For the second consecutive game, a squirrel stole the show during the National League Division Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals. On Tuesday night, a rascally little critter scampered around the field at Busch Stadium during the sixth inning, Wednesday night’s varmint made its appearance known in the fifth inning, running by home plate just as Phillies pitcher Roy Oswalt was making a pitch to Cardinals second baseman Skip Schumaker.

Some comments from the those involved (via MLB.com):

“I was wondering what size animal it needed to be to not have a pitch,” Oswalt said. “I got distracted. I didn’t really know that would be a pitch. If it ran up the guy’s leg, would he have called the pitch for a strike? It’s hard to say.”

“You notice that Roy wasn’t the least bit bothered by it,” said Lance Berkman, his former Astros teammate. “Where he’s from, that’s just par for the course.”

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel had visions of squirrel season.

“There’s not too much I can do about a squirrel running across the field,” he said. “I don’t know what I can do about that. Of course, being from the south and being a squirrel hunter, if I had a gun there, might have did something. I’m a pretty good shot.”

Ah, that Charlie Manuel and his dreams of small game hunting. You gotta love the guy.

Squirrel zooms past plate during Oswalt pitch [MLB.com]