A two-run home run in the eighth inning by Phillies star Bryce Harper propelled Philadelphia to a 4–3 victory over the Padres on Sunday afternoon in Game 5 of the NLCS and into the World Series.
But before Philadelphia advanced to its first World Series since 2009, it had to whether a tense moment in the ninth inning.
Clinging to a one-run lead, Philadelphia reliever David Robertson struck out Will Myers to start the inning. But after walking Padres first baseman Brandon Drury and shortstop Ha-Seong Kim in consecutive at-bats, San Diego had the tying run in scoring position and the go-ahead run on first base.
The Phillies turned to Ranger Suarez in a pitching change, and he entered to face Padres center fielder Trent Grisham. In lieu of swinging away, Grisham squared up to bunt on the first pitch he saw, and his attempt to drag bunt up the first base line was unsuccessful.
Instead Suarez threw Grisham out at first, though his sacrifice did move runners to second and third base with two outs. Suarez forced an Austin Nola flyout to center field to end the game, and Padres fans were left stewing over the bunt decision that sacrificed an out in a key situation when it was not necessarily warranted.
After the game, Padres manager Bob Melvin explained the decision that Grisham made to bunt.
“Yeah grass is wet, tough lefty on the mound,” Melvin said.
“I talked to him beforehand, if the first baseman were back drag it over there to give the righty behind him a chance to knock in the go ahead run too. I think it’s a decent play for sure. This is what we thought was best for it. He is a good bunter, and it gave us a chance to knock in the go ahead run.”
As for baseball fans across the internet, they disagreed with Melvin.
Here are some of the best reactions to the perplexing decision.
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