Bryson Stott bunting down one run with no outs in the 9th inning and a man on second might haunt me for the rest of my life

I repeat, Bryson Stott bunting down one run with no outs in the 9th inning and a man on second might haunt me for the rest of my life.

Rob Thomson’s bullpen decisions have been bad, the relievers have been worse, but none of it compares to to what happened in the bottom of the ninth tonight during a must-win NLDS Game 2.

The Phillies were down a run. Castellanos delivered a two-run double to give the Phillies all the momentum in the world.

Just when you thought the Philadelphia Phillies were Dead Men Walking, they now had Bryson Stott come to the plate with zero outs and a runner in scoring position.

Nick Castellanos Delivers…

NICK CASTELLANOS DELIVERS. #RedOctober | #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/bl9xMaLLrw

— The Liberty Line (@LibertyLinePHL) October 7, 2025

For whatever reason, Rob Thomson then called for Bryson Stott to bunt.

Castellanos was standing on second with cement shoes, and instead of swinging away, Bryson Stott lays down a bunt. The Dodgers went to third base for an easy out, and just like that, the Phillies no longer had runners in scoring position and completely gave away all momentum.

When Harrison Bader ripped that single, the game should’ve been tied. If Rob Thomson had done the bare minimum and called for a pinch-runner, someone… anyone is motoring home and Citizens Bank Park is exploding.

Instead, because Topper decided to bunt Bryson Stott, the Dodgers casually took the out at third and left Stott stranded on first like a dope. By the time Bader delivered, the run was gone. Handed away.

That’s the part that makes it infuriating. You had the play, you had the momentum, and you managed yourself right out of it. It was self-sabotage.

Dodgers cut down Nick Castellanos at third base

The Dodgers cut down the potential tying run at third base! #NLDS pic.twitter.com/eDHzvZYVha

— MLB (@MLB) October 7, 2025

Dead Men Walking: Phillies comeback falls short, head to Los Angeles on the brink of elimination

This is baseball malpractice. Everyone in Citizens Bank Park felt it in real time. You cannot bunt there. Not in 2025. Not down a run in the ninth. Not with your season circling the drain.

It’s as furious as I’ve ever been at a Rob Thomson decision in his four years managing this team. The Phillies were not playing for one run, they were playing for their lives, and Topper decided to manage like it was 1975. That bunt might go down as the final nail in the coffin for this supposed golden era of Phillies baseball.

Managerial malpractice. Plain and simple.

Oh and this was pathetic too…

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