Monday night the Phillies outlasted the Pirates in 11 innings (PHI 6, PIT 5) to earn their eighth win in their last 12 games. Philadelphia sits one game behind the second wild-card spot at 68-62.
The win came courtesy of Sean Rodriguez's walk-off home run. Corey Dickerson swatted a go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth, but Hector Neris blew the save and allowed a game-tying solo homer to Josh Bell. Rodriguez eventually ended things:
In stereotypical Philly fashion, Monday's game featured plenty of boos from the Citizens Bank Park crowd. Rodriguez, who was mired in a 1 for 21 slump before the walk-off homer, was booed after striking out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. The slumping Rhys Hoskins heard boos after popping up with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth.
Following the win Rodriguez admitted the boos and the calls for him to be removed from the roster bothered him, and he called fans "entitled." From Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia:
"Who's looking bad and feeling entitled when you hear stuff like that?" he said. "I'm not the one booing. I'm not the one screaming. I'm not the one saying pretty disgusting things at times. That seems pretty entitled. You're just making yourself look pretty bad as an individual, as a person, as a fan. That's tough.
"There's still a lot of good fans, though. Those are the ones I hear and pay attention to. The few that might be behind home plate and say, 'Hey, Sean, keep doing your thing. Don't worry about it. Things will come around.'"
Yeah, that's not going to go over well. It never does when players criticize fans. Booing can be dumb at times -- I once sat in the stands and heard Mariano Rivera get booed after a random April blown save -- but fans are free to express their displeasure with the team. As long as they don't cross the line (slurs, etc.), it's fair game.
Rodriguez is hitting .214/.316/.393 with four home runs in 101 plate appearances this season. He's played every position except catcher. It's been a struggle for Rodriguez, and he doesn't play a whole lot, but the best thing he can do to silence the crowd is produce. Calling fans entitled will only make it worse.
