The Phillies suffered a walk-off defeat to the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 3 of the NLCS Thursday night, trimming the series lead to 2-1 with Game 4 set for tomorrow night. Despite what you may read or hear in the loss' aftermath, manager Rob Thomson is not to blame.
The job of a baseball manager is heavily-scrutinized, especially in the playoffs when a single move could appear to be the difference in a team winning or losing a series.
Thomson has put on a managing masterclass up to this point in the playoffs. His pitching and lineup decisions helped lead to an easy series win vs Miami in the Wild Card round, he ran circles around Braves manager Brian Snitker in the NLDS including in a stellar Game 1 win, and here the Phillies are, two games away from a second-straight trip to the World Series.
But the team lost 2-1 on Thursday night, so that's obviously what is most fresh in everyone's mind. There are critics bringing up Thomson's decision to pull Ranger Suarez after 5.1 terrific innings, him opting to go with rookie Orion Kerkering in the 7th inning and the move to bring in veteran Craig Kimbrel in the 9th.
Kerkering allowed a run without recording an out and Kimbrel's 9th inning turned into a Diamondbacks walk-off win. It's hard to argue with critiquing the poor results, the game was there to be won in the seventh inning.
But the Phillies are an offensive team. There is more money invested in offense, the star power is undeniable, every national show is in the middle of praising the group and it is a unit which got to match up tonight with a rookie starter who had a 5.72 in the regular season.
The team's total stats tonight: 28 at bats, 3 hits, 3 walks, 1 run and 13 strikeouts. It did that against a rookie starter and several average-to-above-average relievers. The lineup got shut down from the first pitch of the game, and only mustered a run when Diamondbacks pitcher Ryan Thompson decided to throw a pitch to the backstop.
Thomson is in a tough spot when Kimbrel and Kerkering, guys who should be two of his more reliable right-handed pitchers, can't get outs. I myself would've loved to see Seranthony Dominguez out for the 9th inning, but even he has been inconsistent this postseason. And even if Dominguez got through a scoreless 9th, which of us believe the offense would suddenly break through in the 10th? Sooner or later, Kimbrel was going to need to pitch in that game.
The Phillies lost Game 3 in Arizona because its high-powered, record-breaking offense recorded three hits and one run. They didn't lose because of Rob Thomson's management of the pitching staff.
The beauty is, Game 4 is tomorrow night. The Phillies will need a strong outing from youngster Cris Sanchez as the Diamondbacks will counter with a bullpen game.
As was the case in Game 3, it's on the offense to get the job done.