The Phillies found themselves in two extra innings games over the weekend, and they seemed to deploy a new strategy. Multiple times in yesterday’s contest, Don Mattingly elected to have his players attempt to bunt the ghost runner over to give the Phillies a chance to score the run without needing a base hit.
The first attempt came in the bottom of the tenth, when Bryson Stott successfully bunted what would have been the winning run in J.T. Realmuto to third base after the Blue Jays stranded their
ghost runner in the top half of the inning. This is despite Stott coming into the game as one of the hottest Phillies hitters, hitting .409 since the start of August with a 1.185 OPS. He did his job moving the runner over with the bunt, but Toronto then elected to intentionally walk Brandon Marsh to face Alec Bohm who has struggled with hitting into double plays. He didn’t do that here, but he didn’t get the run in either, as Bohm popped out to foul territory. Then with two outs, Derek Hill lined out to strand the runners.
The Phillies attempted another bunt in the 11th inning in a similar situation. Their bullpen held the Blue Jays scoreless in the top half of the inning again and gave them another chance to win the game by scoring the ghost runner. Kyle Schwarber was intentionally walked to begin the inning to put runners on first and second and Trea Turner attempted a bunt. His was not as successful as Stott’s, as it was popped back to the pitcher Braydon Fisher. However, Fisher dropped the ball but recovered enough to throw Hill out at third, essentially having the Phillies waste an out to have the same scenario they had before the bunt but with one out. Bryce Harper then drew a walk to load the bases before Luis Arraez hit a shallow fly ball to right fielder Jesús Sánchez who gunned down the pinch runner Garrett Stubbs at home for a double play to end the inning.
Finally, the Phillies bunted again to lead off the 12th, this time down a run after their bullpen could not keep Toronto’s ghost runner off the board. This was the most successful of the three, as Realmuto’s bunt ended up being a base hit that put runners on the corners with no outs. Stott then singled in the tying run before Hill drove in the game winning run three batters later.
Bunting with the ghost runner has its own positives and negatives. If you are successful, it allows you to score the run without a base hit. However, even if you are successful in sacrificing, it essentially gives you one less chance to score because you are giving away an out. So, what do you think about bunting the ghost runner over in extra innings?
