We already did a quick story chronicling the repeated missteps of Angel Hernandez behind the plate during the Phillies’ 1-0 loss to the Brewers, but we didn’t get to the ninth-inning ejection of Kyle Schwarber, one that came on the behalf of baseball fans everywhere, so let’s do it now.

In the ninth inning, it appeared Schwarber worked a one-out walk that would put the tying run on base. Instead, and predictably, Hernandez banged him out for the second out of the inning.

What ensued was one of the better Phillies ejections in recent memory:

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1518409917442531331?s=20&t=GgCyMX7p25DQcCjwOpEQQw

I can’t read Schwarber’s lips, but I’d like to think it went something like this:

Inside, outside, up in the zone, down in the zone — both dugouts. Hallelujah! Holy shit. Where’s the Tylenol?

He apparently agreed with my 76-year-old father who shot me over this beauty of a text during the middle innings:

Look, I know Hernandez is well-known for being generally terrible behind the plate. I had a current major league player text me early during the second inning and said Angel Hernandez would absolutely find a way to make a nationally televised game all about Angel Hernandez.

The player, of course, was spot on.

And look, there’s a lot to write about this Phillies team right now, and most of it isn’t good. Generally speaking, I’m not a big focus on the umpire guy, but Hernandez was unquestionably the story of the night.

Following the game, Joe Girardi, who somehow didn’t push to get himself ejected in an obvious spot with his team scuffling, chimed in on Schwarber’s exit.

“I don’t see the pitches, but you hear stuff, so it’s frustration,” he said. “I think he had two in the other at-bat that were off, it’s frustrating, especially for a guy who has such a great eye. He prides himself on that, so I think it’s even more frustrating for a guy like him.”

Girardi also told reporters postgame that he’s in favor of an automated strike zone after discussing the impact of a consistently poor zone in his team’s latest offensive dud.

“It makes it really hard, right? Because then guys are going to swing at pitches they maybe normally wouldn’t had they not been called strikes,” he said. “It’s on both sides, right? It’s 26 strikeouts in 54 outs, so it’s tough.”

He’s right, it is tough, especially when a handful of strikeouts come on called-thirds out of the zone. All true, sure. But the Phillies also haven’t scored a run in 15 innings, struck out 16 total times and managed just five total hits.

This is a classic situation in which two things can be true: Hernandez sucks. The Phillies aren’t doing nearly enough at the plate right now.

It’s not Hernandez’s fault Rhys Hoskins is in the midst of a 2-for-24 stretch with nine strikeouts that has dropped his average to .196 after 16 games. It’s also not an umpire’s fault when the Phillies squander rare scoring opportunities by missing center-cut fastballs:

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1518390995230023681?s=20&t=1i9_i_yHKjdCyT0tE3D5tQ

For the eighth time this season, the Phillies failed to record more than three runs in a game. It also marked the fifth time the Phillies were held to one run or less.