Last Night’s Game Was Off the Hook!

Last night was Weird Baseball, at its finest. And while it was a lot of fun, I want to start off by pointing out that I feel a little guilty at having so much fun at the expense of the Philadelphia Phillies. And not because I have any love for Philadelphia, or its storied sports franchises. I have a little bit of guilt because I’ve been on the other side of games like this. How many times during the Dark Period, were the Orioles the butt of Sports Center’s opening jokes? Too many. I know how that feels, and being on the other side of it is fun… but I empathize with the Phillies and their fans.

That aside, woof: what a beat down. The Orioles’ 8-run first inning brought literal injury to the insult, with starter Jerome Williams straining his hamstring, while covering the plate. It looked terrible, but the injury set up a cascading effect in the bullpen that delivered the evening’s weirdness.

The evening was an extended BP session. The Orioles hit a franchise-high eight home runs (Machado – 2, Paredes, Parmelee – 2,  Lough, Davis, Flaherty). They scored in every inning except the seventh.

Chris Parmelee made his 2015 debut in grand fashion, collecting four hits in his six at-bats, including his pair of no-doubter home runs. The effort earned him three pies in the post game interview.

Yes, the home runs were fun. Getting to watch a laugher while most of the AL East got its doors blown off (Toronto’s loss was only 3-2) was entertaining. But the best part was obviously watching Jeff Francoeur pitch. The Phillies’ position player came in to pitch the 7th and 8th innings, and – shades of Chris Davis at Fenway – the weirdest baseball was upon us!

Francoeur fanned Nolan Reimold (I can’t even imagine what the Kangeroo Court will do to him) on the way to recording the game’s only 1-2-3 inning in the 7th.

The 8th didn’t go as well, for Francoeur or the Phillies. The Orioles tacked on two more runs, and Francoeur labored – eventually reaching 48 pitches. There was some excitement over the end of his outing, because the Phillies dugout was unable to reach the bullpen to warm up a reliever behind him. In we-swear-we-aren’t-making-this-up territory, the Phillies’ bullpen phone was used so often that it was left off the hook. I’d like to think that the bullpen coach was simply tired of hearing it ring, but reality is rarely that much fun.

During a coaching visit the mound, Phillies first baseman Chase Utley let his manager have it. Utley was furious that Francoeur was left as the sacrificial lamb to save the bullpen for the remainder of the series. At some point, common sense has to take over. Risking player injury due to coaching incompetence (both decision-making and phone operation) is unacceptable.

If you missed this game, go back and read all the recaps you can. This game, in every sense of the phrase, was off the hook!