As an announcer, John Kruk has under no circumstances been confused for a ray of sunshine. But the NBC Sports Philadelphia analyst was downright miserable through the Phillies’ additional-innings win against the Arizona Diamondbacks Wednesday.

The misery started in the seventh inning, when Kruk was apoplectic just after dwelling plate umpire Junior Valentine forced Phillies pitcher Connor Brogdon to move his rosin bags off the mound. Kruk got so angry, he seemingly came close to cursing on air, causing play-by-play announcer Tom McCarthy to toss out a nervous, “Now John, watch it.”

“Is he throwing sidearm? Is his hand dragging the ground? Is his knuckles grabbing the ground? Then how the hell does that rosin bag lead to a distraction?” an angry Kruk asked through the broadcast. “Un-fricken-true.”

Rapidly-forward to the prime of the tenth inning, with the score tied five-five.

Phillies manager Rob Thompson explained just after the game that Diamondbacks infielder Josh Rojas was warned twice by Valentine more than attempts to bait Phillies reliever Craig Kimbrel into receiving set early, which would’ve been a pitch clock violation. According to the new MLB guidelines in spot this season, pitchers cannot come set prior to the batter becoming alert in the box, the so-named “Scherzer Rule.”

Moments later, it appeared one thing comparable occurred, but the umpire stated it was a pitch clock violation on Kimbrel, and awarded Rojas a ball. The delay and the lack of clarity in what was going on brought on Kruk to just about shed it in the booth.

“Ah, dear crap almighty,” Kruk stated. “What a joke! What a circus this game’s turned into!”

“What the hell’s Kimbrel supposed to do? They had a meeting for 15 minutes, and he measures on the mound and they contact … This is a joke,” Kruk added. “They preserve generating up guidelines till no 1 knows what’s going on.”

Kruk wasn’t completed. Following the game, he and McCarthy interviewed Alec Bohm, who hit a bases-loaded stroll-off in the bottom of the 10th inning to win the game. Naturally, the incident through the prime of the 10th inning came up.

“I didn’t know what was going on the entire time,” Bohm stated of the incident, which the umpires under no circumstances explained to the players or fans.

“Alec, no 1 does, my pal. No 1 does,” Kruk shot back.

Kruk wasn’t the only 1 angry at the officiating. Following the game, fellow NBC Sports Philadelphia analyst Ricky Bottalico went off on Valentine, calling him the “worst dwelling plate umpire I’ve ever noticed in Significant League Baseball.”

“He could not get something proper,” Bottalico stated. “He was performing circles with that pitch timer point. He was a disaster.”

Following the game, Thompson explained what the umpires told him about the predicament.

“They stated Kimbrel began also early,” Thompson told reporters. “Well, Rojas stands with his left foot in the box, and his proper foot is type-of set back, and he’s hunting proper at Kimbrel. So my point was, ‘It’s the tenth inning, there’s no batter’s box there. How does Kimbrel know he’s not in the batter’s box?’”

Upcoming Phillies schedule

Bryce Harper and the Phillies hit the road for ten games against NL East opponents. . … Read moreSteven M. Falk / Employees Photograp

Thanks to MLB’s new balanced schedule, the Phillies have only played 3 games against NL East opponents in their very first 49 games. But that is all about to transform.

The fourth-spot Phillies will play ten-straight games on the road against the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, and Washington Nationals. They’ll also get some national exposure in the coming week, with games on FS1, TBS, and ESPN.

Here’s the Phillies upcoming schedule

• Phillies at Atlanta Braves

• • Game 1: Thursday, 7:20 p.m. (NBCSP, WIP)

  • Game two: Friday, 7:20 p.m. (NBC10, WIP)

  • Game three: Saturday, four:ten p.m. (NBCSP, FS1, WIP)

  • Game four: Sunday, 7:ten p.m. (ESPN, WIP)

• Phillies at New York Mets

• • Game 1: Tuesday, 7:ten p.m. (NBCSP, TBS, WIP)

  • Game two: Wednesday, 7:ten p.m. (NBCSP, WIP)

  • Game three: Thursday, June 1, 1:ten p.m. (NBCSP, WIP)

• Phillies at Washington Nationals

• • Game 1: Friday, June two, 7:05 p.m. (NBC10, WIP)

  • Game two: Saturday, June three, four:05 p.m. (NBCSP, WIP)

  • Game three: Sunday, June four, 1:35 p.m. (NBCSP, WIP)

» Study Extra: Chances of a Phillies turnaround get even tougher with very first appears at Braves and Mets subsequent

NL East standings

Right here are the existing NL East standings, as of Thursday morning: