Tommy Pham asked to sit so Jace Peterson could appear in WS
More Teams. More Games.
The Arizona Diamondbacks answered back Saturday night with a commanding 9-1 win to even the series. (2:58)
PHOENIX — Calling it a “true team moment,” Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo had nothing but praise for outfielder/designated hitter Tommy Pham after the veteran offered to give up his final at-bat in Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday in order for teammate Jace Peterson to get a turn at the plate versus the Texas Rangers.
“He came to me and he said, ‘I need to you get my boy an [at-bat],'” Lovullo recalled on Sunday. “And I said, ‘Are you sure? 100 percent sure?'”
Pham was. And so with the Diamondbacks leading 7-1 in the ninth inning, Peterson pinch hit for Pham, who already had four hits in the game. The reserve infielder grounded into a forceout, but Peterson can now boast he had an at-bat in a World Series contest.
“He’s that kind of guy,” Peterson said of Pham. “He’s a great teammate, a great player. He did an awesome thing that a friend would do. I really can’t say enough about it.”
Adding to the story is the fact that no player has ever gone 5-for-5 in a World Series game. Pham turned down the chance to be the first.
“We’re boys,” Pham said. “I wanted to do this for him.”
Peterson didn’t know about the possible accomplishment for Pham or else he might have felt differently about the gesture.
“If I would have known that, I probably would have said, ‘No, you’re going to chase this record,'” Peterson said with a smile.
After Game 2, Pham took to social media to defend his manager. Pham wanted to make sure people knew he didn’t get taken out of the game so much as he offered to come out.
“This was a moment where it was a teammate loving a teammate to give him an opportunity,” Lovullo said. “He took what mattered most to him personally … and said it’s more about the team and my teammate at this moment. That spoke volumes about what that clubhouse feels every single day.”
The Diamondbacks went on to win the game 9-1, evening the Series 1-1.
Game 3 will take place Monday at Chase Field here, and without knowing how the rest of the Series will play out, the at-bat on Saturday could be Peterson’s only one in the Series.
“He told me, ‘Get ready, I’m going to give you this last one,'” Peterson recalled Pham saying. “I think more guys than you think would do it. I’m sure there are some guys out there that would want that record, but I would say the majority of guys would do it, especially in this clubhouse.
“It was awesome to get in there and get an at-bat.”