The bar was set low for the 2015 Phillies and last night they failed to clear it in Baltimore.
This game tonight is the most 2015 Phillies game of the 2015 Phillies.
— Macho Row (@Macho_Row) June 17, 2015
I honestly cannot remember the last time I watched a Phillies game quite that ugly from start to finish. If there is one single game that can be described as the low point of the franchise since parading down Broad Street, here’s hoping Tuesday night’s 19-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles was it. Please, baseball gods, have some mercy on us all.
The game was a mess from the start, with starting pitcher Jerome Williams serving up meatballs from the first batter and giving up six runs while recording just two outs. The only reason he did not reach the end of the first inning was because he injured himself trying to cover home plate after throwing his second wild pitch of the inning. Two runs scored on the second wild pitch (that’s right, TWO runs scored), and Williams was helped off the field with a strained left hamstring. That made for a long night for the bullpen, and this is not a Phillies bullpen that is capable of carrying such a workload. It showed.
The Orioles blasted eight home runs in the game. Reliever Justin McGowan served up five of them, thus taking one for the team. For some reason Justin De Fratus decided to take manners into his own hands and throw at a batter, leading to his being ejected on a night the bullpen needed to get through eight innings. Eventually, the Phillies turned to — who else — Jeff Francoeur to throw not one, but TWO innings of relief. After putting together the first scoreless inning of the night from a Phillies pitcher (of course), Francoeur got into some trouble in the eighth inning, and it looked as though it bothered Chase Utley seeing Francoeur continue to throw. If any of those events did not sum up the 2015 Phillies enough for you in one night, the ineptitude led to a bullpen phone malfunction. In this case it was a user error as the bullpen phone was left off the hook, leading Phillies pitching coach Bob McClure to literally wave the white flag (towel) to his bullpen in the eighth inning. In this case, the malfunction was user error.
https://twitter.com/Lahlahlindsey/status/610992993475006465
It’s all a Splatoon like mess right now, and there is no sign of things cleaning up soon. It is a complete system failure from top to bottom, and there is no way to CTRL+ALT+DEL your way out of it (although the St. Louis Cardinals have probably tried it). This is hardly a shock, but seeing it unfold like it did last night just painted the picture of where things stand better than Pablo Picasso could have ever done. The only thing is this is hardly a thing of beauty to be placed in an art museum with a fictional boxing character standing outside. This is a toddler finger painting and not understanding the concept of composition or staying in the lines.
But it gets better. It has to, right?
Just remember that nights like tonight are going to make that World Series championship all that much sweeter in 2036. #Phillies
— Macho Row (@Macho_Row) June 17, 2015
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