The Phillies promoted Enyel De Los Santos on Tuesday afternoon, adding him to their taxed bullpen a few hours ahead of a 6-5 win over the Brewers. They used seven relievers in the previous two games and De Los Santos — who was once a starting pitcher — is durable enough to pitch multiple innings.
So there he was jogging to the mound in the seventh inning to protect a five-run lead, readying to pitch the type of situation he was brought to Philadelphia for. But De Los Santos walked off the field at Citizens Bank Park without even throwing a warmup pitch.
De Los Santos was not on the lineup card the Phillies submitted before the game, thus making him ineligible to pitch. The umpires checked their cards when they saw the reliever leave the bullpen and then told him to leave.
Joe Girardi called on David Hale, who did not retire any of the three batters he faced. The manager then replaced Hale with JoJo Romero, who allowed a two-run homer as the once-comfortable five run lead was whittled to just one.
The Phillies held on, escaping to win back-to-back games for the first time since starting the season with four straight wins. The embarrassing lineup mistake fell short of costing the Phillies a win, but it did stop Girardi from resting his bullpen as the manager had to use Sam Coonrod — who pitched a night earlier — for a five-out save. Coonrod made it interesting in the ninth as he retired Jackie Bradley Jr. with runners on first and third to end it.
The lineup cards are no longer exchanged before the game at home plate as teams submit them electronically. They are automated by the league’s computer program, but it is the team’s responsibility to review the names on the list before submitting them.
The Phillies announced at 5:19 p.m. — less than two hours before first pitch — that De Los Santos had been promoted. He stretched on the field before the game and wore a uniform in the bullpen, but he wasn’t on the card.
The four-run seventh inning may have been enough for the Brewers had Andrew McCutchen not homered twice. Six days earlier, McCutchen expressed frustration with his slow start. No one wants to stink, he said. A day earlier, the Phillies showed concern about the 34-year-old’s eyesight after he had trouble on defense.
He had a brutal April, was held out of three straight games on the team’s last road trip, and seemed to be losing hold of an everyday role. So it must have felt rewarding Tuesday when McCutchen — after hitting his second home run — was met by a standing ovation as he ran to left field in the fourth inning.
McCutchen became the first Phillies player since Jimmy Rollins in 2009 to hit a leadoff homer and then homer again in the same game. Both homers were solo shots and his third-inning blast triggered a five-run inning. Didi Gregorius singled in a run and Brad Miller — who started in right field as Bryce Harper remains sidelined with a sore wrist — hit a three-run blast to the second deck in right.
Miller’s homer gave the Phillies a comfortable lead for De Los Santos to protect in relief of Aaron Nola. But that lead felt dangerously thin when De Los Santos was booted, Hale struggled, and Romero yielded the homer to Bradley.
Odubel Herrera — who played center field after Roman Quinn required nine stitches to close a cut on his right index finger — tried to leap against the wall to grab the homer, but came up short.
And then his foot was stuck in the fence. Unable to free himself, Herrera appealed for help. Matt Joyce trotted over from right field and helped lift Herrera’s cleat from the fence. It was a fitting way to end an embarrassing inning.
