Rob Thomson’s ‘greatest hits’ tour continues.
Philadelphia Phillies manager Thomson came under renewed scrutiny Thursday for a crucial decision he made in Game 4 of the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Philadelphia led 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.
But Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez, who until then had spun a scoreless gem, put Dodgers runners on first and second base with one out. Thomson then pulled Sanchez from the game and brought in reliever Jhoan Duran.
While that wasn’t a bad decision in itself, it was what Thomson made Duran do that led to backlash. After Duran grounded out Andy Pages, Shohei Ohtani came on the board for the Dodgers.
Oddly enough, Thomson chose to intentionally walk Ohtani to load the bases. Mookie Betts, the next batter for the Dodgers, eventually walked to force a run and tie the game at 1–1.
The Dodgers went on to win the game 2-1 in overtime.
Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson was criticized for a controversial decision
Thomson learned of the decision to intentionally leave Ohtani out via social media. Many users mentioned Ohtani’s poor performance during this series against the Phillies (1-for-17 to that point), and the fact that there were two outs at the time (with the intentional walk pushing the tying run another 100 feet to third base).
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