Phillies' loss to Reds includes controversial play at plate

IT'S KNOWN as "The Buster Posey Rule."

And, though it's not the 2010 NLCS anymore, Buster Posey is still a thorn in the side of the Phillies.

Posey, of course, was drilled at the plate by a baserunner in a May 2011 game and had his leg shattered. So the rule, which debuted last season, is appropriately named.

Rule 7.13, which prohibits a catcher from blocking the plate unless he has possession of the ball, also doesn't allow a runner to deviate from his pathway to initiate contact with an opposing catcher.

Perhaps Thursday night's execution of the rule was a little out of the ordinary, given the way it was exercised.

With the bases loaded and one out in the fifth inning of a 2-2 game, Reds third baseman Todd Frazier hit a bouncer to Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis. Galvis, whose slump with the bat is up to 0-for-26, fired home to get the force at the plate, except catcher Carlos Ruiz appeared to forget the situation and instead stood in front of the plate to await Reds pitcher Anthony DeSclafani for a tag play.

The umpire ruled DeSclafani out, but Reds manager Bryan Price came out of the dugout. After a brief meeting with home-plate umpire and crew chief Tom Hallion, Price decided to challenge the play.

Four minutes, 35 seconds later, DeSclafani was ruled safe, Ruiz was given an error, the out was taken off the board, and the Reds were given the go-ahead run in a 6-4 win over the Phillies.

Thanks, Buster.

"It was a big momentum play," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "Freddy was very heads up, outstanding read on the slow ball, and it looked like it just caught Chooch a little off guard. It was the right call.

"It is what it is. It's prevented catchers getting run over, that's for sure. As the rule stands, that was pretty blatant."

Phillies starter Aaron Harang wasn't pleased with the ruling.

"Ultimately," Harang said, "it's one of those rules that, who knows what's going on with it? Nobody does. The guy's out by 10 feet, and they claim that the catcher is blocking the plate. There's so much gray area with that rule, it's kind of crap.

"I don't understand it. It's something that's got to be figured out."

An inning later, after Harang walked back-to-back hitters and DeSclafani moved both up with a sacrifice bunt, Billy Hamilton provided a two-RBI single to seize control of the game and give the Reds a 5-2 lead.

Brandon Phillips then plated Hamilton with his third hit of the night to end Harang's outing.

Harang, who was pitching against his former team, dropped to 4-6 on the season after scattering six hits across 5 2/3 innings. He struck out one and walked five (one intentionally), while allowing five earned runs, matching a season high.

"The walks came back to bite Harang," Sandberg said. "One walk in the fifth and two walks in the sixth, all three scored. He's usually very good with some men on base and making some pitches."

The Phillies (21-34) took a 2-1 lead into that fatal top of the fifth inning.

Reds outfielder Skip Schumaker led off the inning by drawing a walk, and then DeSclafani bunted the ball past Harang for a base hit. The speedy Hamilton then sacrificed both runners up. Phillips, who was 8-for-15 in the series, roped an RBI double to score Schumaker, and DeSclafani was held at third. The Phillies decided to intentionally walk Joey Votto, loading the bases for Frazier.

Luckily for Harang, he induced a doubleplay after the replay review on Frazier's grounder to get out of the inning with only a 3-2 deficit.

But the Reds (23-29) struck again in the sixth.

After the Reds opened the scoring in the first with an RBI double by Frazier, the Phillies grabbed the lead in the bottom half with two runs on RBI from Jeff Francoeur and Maikel Franco.

DeSclafani surrendered only three hits the rest of the way, cruising through seven-plus innings to even his record at 4-4. The Freehold, N.J., native got a nice ovation from a small group of fans as he left the field in the eighth after Ruiz singled and pinch-hitter Cesar Hernandez walked to start the inning.

"It looked like we were going to get to him early and have a big night off him," Sandberg said.

With Tony Cingrani on in relief of DeSclafani, Ben Revere lined a double down the leftfield line, scoring Ruiz to get the Phillies within 6-3. Chase Utley then hit a sacrifice fly to leftfield to get the score to 6-4 before Ryan Howard struck out to end the inning. Howard went 0-for-4 on the night and has two hits in his last 33 at-bats.

Reds closer Aroldis Chapman came on in the ninth and got revenge on Franco, striking him out with a 102-mph fastball en route to striking out the side in order to pick up his 10th save.

After the game, the Phillies announced that lefthanded reliever Jake Diekman, who pitched 1 1/3 inning of scoreless baseball Thursday night, was optioned to Triple A Lehigh Valley. A corresponding move will be made today.

"He just needs to work on some things," Sandberg said. "He's a good part of the bullpen when he's right."