ATLANTA — It was just Matt Vierling’s fifth time at bat in the postseason, but it doesn’t take a degree in October Baseball to understand the importance of an extra 90 feet.
“You need every run you can get,” Vierling said after the Phillies edged Atlanta in the opener of their National League Division Series. “We won 7-6, so you can tell that it meant a lot to get every run that we could get.”
That’s why he ended his fifth postseason plate appearance with a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt — the first of his big league career — to move Jean Segura to third after a leadoff double in the fifth inning. The sacrifice bunt became almost extinct this season after the National League adopted the designated hitter, but the Phillies have turned back the clock in the playoffs. It’s working.
