Philadelphia Phillies cranked up the clown music on Tuesday

The Philadelphia Phillies, for one inning, became the team version of Angel Hernandez. They reached a level of incompetence on the diamond on Tuesday that it was almost comical, where Phillies fans may have been laughing through teeth gritted in frustration.

The calliope began in the top of the seventh. Manager Joe Girardi had made the decision to go to the bullpen after Aaron Nola had given him six strong innings. His plan was to use Enyel De Los Santos, but there was one problem – he was not on the lineup card given to the umpires.

Philadelphia Phillies have complete circus of a seventh inning

Well, so much for that plan. Girardi then went to David Hale, who has not exactly been the most reliable arm out of the bullpen. However, with a five run lead and nine outs to go, Girardi figured that he may as well save his better arms.

The problem was that Hale was seemingly unprepared to pitch. He allowed a hit, then hit a batter, and gave up an RBI single before being pulled. In came JoJo Romero, who was not much better. Romero allowed another run on a groundout, then, after recording a second out, gave up a two run homer to Jackie Bradley Jr. as the Brewers suddenly cut the lead to one.

And with that homer, the music sped up. Odubel Herrera attempted to rob the homer, even though it would have been about ten or so rows back had there been bleachers in center. In doing so, he got stuck in the fence. Yup. His foot was caught behind the padding, leading to a delay as he was extracted from the fence.

In the end, everything worked out for the Phillies. They were able to escape with the 6-5 victory, as Sam Coonrod bailed Philadelphia out by notching a five out save. The Phillies were able to reach .500 yet again, winning consecutive games for the first time in a month. The calliope can be put away for another moment.

Clown shows are fun at a circus when pies are flying back and forth and bizarre antics are expected. The Philadelphia Phillies escaped a circus of their own making in the seventh inning due to several unnecessary missteps.