Freddy Galvis is known more his glove and his leadership than his prowess at the plate.
But even dating back to his days with the Philadelphia Phillies, he’s been known to come up clutch in key moments as a hitter.
On a night where his team needed a spark on the road, Galvis racked up a career-high five hits to power the Padres past the Atlanta Braves, 9-3.
The Padres shortstop had help too on Friday as the San Diego offense came to life a couple innings after manager Andy Green was ejected from the game.
Green took umbrage with home plate umpire Joe West in the fourth when West initially called Ozzie Albies out by clenching his fist on an apparent strikeout.
West then changed his mind saying Albies foul-tipped the ball which bounced in the dirt in front of catcher Raffy Lopez.
Green was confused and came out to argue that West had already called him out when starting pitcher Clayton Richard began walking towards the dugout thinking it was the third out of the inning.
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After a brief discussion, Green had some parting words on his way back to the dugout referencing his displeasure with the previous game’s umpiring.
West then promptly tossed Green which set off a fireworks display that ended up with a dugout microphone picking up the end of Green’s tantrum.
Before exiting into the clubhouse, you could clearly hear Green over the television broadcast say, “Don’t worry I’m leaving, Joe, you can go call another call wrong.”
Twitter instantly roared with laughter.
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Green’s comical ejection did not boost the Padres immediately. But the offense started to click in the seventh.
That’s when Hunter Renfroe gave the Friars a lift with a timely two-run single to center.
The base knock plated Travis Jankowski and Eric Hosmer to put the Padres back ahead 4-3.
A couple batters later, Galvis followed that up with a three-run blast to put the game out of reach.
Richard improved to 6-6 by allowing only six hits and three runs (two earned) in six frames. He also struck out six batters while walking only two.
Jose Pirela opened the scoring in the first inning when he smacked his first home run of the season after a lead-off double by Jankowski.
Jordan Lyles is scheduled to start Saturday's rematch with the Braves which begins at 2:10 p.m.
