Thole's bunt, communication both fail
Josh Thole during a seventh inning sacrifice bunt attempt against the Milwaukee Brewers. (Aug. 21, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
Along with the Mets' other problems in Sunday's 6-2 loss to the Brewers, there was a miscommunication about whether Josh Thole was supposed to bunt with Jason Bay on second base and none out in the seventh inning of a tied game.
Thole bunted the first pitch from Yovani Gallardo too high and too hard. Third baseman Casey McGehee fielded it and threw to first as Bay held. Two outs later, the inning was over.
Terry Collins initially said Thole was bunting on his own.
"Yeah, he was," the manager said. "Just wanted to get him over to third. That was his job, to get him to third. With the first pitch, I don't know . . . I'm sure he just said, 'Hey, I've got to get him over there. If I'm not going to get a ball I can pull, I've got to get him over there any way.' Just made a bad bunt."
Thole, though, said: "I was just going to try to hit a ball to the right side and move him over. They put the bunt sign on and I should have got it down."
Collins, through a Mets spokesman, later said third-base coach Chip Hale had indeed given Thole the bunt sign even though the manager hadn't called for the play. So the miscommunication was between manager and coach, not coach and player.
