Utley Yells at Pitching Coach in Phillies’ Latest Debacle
Last night, the Phillies finished up an eight-game road trip where they went 0-8. It was the team’s longest winless road trip since 1883, when the Phillies — in their first year of existence — went 0-9. The Phillies are now 22-44, the worst record in the league.
But last night’s loss was much more embarrassing. The Orioles hit eight homers and won, 19-3. The Phillies were down 12-0 after three innings. Baltimore scored in every inning except the seventh — where the Orioles went down 1-2-3 to Phillies’ outfielder Jeff Francoeur, making the first pitching appearance of his major league career.
But things didn’t go so well for Francoeur in the eighth. He gave up a leadoff homer, then hit a batter and walked two more. The Phillies still had several pitchers available in the bullpen, so you’d think they would have brought one in to get the final two outs. But there was a problem.
The bullpen phone was off the hook.
Eventually, it was placed back on the receiver. But the damage was done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOVqzy53kfA
(Video via Sons of Penn)
This led to a surreal scenario where Chase Utley gave it to pitching coach Bob McClure on the mound. Franceour ended up throwing 48 pitches (25 for strikes) in his MLB debut.
Francoeur: "Chase wouldn't let me go any farther. He knew I was getting tired. He didn't want me to blow out or hurt for rest of the season"
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) June 17, 2015
The Phillies return home tonight and play the Orioles again at 7 p.m. Hopefully, they’ll have a way to contact their bullpen pitchers by then.
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