Brown says gaffe cost Phillies in extra-inning loss

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MIAMIDom Brown stood there at third base on Wednesday night at Sun Life Stadium waiting for a pitch to be thrown. It would only be then that he could breathe a sigh of relief of the knowledge that he got away with something.

The pitch never came.

Instead, Marlins reliever Mike Dunn walked to the back of the mound and lobbed the ball to shortstop Hanley Ramirez at the second base bag. Waiting for the formality of the appeal to pass, umpire Kerwin Danley raised his right hand into the air to signify that Brown was the first out of the sixth inning.

He wasnt getting away with anything and neither were the Phillies in the 7-6 defeat in 10 innings.

Mike Stanton clubbed a homer off Danys Baez with one out in the 10th to help the Marlins salvage the last game of the series.

Meanwhile, Brown didnt even shrug or raise a fuss. He didnt charge after Danley to plead his case or show any anger of the injustice of the call at all. When he was called out to erase a leadoff triple, Brown simply turned to his right and walked off the field.

He didnt argue because he knew he missed second base.

I did not, Brown said when asked if he touched the base. I just got to go back and take the double. I dont know what I was thinking about theretoo aggressive, I guess. Right there it cost us the game. You live and learn. Thats all I can say.

Brown tried to hit the inside corner of second base on his way to third for a leadoff triple in the sixth with his team leading by two runs. Though the replays shown in the ballpark were inconclusive, Brown says he didnt miss the bag by much.

But he missed it.

Im always shooting for that inside part of the bag, Brown said. I got to go back. I was moving so fast and trying to get to third, but I have to go back.

Though Charlie Manuel took up Browns case with Danley, it was just a formality. Manuel spoke his piece and then headed back to the dugout.

I told him he touched the inside part of the bag and he said, Charlie, he wasnt even close to the inside part of the bag, Manuel said. He said he was around the outer part of the bag and he said it was obvious.

Bench coach Pete Mackanin said he looked at it and said he didnt get it. He said he missed it.

Browns literal misstep didnt seem like a big deal at the time, but as is so often the case it came back to trip up the Phillies. A few pitches after Brown was called out, John Mayberry Jr. slugged his second homer of the game in his first game back after being recalled from Triple A Lehigh Valley. Had Brown stopped at second or if the appeal had failed, Mayberry would have had a pair of two-run homers and the Phillies one more run to keep the Marlins at bay.

It slipped away from us, Manuel said. We didnt hit in the latter part of the game, but at the same time we made a lot of mistakesmental and physical. Thats what happens. They capitalized on everything we did wrong.

And the Phillies did plenty wrong. Raul Ibanez delivered another clutch, two-out hit after the Marlins chose to intentionally walk Ryan Howard for the second straight game and Jimmy Rollins slugged his eighth homer of the season, but the Phillies also committed three errors. The error that ended up being the most costly came when Brown misplayed a single from Omar Infante into a three-run, two-base error.

It was yet another one of those plays that didnt seem like a big deal at the time until the end.

They have new turf out there. Im not making excusesI have to get around that ball, Brown said of his error. It sped up a little more than I thought it would. I was trying to get over there and cut it off, but I almost overran it.

As a result, starting pitcher Kyle Kendrick was charged with two unearned runs in his relatively short, five-inning outing. Though he allowed one earned run and seven hits on 81 pitches, Manuel chose to pinch-hit for Kendrick in the sixth inning with the Phils nursing a three-run lead.

When asked if he got all he could out of Kendrick, Manuel was curt.

I took him out, didnt I? the manager said.

But when told about it afterwards, Kendrick thought he could have given much more and seemed a little chapped that he was removed from the game. Choosing his words cautiously, Kendrick told reporters that he threw 80 pitches.

Its not my decision, Kendrick said between long pauses. I had 80 pitches. Was I happy? No.

It wasnt pretty, but I was putting zeroes up.

The zeroes would have helped when Manuel called on relievers David Herndon and Drew Carpenter to get the team through the sixth and seventh innings. Instead, Logan Morrison brought the Marlins within a run with a two-run homer in the sixth before Infantes one-out triple in the seventh set up the tying run. Three innings later, Stanton ended it.

Its frustrating any time you lose. It was our game to win, Kendrick said.

Apparently not.

Either way, at 55-33 the Phillies still have the best record in baseball and lead the Braves in the NL East by three games.

Next, the Phillies return home for a three-game series against the Braves before the All-Star break. Manuel sees it as a pretty important series, so much so that he has his three aces lined up with Roy Halladay (11-3, 2.44) set to go on Friday night against Brandon Beachy (3-1, 3.23), Cliff Lee (9-6, 2.92) slated for Saturdays game against Tommy Hanson (10-4, 2.52) and Cole Hamels (10-4, 2.40) in Sundays finale against Derek Lowe (5-6, 4.21).

Afterwards, the trio will travel with Placido Polanco and likely Shane Victorino to the All-Star Game in Phoenix.
E-mail John R. Finger at jfinger@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow him on Twitter @JRFingerCSN.

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