Who's Running The Show?

The retinue that thinks Charlie Manuel cannot handle a pitching staff have new fuel for their fire following last night's tough 5-4 loss to Milwaukee.

The game matched a tired bullpen and a relatively rested one. Brewers' manager Ned Yost was reluctant to use his worn out group but gave in after starter Dave Bush yielded a home run to Pat Burrell to give the Phils a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning. His decision turned out well. Manuel had options but allowed Cole Hamels to take the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning having already thrown 110 pitches and both paid for the decision as the lefty yielded a lead-off double to Ryan Zaun and a two-run shot, his second of the game, to Prince Fielder. That was it.

Afterwards, Hamels talked of finishing games he starts.

"This is something I wanted to do all last year, and I wasn't given that opportunity. Now I've been given that opportunity, and I haven't been able to succeed, so it kind of probably makes it harder for [Manuel] to make that judgment the next time."

"You want to be able to finish off your games. It's something I'm going to work toward, but it's something I haven't been able to do the last couple of games."

For his part, Manuel told the press afterwards, "I wanted him out there. I feel like he's ready for that."

Ready for what, exactly? Complete games? Nice as they are, for better or worse they really aren't the way the game is played any longer for the most part and especially with a young guy who has had his share of health problems. It was one thing to leave him in to face Zaun and quite another to face Fielder, lefty vs. lefty notwithstanding. We need only look back to the first inning when the same match-up produced a similar poor result.

Manuel's decision also smacks of allowing Hamels to dictate policy. The Phillies' alleged brain trust in general doesn't appear to know how to handle Hamels. The lean lefty can be petulant and demanding, accusing the team of failing to pay him enough or of providing adequate healthcare professionals on its staff.

While Hamels was dominating in innings two through seven, striking out ten and yielding two hits and a walk, the double to Zaun should have been the red flag Manuel apparently never saw or looked for. Moreover, Hamels has a strong tendency to give up the long ball and Fielder, struggling most of the season but not in the first inning last night, has a tendency to hit them! It should be noted Hamels finished with 121 pitches last night, a career high. He clearly threw one too many and his manager, who should but doesn't know better when it comes to pitching, couldn't or wouldn't see it coming.

Unfortunately, the 24 other guys on the team paid the price.