Just got out of the Marlins post-game clubhouse tonight when some Phillies writers passed on some comments made by Phillies manager Charlie Manuel.
The Marlins lost 8-6 to Roy Halladay on a wet, soggy night. There was a steady rain. The groundscrew was busy in between innings dumping bags of dirt.
Manuel said he thinks Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez wanted the umpires to delay the game. That might’ve meant avoiding Halladay, who wouldn’t have come back to pitch if the delay was long enough, or even banging the game all together.
“You’d have to ask Fredi, but I think he wanted to stall and see if they would stop the game before five innings and we wouldn’t get the game in. But, whatever. I don’t know. You have to ask him,” Manuel said.
Marlins players said conditions were terrible but they also pointed out that the Phillies played in the same conditions, too.
For me, the game turned in the seventh inning when Dan Meyer didn’t retire any of the five batters he faced. The Phillies beat up on Meyer and scored three runs, which turned out to be the difference when the Marlins scored four runs in the ninth before falling short.
Meyer’s ERA this year is 19.29.
