News
Lack of hustle costs Reds' Phillips a start
Baker benches second baseman for play on Monday
By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com
07/21/09 9:26 PM ET
LOS ANGELES -- Not hustling on a fly ball on Monday has cost Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips a start on Tuesday vs. the Dodgers. Reds manager Dusty Baker benched Phillips for one game. "I messed up. I'm not playing. There it is," Phillips said on Tuesday inside the visitors' clubhouse. During the first inning of the Reds' 7-5 loss to the Dodgers, Phillips hit what appeared to be a routine fly ball to right field that fell in front of Andre Ethier. Had he come out of the batters' box at full speed, Phillips probably would have had a double. Joey Votto still scored from third base on the play to give the Reds a 3-0 lead, but Phillips was thrown out easily at second base. Instead of having a runner on second and no outs, the Reds' rally faded with no more runs scoring. On Tuesday, Adam Rosales started at second base. Phillips is 3-for-9 (.333) with one homer and two RBIs lifetime vs. Dodgers starter Randy Wolf. Baker was asked if benching Phillips sent the message about what happens for not hustling. "I don't send messages," Baker said. "If I want to say something, I say it. The easiest thing to do is hustle. I talked to Brandon and he said he thought he had a sacrifice fly. In this game, you should never assume. You cannot assume they will catch the ball, ever." In 86 games, Phillips is batting .271 with 14 home runs and 63 RBIs. Considered one of the core players of the lineup, he has had a history of not hustling, but this is the first time he's been sat down by Baker. Phillips was still considered available to pinch-hit or enter in a double switch later in Tuesday's game if the situation dictated. "I'm not going to sacrifice the game for principle at this point," Baker said. On Monday, Phillips told reporters that not hustling would never happen again. "We'll see. I told my daddy that a few times," Baker said. "I said, 'I'll never do it again.' He said, 'I'll make sure.'"Mark Sheldon is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
