Phils Road Woes Continue Thanks to Anemic Offense, Botched Call

MONTREAL — Home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt can thank his lucky stars that Larry Bowa decided not to appeal his three-game suspension. Because if Bowa did, he might have been given a few games extra for arguing with the umpire after a missed call in Friday night's pivotal seventh inning.

Vladimir Guerrero hit a bases loaded double to provide the winning runs in a 4-1 victory over the Phillies, Friday night at Olympic Stadium. But if Wendelstedt had gotten a one-out call correct, Guerrero might never have had a chance to inflict his damage.

	The Phils have lost 16 of their last 18 games on the road. (AP)

With the bases loaded, the game tied at 1 and Orlando Cabrera batting on the fearsome Guerrero on deck, Expos manager signaled for a squeeze play. With Jose Macias breaking from third, pitcher Carlos Silva's pitch was low, way outside and bounced in the dirt before Mike Lieberthal caught it and ran down Macias for what appeared to be the second out.

But inexplicably, Wendelstedt ruled that Cabrera's bat touched the ball, thus negating the out recorded on Macias. Then, Silva whiffed Cabrera for what should have been the third out instead of just the second.

With just two outs, Guerrero got his at bat and delivered the game winner.

With Bowa watching from the press box, bench coach Gary Varsho argued, initially, after Wendelstedt's wrong call, but without the vehemence demonstrated in the past by his boss. He said he couldn't tell whether it was the correct call or not. However, he said the call changed the game.

"It was a big play in the ballgame,'' Varsho said. "Hunter thought he heard the tick off the bat first, so obviously it was a dead ball. Everybody played it off like it was a missed squeeze attempt with the bases loaded and we have a chance to get out of the inning. Everybody reacted but he's right there and he's got the final say. Then (if Macias were caught) we strike out Cabrera and we're out of the inning. We may still have to pitch to Guerrero again, but at least we've pitched to Cabrera with two outs and not one out."

Replays clearly showed the Cabrera's bat never came close to the ball and the Phils could have escaped. Expos manager Frank Robinson isn't sending the gift back, either.

"It turned into something pretty good," Robinson said. "We didn't lose an out and also we didn't have a base open when the big guy was coming up. So they had to pitch to him. Cabrera did a tremendous job throwing the bat at the ball. The big guy came through with the bases loaded. He's been doing a fine job all year. They had to pitch to him and he made them pay."

But it's not like they scored any runs anyway.

"The difference in the ballgame is we have the bases loaded, and they have the bases loaded, and they came up with the big hit and we didn't," Varsho said. "We had a great chance, and you need to take advantage of those situations."

The latest loss on the road pushes the Phils to a Major League-worst 4-19 away from the Vet, while the 20-28 mark drops them to six games back in the NL East. Friday's loss was the Phillies' eighth in their last nine road games and 16th in their last 18. If the Phils double their road win total, which would improve them to a .363 percentage, they would be .500 and a knocking on first place's door.

On top of the continued road woes, the Phils have only one run in two games. They were shutout Thursday afternoon in a 1-0 loss to the Mets at the Vet and got one off Tomo Ohka and the Expos in the latest loss. To pile on, the Phils have scored once in the last 22 innings.

Ohka pitched well (seven innings, five hits and a walk) but the Phils had their share of opportunities to score. For instance, the Phils loaded the bases on three straight hits with one out in the ninth and came up with nothing.

The only run they got was on Pat Burrell's long homer with two outs in the fourth that made it 1-0.

Meanwhile, Ohka (4-2, 3.61) says he hardly had his best stuff.

"I didn't feel it was a very good start, just so-so," said Ohka through a translator. "I didn't have exact location. Location is a big thing for all my pitches, especially my fastball. I love to help the team, to win for the team."

For the Phils, starter Randy Wolf (3-3, 5.09) matched Ohka until that fateful seventh inning. The lefty wriggled out of a two-on, two-out jam in the first and a second and third jam with two-outs in the third. Then from the fourth to the seventh, he retired nine of 10 without allowing a hit.

The seventh started with a double for Phillie-killer Mike Mordecai and then a one-out double by Macias to tie the game. He then walked pinch-hitter troy O'Leary and gave up a single to Jose Vidro to load the bases before giving way to Silva.

"It was frustrating," Wolf said. "I just didn't like the way that last inning went. Walking O'Leary and I didn't like the pitch to Mordecai. Those two pitches got me pretty frustrated. It's tough, you didn't really have any room for error and that's tough against this team. From this year to last year, they've really improved their lineup. It's hard to work when you know that they could take advantage of any mistake."

Game two of the three-game series is Saturday when David Coggin (0-1, 6.48) makes his third start for rehabbing Robert Person against Carl Pavano (3-5, 5.44). Coggin took a no decision on May 16 in a 4-2 loss to Randy Johnson and the Diamondbacks. Coggin allowed just three hits and one run during his five-inning stint and, despite his ERA, right-handers are hitting just .170 (8-for-47) against him.

Pavano has one win and three losses in his last four starts for a 6.75 ERA, but beat the Dodgers, 3-1, last Saturday.

Notes: New Phillie Jeremy Giambi was in uniform for the first time since last Wednesday's trade but did not play. ... Jose Vidro extended his hitting streak to a Major League season high 18 games. ... Burrell's 12th homer puts him in a three-way tie for seventh in the National League. Sammy Sosa leads with 17.

John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com