Game Report: 2016 09 12 - Pirates 2 @ Phillies 6

The Phillies turned another page in their 2016 rebuild during Monday Night's 6-2 victory over the struggling Pirates.

Not one but two of their prospects crossed milestones: Jorge Alfaro made his Major League Debut and Roman Quinn got his first home start. Even sweeter each of the rookies recorded their first hits as well.

Snapshots

Roman Quinn got to bat at CBP for the first time and had a pretty good night. He went 2-4 with a pair of doubles, 2 RBIs and a walk.

After a tough first inning Jeremy Hellickson settled down and pitched into the 7th only allowing 1 unearned run and three singles.

Gerrit Cole's first start off of the DL didn't go well. He was lifted after two innings. He gave up 5 Runs on four hits and four ugly walks.

 Freddy Galvis homered for the Good Guys.

I understand how Roman Quinn got the Anonymous Treatment in the Topps Starting Lineup department. However....

How is it that Jeremy Hellickson doesn't have a card yet?

GGA

Good Guy Awards go out to the Pirates Josh Harrison (above) and David Freese who each signed a bunch of autographs pregame.

 I picked up my first Rob Manfred Baseball on Monday Night.

Moving on Up

Now that school is back in session tix for selected games are even cheaper $14 for a night at the ballpark ain't bad, even if your watching a fourth place team. The Phillies recorded their 64th Win last night which guarantees they will finish with an improved record over the 63-99 of 2015.

Sources
Baseball-Ref

Game Report: Dodgers 15 @ Phillies 5 - Chase Utley Returns

There are things you expect - Chase Utley Getting a Standing Ovation, and there are things that your happy to see but don't really expect - Chase Utley's Ovation extends for a second beat, and he needs to settle the fans so the game can start or Chase Utley hits a Home Run in his return.

Then there are thing that you wonder if they would ever happen - Chase Utley gets a Curtain Call as an opposing player

And Then there are miracles - Chase Utley and Ryan Howard turned back time.

Utley Hit a Grand Slam and got a second curtain call, at this point what was a game at moved into theater. It was watching "the Natural' unfold in real life.

Later Ryan Howard would hit a moonshot Home Run into the Phillies Bullpen, after narrowly missing one earlier in the game.

It was as much fun as a fan can have in a 15-5 Loss.

The Philllies may have been down 10 runs, but for a few hours it felt like 2008 again. The crowd was good size, Everyone was excited and engaged - and I felt eight years younger, Now that's a miracle!

Snapshots

 Chase Utley in Blue :(

Warm Ups

Utley and Ryan Howard Pregame. I think Howard is saying "well if you hit a Home Run, I am going to have to hit one too.."

Just a few #26 Jerseys

Utley signed a number of autographs pregame. The fans were four of five deep down the Left Field line. Good Guy Awards go out to Corey Seager and Chris Taylor who also were spotted signing for the fans.

Fifth Beatle?

Ryan Howard MopTop

Last night was Beatles Night - in celebration of the 50th anniversary of an appearance of what turned out to be the bands US Farewell tour.

Field Report
Our friends over at the Phillies Room were also at the game and they have their own field report which can be found here.

Sources and Links
Chase Utley Player Collection Index
Baseball-ref
Beatles Bible

Game Report Braves @ Phillies Alumni Weekend

Made it to two games as part of  the Phillies Alumni Weekend versus the Braves, a 12-2 victory on Saturday Night and a 6-2 Loss on Sunday.

 Snapshots

2015 0801 Pat Burrell operating the Hot Dog Gun

By far the highlight of the Phillies Season has to be Pat Burrell firing the Hot Dog Cannon. Add to this the massive uhm Shoulder Bag that he is carrying and you have a perfect image.

Alumni weekend provided plenty of entertainment. Burrell tried to make a few awkward jokes during his speech, but he fared well enough otherwise. 2008 World Series Champ Manager Charlie Manuel gave a great intro and it was great to see him get loud ovations all weekend.

Pat Burrell's new Wall o Fame plaque was added next to 2014 Inductee Charlie Manuel. 

Franchise Four

On Satyrday Night the Phillies honored their Franchise Four. You may remember MLBs promotion from last month - the Phillies four were Richie Asburn, Robin Roberts, Steve Carlton and Mike Schmidt. Carlton is in the 80s era powder blue roadie. To his right is Richie Ashurn's grandson and on his left is one or Robin Robert's sons. Mike Schmidt is hidden by Bob Boone on the left side of the photo.

The four other gentleman in the pictures are all catchers. Each of the Franchise Four took part in a four pronged first pitch with a Phillies Catcher. Boone is on the far left, Darren Daulton and Mike Lieberthal are next to the obscured Mike Schmidt while current Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz is on the far right.

Game Pix

Cameron Rupp 2015 0801

Saturday night has a bunch of heroes. The offense put up a season high 12 runs, three of which came on a Homer by Cameron Rupp.

Adam Morgan

The Phillies have two rookies in the rotation right now. Aaron Nola got the W on Friday night, Adam Morgan didn't fair as well on Sunday. He struggled through five innings giving up four runs. The Braves had runners on in each of those innings with the big blow coming in the 5th, a three-run homer by Jace Peterson

 Julio Teheran

Julio Teheran who has had a mixed season looked more like the pitcher he was during his All-Star 2015 campaign. He scattered 8 hits and 2 runs over 7 innings without a walk.

Ryan Howard

Over the two games Ryan Howard looked like 2008 or maybe 2011 as he went 5 for 8 with a couple of doubles and RBI. He has hits in eight consecutive games and as been a big contributor to the Phillies recent success.

GGA

Aaron Harang

Couple of Phillies signing autograph's on Sunday. Harang was out in the sun for a good 30 minutes. Maikel Franco and I think Cody Asche were also out there for short stints.

Blue err Orange Moon

There was a bit of excitement over the Blue Moon this weekend. I took this shot on Saturday night, so it is a day past full. I have no idea what structures are in the shot, I think they are generally East of the stadium. 

 2015 0801 Ticket Braves at Phillies

2015 0802 Game Ticket Braves @ Phillies

Sources and Links

Baseball-ref

Game Report 2015 0721: Rays at Phillies - Aaron Nola Debut, Nathan Karns HR

Citizen's Bank Park provided some excitement on Tuesday night as their 2014 top draft pick Aaron Nola made his Major League Debut

It was a fun night for everyone, there was a buzz across the stadium as fans followed Nola from his Long Toss routine all the way through his six inning start.

2015 0721 Aaron Nola in his Major League Debut

Aaron Nola looked good giving up run on 5 Hits and a walk over the course of six innings in his first start.

He did have one bad pitch.

2015 0721 Nate Karns

Typically a gift pitch with an AL Pitcher batting isn't a problem, but on Tuesday night it was. Nate Karns had never had a hit in the Majors and only one in the minors, but he made his first in the Majors count. Karns Homered off of Aaron Nola in the 3rd inning and it was the only run the Rays needed. 

 2015 07 21 Linescore

How often do you get a 1-0 game where the only run is the result of a Pitcher hitting a Home Run.

Not often.

Yovani Gallardo did to give the Brewers a 1-0 victory over the Pirates in 2009. Karns was the first AL Pitcher to do it since 1962 when Milt Pappas did it for the Orioles versus the Yankees.

GGA

Kevin Kiermaier

There were a number of Rays that came out to sign autographs, one of them was Kevin Kiermaier who had a really good night in Centerfield. In addition to a couple of nice catches he also picked up and outfield assist when Cody Asche attempted to go first to third on a single.

Line Up Card Aaron Nola

The Phillies even had a new LineUp card posted for Aaron Nola.

Citizens Bank Park 

It is a little hard to tell but the flags at CBP were lowered to honor the memory of the servicemen killed in Chattanooga.

Sources and Links
Baseball-ref
The Sporting News
Phillies Radio Broadcast

Game Report 2015 0625 Dodgers 4 at Cubs 0

Throwing up a sort of quick posting with some pictures from a game Team Phungo attended as part of SABR 45 in Chicago. The Dodgers shutout the Cubs 4-0 in a game that had some odd events.

Howie Kendrick had a 2 RBI double in the first for LA which was all that the Dodgers needed. Cubs starter Jon Lester struggled to find the plate for most of his outing and was lifted after 4 innings. Carlos Frias started for the Dodgers and navigated his way through five innings. The Bullpen completed the shutout by pitching to one over the minimum over the final four innings.

Snapshots

Edwin Jackson vs Alex Guerrero 

The Cubs have honored Ernie Banks with his #14 behind Home Plate. You may also notice that the classic scoreboard is no longer the outfield feature. The two new scoreboards are not for everyone, but I found them to be well done and informative.

Anthony Rizzo

Anthony Rizzo was the Cubs lone bright spot for the day, going 3-4 with a pair of doubles.

Jimmy Rollins

Getting to see the Dodgers gave us a chance to see our old friend Jimmy Rollins. He had a bunt single which was something I don't recall him doing very often with the Phillies, he was also caught stealing - making the 3rd out at 3rd base. I probably saw Jimmy do that while he was in Philly.

Matt Sczczur

I was looking forward to seeing Kris Bryant while I was in Chicago. Unfortunately he left the game after one inning (flu like symptons). That did open the door for Matt Sczczur to get into the game. Sczczur played his collegiate baseball (and football) at Villanova which is located just down the road from Phungo HQ.

"Sweet Swinging" Billy Williams

There are a couple of statues outside of the entrances of Wrigley. This one of Billy Williams who we featured a few Sunday's ago is outside gate D.

Paddington and Clark

There were three first pitches for the game - none more fun then the one from Paddington the Bear. The throw was terribly off the mark. The Cubs new mascot, Clark, was the catcher for the pitch and ran over a cameraman in an effort to catch Paddington's errant throw.

In the photo above Clark is shown giving Paddington a gift, which was the ball to be used on the first pitch.

Sources and Links
SABR 45 Index
Chicago Travelblog
Baseball-ref

Game Report 2015 0516: DiamondBacks @ Phillies

An hour-plus rain delay could not spoil the fun for team Phungo as we got to see a 7-5 victory for the good guys who ran their win streak to four games.

This may not have been a great game for a bunch of reasons but there was a lot of offense.

 

Jeff Francoeur 2015 05 16

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.

Jerome Williams 2015 05 16

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. 

Archie Bradley 2015 05 16

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.

Yasmany Tomas 2015 0516

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.  

2015 05 16 Maikel Franco

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

Jim Cramer acknowledges crowd prior to ceremonial first pitch 2015 0516

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.
 

2015 0516 Citizens Bank Park

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
 

SNAPSHOTS 2015 05 08: Mets @ Phillies

As a fan it is tough to watch a bad team, but if you look hard enough there are appealing games on the schedule. Friday Nights was one of those:

-It was a Friday Night, a good opportunity for a worker bee like myself to get to a game
-The weather was favorable
-The Division Leading New York Mets were in town
-And there was a Big Time Pitching matchup, Matt Harvey vs Cole Hamels

SnapShots

2015 04 08 Cole Hamels

Cole Hamels was the Ace that won out this time. He held the Mets to four hits and a manufactured run through seven innings. The Phillies southpaw recorded 8 Ks against 2 walks. The bullpen did the rest, Ken Giles perfect inning, Papelbon recovers from a leadoff single with a couple of Ks and a line out.

Freddy Galvis and Dilson Herrera 2015 05 08

The Offense was led by Freddy Galvis who had 3 hits and a couple of stolen bases along with Ryan Howard who had a pair of RBIs including a solo Homer

Matt Harvey 2015 05 08

Prior to Friday night's start Harvey had handled the Phillies pretty easily. His night wasn't bad just not as dominant as prior outings. Three runs over six for the Dark Knight, one of those runs was pretty much scored by Freddy Galvis' legs in the first inning. Freddy singled, stole 2nd, and came home on a Ryan Howard ground single when Galvis was attempting steal third.

 

Cole Hamels vs John Mayberry Jr 2015 05 08

Beautiful Night for a ballgame, nice to get a W vs a quality starter.

Sources and Links
baseball-ref