Domonic Brown Responds After Saturday Blunder
CITIZENS BANK PARK — There were two out in the second inning of a scoreless game. The count was two and two. Josh Beckett threw a sinker that didn’t sink, and Domonic Brown turned on it.
The lanky rookie drove it 410 feet into the Phillies bullpen for a two-run homer. It was all the run support Cliff Lee would need en route to a 5-0 shutout of Boston.
The crowd erupted in cheers as Brown circled the bases, a far cry from the boos that rained on him last Saturday night when the Phillies played Oakland. In that one, Brown ran out a ground ball about as hard as he would a home run trot. Charlie Manuel didn’t like it, and he gave the young player an earful afterward.
Message received, loud and clear.
“It was definitely a wakeup call,” Brown said. “I just knew I needed to do better. I came in and went straight to the video room.”
Brown added a double in the fifth, and scored two runs on the night. He entered the game in a 4-for-34 slump over his last 10 games, but Manuel saw plenty of positive signs last night in his 23-year-old right fielder’s approach at the plate.
“He stayed on the ball good. He was selective. That’s what hitting is all about, being selective,” said the Phillies manager.
With two hits in three at-bats against the Red Sox, Brown increased his average from .208 to .220.
“We brought him up to give him a chance to play,” said Manuel. “He’s going through a break-in period.”
And Manuel’s little reprimand was all part of breaking-in the young colt. It sure garnered the type of response the old baseball man was after.
“I liked the way he responded tonight,” the manager chuckled.
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