "I’m pretty sure that I’m a singles hitter and a single probably wouldn’t have helped us in that case."
Not that Johnson (3-2) gladly accepted the hook.
"I never like to come out of any game," he said. "I felt like I was in command of the whole game. But it worked out for the best."
Baerga had been 0-for-10, all as a pinch hitter, since a pinch single April 9. But he battled Vicente Padilla (0-4) through an 11-pitch at-bat, fouling off five two-strike pitches before launching one into the right-field seats.
"He kept throwing outside, inside, breaking balls — stuff like that," Baerga said.
"That’s a professional hitter up there," Brenly said, "just fouling off the tough ones until he finally got something he could square up, and he didn’t miss it."
It was Baerga’s first home run since July 8 (69 at-bats) and the first homer off Padilla this season.
Johnson, who struck out nine and allowed only one earned run, had his lowest pitch count in nearly three years, since throwing 77 on May 23, 2001.
He was betrayed by two errors by shortstop Alex Cintron (whose defense this year has been subpar), a ball that fell between left fielder Luis Gonzalez and center fielder Steve Finley and a passed ball by Robby Hammock.
Mike Koplove, Jose Valverde (going two innings for the first time this year) and Matt Mantei held the Phillies to one run over the final four innings to preserve the victory for Johnson (3-2).
The final defensive miscue came with two out in the ninth, when Ricky Ledee’s high fly fell between Cintron and Finley. But with the tying run on first, Mantei got Placido Polanco to fly out for his fourth save.
"I tell you, I am just not going to have a 1-2-3 inning," Mantei said. "It’s not going to happen right now with my luck."
By Ed Price, Tribune
PHILADELPHIA - Here was the decision Bob Brenly faced in Saturday’s sixth inning at Citizens Bank Park:
With the Diamondbacks down by two runs to the Philadelphia Phillies, two out and men on second and third, should he let Randy Johnson — pitching well and having allowed three runs only because of some suspect defense — bat?
Or should Brenly, the DBacks’ manager, turn to his bench for offense, even though his pinch hitters were in a collective 0-for-19 slump and Johnson had thrown only 78 pitches?
Brenly swallowed hard and chose the latter, and it took 11 pitches for him to be proved right.
Carlos Baerga snapped a three-week hitless streak with a pinch three-run homer to spark Arizona to a 6-4 victory.
"Randy pitched a great game today," Baerga said, "but B.B. went with his instincts."
Arizona trailed 3-1 at the time, and Brenly had seen his team score just one run in 14-plus innings since Richie Sexson went on the disabled list.
"As good as Randy was — and he was real good tonight — we had to score runs," Brenly said. "Randy’s worked a lot on his hitting, but we like Carlos Baerga up there in that situation better than him."
Said Johnson: "I’m pretty sure that I’m a singles hitter and a single probably wouldn’t have helped us in that case."
Not that Johnson (3-2) gladly accepted the hook.
"I never like to come out of any game," he said. "I felt like I was in command of the whole game. But it worked out for the best."
Baerga had been 0-for-10, all as a pinch hitter, since a pinch single April 9. But he battled Vicente Padilla (0-4) through an 11-pitch at-bat, fouling off five two-strike pitches before launching one into the right-field seats.
"He kept throwing outside, inside, breaking balls — stuff like that," Baerga said.
"That’s a professional hitter up there," Brenly said, "just fouling off the tough ones until he finally got something he could square up, and he didn’t miss it."
It was Baerga’s first home run since July 8 (69 at-bats) and the first homer off Padilla this season.
Johnson, who struck out nine and allowed only one earned run, had his lowest pitch count in nearly three years, since throwing 77 on May 23, 2001.
He was betrayed by two errors by shortstop Alex Cintron (whose defense this year has been subpar), a ball that fell between left fielder Luis Gonzalez and center fielder Steve Finley and a passed ball by Robby Hammock.
Mike Koplove, Jose Valverde (going two innings for the first time this year) and Matt Mantei held the Phillies to one run over the final four innings to preserve the victory for Johnson (3-2).
The final defensive miscue came with two out in the ninth, when Ricky Ledee’s high fly fell between Cintron and Finley. But with the tying run on first, Mantei got Placido Polanco to fly out for his fourth save.
"I tell you, I am just not going to have a 1-2-3 inning," Mantei said. "It’s not going to happen right now with my luck."
