THE PLAYERS had retreated to their respective benches. Calm had been restored, the Phillies retired in order to end the seventh inning. Hanging over the dugout rail, Jeff Francoeur had already washed away an unfamiliar angry face with his more familiar happy face when Cameron Rupp returned from warming up the pitcher with one final message from harassed plate umpire Dan Bellino.
"He said, 'Tell Frenchy we all love him,' " Francoeur was saying at his locker before last night's game. " 'And that's why he's still in the game.' "
Larry Bowa? Not so much. Jumping from the dugout in part to take some heat off of Francoeur, Bowa got the heave before he even reached full throttle.