PHILADELPHIA — After a nine-inning bullpen game turned into a disaster, the Phillies made a pair of moves within their bullpen again.
After the Phillies 11-7 loss to the Pirates in which the entire bullpen pitched, the Phillies made two roster moves.
“It kind of backfired,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said after the game. “We got lit up.”
Right after the game, the Phillies sent Joe Savery packing for Lehigh. The left-hander has been terrible all season, posting a 5.73 ERA in 23 innings pitched. In fact, the Phillies are an astonishing 0-17 in games that Savery pitched.
In his place, they called up left-hander Brian Sanches. Sanches had pitched in three games this season, allowing five earned runs in four innings.
Savery was absolutely shelled in 2 2/3 innings pitched last night. He allowed five runs on five hits and two walks, which allowed the Pirates to take a commanding 8-2 lead at the time and put the Phillies in a deep hole.
This morning, the Phillies made another move. It was tweeted by Todd Zolecki that left-hander Jeremy Horst was in the Phillies clubhouse. The reason for that was because the Phillies designated Chad Qualls for assignment.
Qualls asked GM Ruben Amaro to be traded because he views himself as a Major League pitcher and doesn’t want to go to AAA Lehigh.
It has been an awful season for Qualls as well. In 35 games, Qualls is 1-1 with a 4.60 ERA and only 19 strikeouts.
It was Qualls’ latest effort that probably did him in. After the Phillies put up a three-spot in the 7th inning to pull within 8-7 of the Pirates, Qualls got hit around again, allowing three Pirates runs to kill the Phillies rally in the 8th.
“He’s kind of hard to figure out,” Manuel said after the game. “At times he does do a good job every now and then. His stuff looks like it’s pretty good at times. He’s been getting hit, and he’s been getting hit hard.”
TTB 