Pirates made Phillies announcers eat every word of strange agenda after blown lead

The Philadelphia Phillies blew a 5-0 lead Monday at Citizens Bank Park, and their radio broadcast spent the rest of the game making sure Pittsburgh Pirates fans had a receipt for every strange shot, every dismissive comment and every bad read that aged almost immediately.

Pittsburgh’s 11-7 win over Philadelphia was already entertaining enough on its own. The teams hit seven combined home runs. A six-run Pirates fifth inning launched the comeback. Esmerlyn Valdez continued to look like a create-a-player. Endy Rodríguez delivered the final swing of the night with a three-run homer in the ninth.

But the Phillies radio booth, with Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen, managed to turn the game into something even more satisfying for Pirates fans. They spent a bizarre amount of time needling Pirates players, questioning their approach and taking little shots that felt less like normal hometown frustration and more like a broadcast booth actively searching for reasons to be annoyed.

The best part is that the Pirates didn't answer through some postgame quote or social media jab. They answered in real time, on the field, with the exact players being mocked or dismissed.

Pirates handed Phillies announcers a brutal lesson after early trash talk

In the top of the fifth inning, with the Pirates trying to claw back into the game, Konnor Griffin laid down a perfect bunt to put runners on the corners. Andersen responded by taking a shot at Griffin’s approach.

“Here’s the big guy. He wants to bunt it so somebody else can drive ’em in. He doesn’t want to do it,” Andersen said.

That comment would have made more sense if Griffin had failed to execute, or if the inning went nowhere. Instead, Griffin helped spark the exact kind of rally the Pirates needed. Pittsburgh went on to score six runs in the inning, turning a 5-2 deficit into an 8-5 lead.

Later in that same inning, with the game tied and the bases loaded, Rodríguez swung and missed badly for strike two. Franzke said Rodriguez “wasn’t trying for a one-run lead there.” Andersen followed with, “No. That’s just stupid hitting right there.”

Again, timing is everything. Rodríguez proceeded to walk with the bases loaded, forcing in the go-ahead run. Pittsburgh took the lead because Rodríguez didn't chase himself out of the at-bat. He stayed in it, controlled the zone and helped flip the game. Does "stupid hitting" mean something else in Philadelphia?

The pattern continued in the seventh, when Evan Sisk fell behind Trea Turner with a ball to make it a 1-2 count. Andersen suggested Sisk might have been “a little afraid” to throw the pitch over the plate. Sisk struck Turner out on the very next pitch.

That probably should have been the point where the booth cooled it. The Pirates were already making these comments sound ridiculous fast enough. Instead, the broadcast kept finding new targets.

When pitching coach Bill Murphy made his trademark slow walk to the mound in the eighth inning for a visit with Yohan Rodríguez, Franzke asked, “What is he walking so slowly for? Does he have a bad back?”

It was a weird, unnecessary shot at a coach doing something Pirates fans have watched him do countless times. It added nothing. It wasn't analysis or insight. It was just petty.

Then came the ninth inning, when Valdez won an ABS challenge after a pitch called a strike was revealed to be 0.1 inches outside the zone. Andersen questioned whether that was really not on the line. Moments later, he called Valdez “Vasquez” and suggested Valdez should have known the count when he appeared to ask home plate umpire Andy Fletcher.

The next pitch was ball four. Valdez walked.

Then Rodríguez delivered the cleanest punchline of all. With two outs in the ninth, Franzke noted that Rodríguez was “certainly not the same power threat that Valdez is.” On the very next pitch, Rodríguez crushed a breaking ball from former Pirate Chase Shugart for a three-run homer that stretched Pittsburgh’s lead to 11-7 and effectively ended the game.

Andersen’s response?

“Well, he’s hit four home runs now. He acts like he’s hit about 400.”

That was probably supposed to be a dig. Instead, it sounded like the frustration of a booth that had just watched the Pirates ruin their night and their punchlines at the same time.

Rodríguez, by the way, had every reason to enjoy that swing. He called Shugart “my friend” after the game and smiled while explaining that Shugart tried to surprise him with a sweeper.

“Sorry man, I was waiting for it,” Rodríguez said with a smile.

Rodríguez's confidence came with charm. The Phillies broadcast’s frustration came off as sour grapes.

The Pirates were far from perfect Monday. Braxton Ashcraft gave up three home runs, all with two strikes. Ramírez and Gregory Soto made the eighth inning uncomfortable. The bullpen remains a concern, and Don Kelly admitted afterward that the group still needs to cut down on walks and dominate the strike zone.

But Monday was also the kind of win that says something about this team. The Pirates fell behind 5-0 on the road against a Phillies team with plenty of firepower. They could have folded. Instead, Valdez homered for a fourth straight game. Griffin helped ignite a six-run inning. Rodríguez delivered the knockout blow. Ashcraft settled in and retired 11 of the final 12 hitters he faced.

Kelly called the game a microcosm of the Pirates’ season: ups, downs, and plenty of fight. And for one night, the Pirates did more than beat the Phillies. They beat the commentary, too.

Every little jab from the Phillies booth became another setup. Every dismissive line became another receipt. Every strange shot at a Pirates player or coach aged worse than the last.

The Pirates didn't need to say a word back. They simply made the Phillies announcers eat all of theirs.

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