Jerome Williams was cruising along in his Phillies debut, but manager Ryne Sandberg decided to pull the right-hander at the first sign of trouble.
The quick hook backfired, as Antonio Bastardo and the Phillies' bullpen imploded and turned a 2-1 lead into a 7-2 deficit in a matter of minutes.
That was all the Angels needed to pick up a 7-2 win and send the Phillies to their fourth loss in five games (see Instant Replay).
“We wanted to keep Jerome around 75-80 pitches,” Sandberg said, defending the move. “He hadn’t pitched in 12 days ... and his velocity dropped there in the sixth from about 91 to 88. We just couldn’t finish out the inning.”
Williams, claimed off waivers from Texas on Sunday, shut out the Angels for the first five innings, giving up only three hits in the process.
But after surrendering a leadoff homer to Kole Calhoun and a sharp single to Albert Pujols in the sixth, Sandberg decided to yank Williams despite the fact he’d only thrown 72 pitches.
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“I felt like I had more in me,” Williams said, “but it’s the manager's decision and I just have to respect that.”
Bastardo entered and promptly allowed five of the six batters he faced to reach base. Jake Diekman allowed another run-scoring hit, and the 2-1 lead Williams departed with became a distant memory.
“It sucks,” Williams said, “but the beauty of this game is you can always come back tomorrow.”
The defense didn’t help during the implosion. Marlon Byrd missed a fly ball in the right-field corner, and what would have been the third out instead was a go-ahead, RBI, ground-rule double for David Freese.
“I just missed it,” Byrd said. “I didn’t lose it in the lights or anything. I just missed it.”
Byrd wasn’t charged with an error on that play because he didn’t get any part of his glove on the ball. He was charged with an error later in the inning, however, when a throw to the plate went wide left of catcher Carlos Ruiz.
Bastardo took the loss after surrendering four hits and five runs in 1/3 of an inning. He did not make himself available to the media after the game.
“I don’t know if (Bastardo) tries to be too fine when he gets out there or what the case might be,” Sandberg said. “He’s got to rise to the occasion in a situation like that.”
Williams received a no-decision after he went 5 1/3 innings, was charged with five hits and two runs, walked one and struck out three.
“I felt good going out there and just wanted to go as long as I could,” said Williams, who has now pitched for seven different teams in his career, including three this season. “I trained my arm already to endure this type of stuff. In previous years I’ve done everything, so I know how to keep my arm in shape.”
Darin Ruf went 2 for 2 with a pair of singles and was hit by a pitch to lead the Phillies' offense. A sacrifice fly by Ryan Howard in the fourth and an RBI single by Byrd in the sixth provided the scoring.
The Angels pounded out 11 hits against Phillies pitchers, including a 3-for-4 effort by Calhoun and a 2-for-4 showing from Howie Kendrick.