Dumb Plays

There are some things that happen in baseball games that make my blood boil. One is a batter sliding into first base to try and beat a throw. It's moronic and dangerous. Don't do it.

Another is swinging at the first pitch you see when the two hitters in front of you have both walked. This happened last night in the top of the third inning with the Phils trailing 3-0. With 2 out, Wilson Ramos doubled off Mets starter Noah Syndergaard. Rhys Hoskins and walked on 5 pitches and Asdrubal Cabrera followed with another 5-pitch walk to load the bases.

This brought Nick Williams to the plate. And he took a cut at the first pitch he saw and flied out to right to end the inning. Williams' overanxiousness completely changed the complexion of the game. Had he shown just a bit of patience, he could have taken advantage of Syndergaard's wildness and waited for his pitch. Whatever. The Phils left 12 runners on base (7 by Williams!) and were 5 for 12 with runners in scoring position. You're not going to win many games with numbers like that.

Meanwhile, the Braves won and the Phils are now 3.5 games behind them with just 21 games to play.