Padres' Bob Melvin Defends Controversial Bunt Call in 9th Inning of Loss vs. Phillies

The San Diego Padres were eliminated from the 2022 postseason on Sunday with a 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series at Citizens Bank Park, and manager Bob Melvin has had to defend his controversial call at the end of the game.

After Bryce Harper put the Phillies on top in the bottom of the eighth inning with a two-run home run, the Padres came up to bat in the top of the ninth down a run.

Phillies reliever David Robertson struck out Wil Myers before walking the next two batters. Robertson was replaced by Ranger Suárez, as Trent Grisham stepped up to the dish with the chance to put the Padres back on top.

Instead of trying to get a hit, Grisham bunted—putting both runners in scoring position—and was the second out of the inning. Austin Nola then hit a fly ball to right field for the third and final out.

Melvin defended his decision to have Grisham bunt:

In addition to Melvin's controversial bunt call, he also opted not to deploy star reliever Josh Hader in the bottom of the eighth inning, instead leaving Robert Suarez in for his second inning of work.

It's hard to believe Melvin didn't use his prized trade-deadline acquisition with the team's season on the line, as doing so could have sent the series back to San Diego for Game 6.

The Padres won just one game against the Phillies—an 8-5 victory in Game 2 at Petco Park. The team is now left with a number of questions to answer, one of which should be what else it needs to do to truly field a contending team.