Phillies Notebook: The old brawlgame

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Phillippe Aumont and his girlfriend had to be escorted out of Chase Field on Saturday.

That was the off-the-field result of the on-the-field, bench-clearing brawl that took place during the World Baseball Classic game in Phoenix between Aumont's Canadian team and Mexico. Before leaving the park but after exiting the field, Aumont said tensions were still high in the Canadian clubhouse, which features fellow Phillies in outfielder Tyson Gillies, infielder Pete Orr and former farmhand Scott Mathieson.

"Just a bunch of failed hockey players pumped up," Aumont said.

Aumont, who is competing for a bullpen spot with the Phils this spring, let those emotions get the best of him briefly on Saturday night. He called out fellow Phillies prospect Sebastian Valle, who was catching for Mexico, through Twitter.

"Phillies fan.. How about Sebastian Valle swinging at people with his catchers mask.. #stupid," Aumont wrote.

He erased it later in the night.

"Heat of the moment," Aumont said. "I took it off right after that. It was something that at the moment I was frustrated about and, like I said, it was a heat-of-the-moment thing. After that I deleted it and I thought about it and it was not right for me to say that."

Aumont and Valle crossed paths on Tuesday morning, when both returned to Clearwater after their respective teams were knocked out of the WBC. But they didn't share fond memories of the melee with each other.

"I probably said hi this morning, but it's not like I'm going to look at him and try to fight him," Aumont said. "The guy is my teammate. On the field, it was different. What he did, I thought was a little low, but that's none of my business. He's the one who deals with that."

Valle wasn't in camp much longer on Tuesday. He was one of five players optioned to minor league camp, along with Gillies and pitchers B.J. Rosenberg, Tyler Cloyd and Mauricio Robles.

Aumont pitched twice in the WBC. After giving up three runs in two-thirds of an inning of a lopsided loss to Italy, Aumont entered Sunday's elimination game against the United States in the seventh inning with his Canadian team holding a 3-2 lead.

Aumont allowed two hits, but finished off a scoreless inning by inducing former MVP Ryan Braun into an inning-ending groundout. Canada lost its lead after Aumont exited and the Americans won, moving on while Aumont and Co. went home.

"It was the craziest thing I've ever been to," Aumont said of the tournament. "Mexico, obviously, was really intense, and the U.S. game was the best game I've ever been a part of. From the first pitch until they finished us in the ninth inning, I had butterflies the entire game. It was do-or-die and so much fun. Every run, getting up, cheering, high-fiving and all that stuff. I threw that seventh inning and I came in [to the dugout] and I was still shaking. I was like, 'We got this, we're going boys!' We just hit a bump, and it happens."

For the second time this spring, an early-morning rainstorm altered Chase Utley's place in the lineup. Except instead of being scratched, as he was earlier this spring, Utley remained in the lineup, being shifted from second base to designated hitter.

Utley's bat was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise ugly game. With one on and two outs in the fifth inning, Utley launched his first home run of the spring off Detroit's Luis Marte.

The home run was just Utley's second extra-base hit in 11 games this spring. Although he's been able to stay on the field after missing each of the last two springs with chronic knee pain, Utley is hitting .179 (5-for-28) with a double, a home run, six strikeouts and six walks.

"It was good to see him hit one," manager Charlie Manuel said of the home run. "Chase has got, what, 22 or 23 at-bats? Once he starts playing more, he should be OK. Actually, a lot of those guys, [Ryan] Howard, [Domonic] Brown, the guys who've been playing a lot, they're up to 40, 45 at-bats. We've been kind of monitoring Utley. We'll turn him loose more."

Ryan Howard will be out of the lineup for the second time in the last five games when the Phillies travel to Tampa to play the New York Yankees for a rare spring training night game on Wednesday. Howard played in 12 straight games to open the Grapefruit League season. He went 1-for-3 with a double on Tuesday . . . Jake Diekman, one of 10 relievers in camp competing for three open spots in the bullpen, allowed three runs on four hits in two innings. Diekman served up a two-run home run to Brayan Pena with two outs in the fifth inning. Fellow bullpen hopefuls Jeremy Horst (1 1/3 scoreless innings) and Raul Valdes (three scoreless innings) impressed . . . Cliff Lee will make his fourth start of the spring in Tampa against the Yankees on Wednesday night. Lee has allowed five runs on nine hits in his last two starts (6 2/3 innings).