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The rivalry between the Phillies and the Florida Marlins has a new ingredient.
Bad blood.
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The Marlins continued their dominance of the Phils yesterday as they handed the locals a 9-7 loss to sweep a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park.
Florida closer Armando Benitez struck out Jim Thome with two men on base to
end the game and extend the Marlins' winning streak over the Phillies to nine
straight. They have won - this is not a typo - 18 out of 20 dating back to last
April.
While Benitez's 96-m.p.h. heater was the final vignette of the matinee, it certainly
wasn't the most memorable.
The game's signature moment came in the top of the second inning. Phils starter
Brett Myers gave up a solo home run to Mike Redmond with one out. Myers' next
pitch, a fastball, was up and in on No. 8 hitter Alex Gonzalez.
Gonzalez, of course, took exception, because that's what hitters do these days.
He pointed and shouted at Myers. Catcher Todd Pratt took issue with Gonzalez's
reaction, and, faster than you can say "Tie Domi is across the street,"
the benches were emptying and fists were flying.
"He ran into the wrong dude," Pratt said of Gonzalez. "I grew
up fighting. He underestimated me."
Pratt was in the lineup because starting catcher Mike Lieberthal caught 12 innings
the night before and was getting a rest. So much for that. Pratt and Gonzalez
were ejected.
The fire on the field was put out quickly, and the Marlins went on to their
baseball-best 11th win, while the Phils stumbled to their ninth loss in 14 games.
But after the game, Florida manager Jack McKeon was still smoldering.
McKeon accused Myers of intentionally throwing at Gonzalez, one inning after
the righthander had hit Miguel Cabrera with a pitch.
"We were a little tired, a little sluggish," McKeon said. "And
then Mr. Myers decided he was going to wake us up. Mr. Myers was going to play
Mr. Macho out there. If you're going to play Mr. Macho, you'd better back it
up.
"Act like a pro. Who the hell does he think he is? He thinks someone can't
hit [a homer] off him? What is he, 0-2? We handed him his lunch both times.
Maybe that's the only way he can try to beat us. Maybe he doesn't have enough
stuff to beat us the old-fashioned way."
Myers, Pratt and manager Larry Bowa all were emphatic in denying that the pitch
to Gonzalez was intentional.
"I know they were frustrated because I already hit one guy," Myers
said. "But it was not intentional. I wasn't trying to hit anyone. They
should know that. We played 12 innings [Wednesday night] and neither team could
afford to go to the bullpen that early."
Said Pratt: "Look where I was setting up. I wanted a fastball away. Brett
was [ticked] off about giving up a homer and he overthrew the pitch. I stood
up because I was [ticked] at Brett, but as soon as Alex raised his hands and
started dancing, I had to defend myself."
Said Bowa: "Brett didn't do it on purpose. He knew our situation. He knew
we needed innings. He wasn't going to risk [getting ejected]."
None of this made McKeon feel any better. The Phils and Marlins play 13 more
games against each other this season - July 21 is the next one - and they could
be interesting.
"In this game, what goes around comes around," McKeon said. "We
don't throw at people. We just keep beating you."
McKeon has a point there.
The Phils just can't seem to beat the defending World Series champions.
"When you have a season like they did last year," David Bell said,
"I'm sure there's a carryover. They're playing with a lot of confidence
and they should. They have a good team. We have a good team, too, and we can
beat them. They've just outplayed us in the first six games."
The Phils shot themselves in the foot plenty in this series. They never should
have let Wednesday night's 5-1 lead get away. Yesterday's loss was by two runs
and, alas, they had a runner (Bell) thrown out at the plate with no outs in
the fourth, and Thome did not try to cut down a runner at the plate on a ground
ball in the sixth.
"I made a mental mistake," said Thome, who did not try to get Mike
Mordecai at the plate on Luis Castillo's groundout.
Bowa had no qualms with third-base coach John Vukovich sending Bell on Lieberthal's
no-out, bases-loaded double in the fourth. Jimmy Rollins (hitting .133 at the
time) and the pitcher were due up.
"I'm sure [Vukovich] thought we hadn't been doing much at the bottom of
the order," Bowa said. "If [Bell] makes it, it's a great play. If
the middle of our lineup is coming up, you might have seen a different scenario."
Ultimately, what hurt the Phils most yesterday was starting pitching. Myers
gave up 11 hits and seven runs in six innings.
"I flat-out stunk," he said.