Phillies right-hander Nick Pivetta was brilliant Thursday against the Orioles, striking out 11 in seven innings before leaving with a 4-1 lead. The Phillies went on to win 4-1, too, but not before manager Gabe Kapler used four similarly talented right-handed relievers to finish it off.
Here’s how it went:
Tommy Hunter: 1/3 IP, allowed two hits
Luis Garcia: 2/3 IP, allowed one walk
Edubray Ramos: 2/3 IP, struck out both batters he faced
Hector Neris: 1/3 IP, game-ending groundout
The move in the eighth made some sense, given that Hunter had allowed two of the three batters he faced to reach. Still, why take Garcia out after two outs afterwards if you’re not going to go to your closer? And why remove Ramos after two strikeouts in a three-run game. Not that we like it when managers manage to their players’ statistics, but that switch cost Ramos what would have been his second career save, and it didn’t earn one for Neris, since he would have needed to pitch the full inning (or enter with men on base) to pick up the save in a three-run game.
So, Kapler used four relievers even though the Phillies are due to play eight straight days. Maybe it was what he wanted to do going in; the Phillies had Monday off and were rained out Tuesday, so the guys hadn’t pitched in a while. Still, one imagines they’ll all be busy this weekend with four games against the Cardinals beginning tomorrow.