By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Reds and Philadelphia Phillies players fight on the field during the sixth inning Friday. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

Is not stealing a base when your team is up 10-0 the same thing as not sending a runner home if it's going to be a bang-bang play at the plate when you're up 10-0?

Yes.

It's the same call. You don't do anything to rub your opponent's face any deeper in disgrace than it already is.

At first glance, that appeared to be the case Friday night, when Reds third-base coach Tim Foli sent Adam Dunn home, where Dunn pummeled Phillies catcher Mike Lieberthal in a failed attempt to dislodge the ball.

But what if the third-base coach thinks the play isn't going to be close, because the outfielder's throw has missed the first baseman/cutoff man, and the middle infielder has to scurry to the ball to make the throw home and the assumption is the runner will be running hard?

What then?

Does the third-base coach deprive Ken Griffey Jr. of an RBI when the play shouldn't be close?

Probably not. Play the game as you'd normally play it. And that is what Foli said he did.

"If Adam's running hard there, the play isn't close," he said. "I wasn't doing anything to show anybody up."

Dunn concedes he wasn't running as hard as he normally would. He said Foli wasn't vigorously wind-milling him home, as Foli typically would do if he thought the play were going to be close.

Foli's explanation made sense to Dunn.

The next inning, Phillies pitcher Carlos Silva threw two pitches behind Dunn, the second right after the umpire's warning that to do so would mean ejections for Silva and Phillies manager Larry Bowa.

Dunn hesitated a moment before charging the mound, which gave Lieberthal time to tackle Dunn from behind.

Silva took a swing at Dunn while he was on the ground, but the swing didn't connect.

If Foli was right in what he saw, then it was a perfect storm of events according to the unwritten rules of baseball protocol: the collision, the pitches at the batter, the charge of the mound, the tackle. Everything except that swing by Silva.

The umpires did what they were supposed to do, ejecting Bowa, Silva, Jose Mesa, Dunn and Sean Casey (the Red leading the charge out of the dugout).

And Major League Baseball probably will do what it is supposed to do, suspending all five for a few days.

The videotapes of the incident are already en route to New York for review.