Former Phillies Closer Ken Giles Yells Expletive at Manager

By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor

Since being dealt to the Houston Astros in December 2015, former Philadelphia Phillies closer Ken Giles has arguably been in the news more for his antics, rather than for his performance on the mound. Tuesday evening proved that, and more, during Astros manager A.J. Hinch's ninth-inning pitching change against the Oakland Athletics at Minute Maid Park.

Up 4-0 — following six shutout innings from All-Star Justin Verlander — Hinch called on Giles to shut the door for the 25th time this season, albeit a non-save situation. On just eight pitches and five strikes, Giles allowed singles to each of his three batters faced, failing to record a single out.

When Hinch pulled Giles from the game in favor of Hector Rondon, the former all-time career ERA leader clearly was not happy, and showed no reservations at hiding his emotions.

Giles was charged with three runs, all earned, raising his season ERA to 4.99. The Athletics would go on to tie the game, before falling in the 11th on a bizarre walkoff play.

After the game, Hinch said Giles can let him know if his frustration was directed toward him. "I didn’t hear anything. And you can certainly understand that I’ll address it," Hinch said. "If it turns out it was at me then we’ll talk about it.”

The Astros optioned Giles to Triple-A Fresno Wednesday afternoon.

This would not be the first time Giles showed visible frustration after a shaky performance with the Astros. On May 2, 2018, Giles punched himself in the face while returning to the dugout — followed by slamming a bat to the ground — in the Astros' 4-0 loss to the New York Yankees.

Since joining the 2017 World Series champions in 2016, Giles is 3-10 with a 3.57 ERA, 1.189 WHIP and 216-49 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 159 innings. Giles went 9-4 in his first two big league seasons with the Phillies in 2014 and 2015, posting a 1.56 ERA, 1.037 WHIP and 151-36 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 115 2/3 innings.