Philly manager Charley Manuel took a page from the Bobby Cox "wrong and strong" school of managing: he refused to start the runners on the 3-2 pitch to Utley in the 8th inning, which blew up in his face, and he was defiant about his decision. He said they only had 5 outs left, and if Utley lined into a double play or struck out and one of the base stealing runners is thrown out, he's left with the inning over and Howard waiting on deck. Well, yes. He could also get exactly what happened: Utley hitting into a double play ANYWAY (at least, that's what it'll say in the record books, but even the umps admitted afterward they blew it-and that's saying something, since they stubbornly insisted that they got the trapped ball hit to Howard RIGHT!). And, yes, he only had 5 outs, and not only did he only have 5 outs, he only had 5 outs against Rivera. It's not easy to score against him, he is slow to the plate, Posada is not especially adept at throwing out runners, the Phillies, being up a game, were in a position to gamble, and, last, but definitely not least, they had two of their very best two base stealers on base in Rollins and Utley. I'll take the chance of a good hitter like Utley not striking out, (or lining into a DP) along with the two excellent base runners. Manuel was dead wrong, IMO.