Because MLB Advanced Media will no doubt have the above clip disabled any minute now, I’ve already got a back up plan in place. If Eric Bruntlett’s game-ending, unassisted triple play from the Phillies’ 9-7 victory over the Mets doesn’t strike you as particularly historic (despite being just the 15th such triple play in big league history, and only the 2nd time a game concluded with such an incident), consider the weirdness of Philadelphia’s Pedro Martinez defending former teammate Oliver Perez. From the Newark Star-Ledger’s Brian Costa :
The fact that Perez struggled, lasting just two-thirds of an inning in the Mets’ 9-7 loss, was the least surprising element. But Martinez was nonetheless critical of Manuel for not allowing Perez to finish the at-bat.
“I’ve never seen something like that,” Martinez said. “I know [Perez] didn’t do his job. He probably didn’t feel quite as comfortable. But on a 3-0 count, you come to take him out?”
Manuel had good reason to pull Perez, who gave up six runs and needed 47 pitches to last as long as he did. He had already given up two three-run homers when Martinez came to the plate, one by Jayson Werth and another by Carlos Ruiz. If Perez couldn’t throw strike one to Martinez after three pitches, Manuel had little reason to think he could do it on the fourth attempt.
“If I was pitching, I don’t know what I’d think,” Martinez said. “I would probably wait until he walked the guy and then take him out. I don’t know if that’s disrespect. I don’t know if that’s anything else. I don’t know how Ollie feels, but definitely, it was really weird.”