This may not have been a great game for a bunch of reasons but there was a lot of offense.
The Phillies had Francoeur in Right and Grady Sizemore in left. Ryne Sandberg had not paired those corners with Odubel Herrera in the outfield prior to Saturday night, The way things worked out it may happen more often in the future. Frenchy had a home run and Sizemore had his first four hit game since 2008
In the above photo that is former Reading Phillies farmhand Tuffy Gosewisch wearing the tools of ignorance.
I wanted to get a decent shot of Williams and the pink glove that he wears to honor his mother and her battle with cancer.
I had been checking the probables in anticipation of a potential start by Archie Bradley. Aside from seeing a Phils W my game priorities are seeing opposition stars and buzz worthy prospects.
Saturday night was Archie Bradley's first start since being struck by a line drive on April 28th.
During the rain delay a bunch of fans wearing Bradley jerseys took shelter near my spot on the rail. I got involved in a short conversation with Archie's uncle. About a dozen family and friends had made the journey out from Bradley's native Oklahoma to see his return. They all seemed very nice and enjoyed the trip despite the young pitchers tough outing.
The Diamondback Cuban rookie Yasmany Tomas had a good game which included his first career Home Run. However at the eye test level I felt as if he was a bit of a free-swinger. I am not sure if he is going to make it by swinging at the first pitch in every AB. He also appeared to have an issue communicating on the bases - At some point early in the game when Tomas was on 2nd base it was obvious he was having communication issues with a coach on the bench.
The D-Backs were not the only team sending out prospects on Saturday Night. Phillies Rookie Maikel Franco, who got a look last September, made his 2nd start of 2014 and collected his first hit.
VittlesPop
Philadelphia native and host of Mad Money Jim Cramer threw out the first pitch for the game. Perhaps he was trying to get a card in the Topps First Pitch Insert.
While it is tough putting up with a rain delay, it can still be fun to watch at a stadium. Most folks don't have this type of view of rainstorm at their disposal and Saturday night's rainfall was pretty epic. It is hard to see it in a picture, but in the shot above I did try to capture the sheets of rain migrating across the field.
Observations
I never played baseball above Little League, therefore I am no authority but IMO the D-backs looked AWFUL on their cutoff formations. At least twice I thought they would have had a play at second had they had a player covering.
Jerome Williams was able to resume pitching after the rain delay which was officially listed as 1 hour and 17 minutes.
Freddy Galvis can foul off a pitch. Not sure if he will hit .340+ all year but the fact that he can battle with 2 strikes is a nice asset to have.
Apparently AZ reliever Brad Ziegler was drafted by the Phillies. This is something I either never knew or had forgotten
We have noted this before but it is worth reiterating - No matter how bad the Phils team is there will be a solid tailgate crowd.
Source and Links
Beckett
baseball-ref
ESPN LA
MLB
Chase's Calendar of Events
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