Snapshots: 2014 05 02 Nationals 5 @ Phillies 3

On Friday Night The Phillies lost to the Nationals 5-3 and took sole possession of last place in the NL East. Marlon Byrd got he Phillies off to a quick 3-0 start with a Home Run in the first, but that was it for the Phillies scoring.  The Phils were up 3-2 going into the 8th but Mike Adams and rest of the bullpen were unable to hold that lead. 

Snapshots

 
 Cliff Lee vs Tyler Moore

It was a beautiful night - this is a shot of Cliff Lee pitching to Tyler Moore to start the 3rd inning.Unfortunately later in this AB Moore would hit a line drive Home Run to left.  

Cliff Lee Warm Up

Notice anything odd here. This is Lee warming up by doing his fake pitch to towards 2nd base. He does this prior to the start of each inning. I am going to try out a few different angles to see if I can get a good shot of this interesting/odd quirk of Lee's routine.

Stephen Strasburg
Lee wasn't the only star pitcher featured on Friday Night. Stephen Strasburg took the hill for the Nationals.

Cliff Lee and Stephen Strasburg

The bullpens are side by side on different levels at CBP. I had ambitions of getting both Lee and Strasburg throwing pitches in a single picture, but I was too impatient to wait around for the right shot.

Marlon Byrd

All of the Phillies scoring took place on a single swing of the bat by Byrd, This is a photo of the right fielder At Bat later in the game. He is demonstrating his quck high step timing the incoming pitch.  

Ben Revere & Denard Span

Both Centerfielders in the game were members of the same Twins outfield in 2012.  This is the in happy time prior to the game....

Cliff Lee vs Denard Span: Benches Clear

Cliff Lee and Denard Span had a disagreement regarding Span taking an elongated break out of the batters box in the 5th inning. Stephen Strasburg had just batted, and Span may have been trying to extend his pitchers half-inning break.  Benches cleared, names were called, no one got ejected and life continued.

Couple of interesting notes on the melee - Here we see Denard Span is separted from the remaining players by the umpiring crew. Cliff Lee is relatively close to Span with Cody Asche and Ryan Howard doing what they can to keep their pitcher out of trouble. I like how the main participants are on the left of the shot while the onrushing crowd of the benches comes in from the right - creates just a little tension in the photo.

I think the benches were issued warnings and Home Plate Umpire Jim Reynolds who talked to each reliever that entered the game - I am assuming he spoke to them regarding the handling of timeouts. Later in the game when one of the Nats relievers was dawdling he did allow Chase Utley to call a somewhat late time out
 

 Jayson Werth & Garry Maddox

Garry Maddox was on hand for the game. He was greeting some sort of VIP fan group during BP - here he welcoms Jayson Werth to the group.

  Nats Celebrate

Anthony Rendon caught the last out, a pop out by Freddy (.032 Batting Average) Galvis. Here Rendon shown holding the ball out to give to closer Rafael Soriano. 

BryceWatch 2011 08 02 Harrisburg Senators @ Reading Phillies

Went out to Reading to catch the Phils AA affiliate as they hosted Bryce Harper and the rest of the Harrisburg Senators Last night.  This was my second stop on my Bryce Harper tour - to see a game report on my previous game click here.

For Tuesday night Reading was quite busy as a perfect storm of events helped to fill the classic ballpark.  

1) Prospect Bryce Harper was in town and folks definitely knew about him - plenty of flashbulbs for a minor league game

2) Carlos "Chooch" Ruiz Bobble Head giveaway night - one of the most annoying "Talking" bobbleheads ever.

3) Really nice weather - it was warm but really low humidity for this area in August.

The R-Phils won the contest 8-4 with the bulk of their scoring happening during a 6 run 6th highlighted by a Steve Singleton Grand Slam.  Singleton is a castoff from the Twins system who just got called up to Reading from Lakewood.  Harper was 1-4 with a well hit gap double.  Longtime Phils Minor league catcher Tuffy Gosewhich had a dinger for the good guys.  Nats Prospect (Mary) Tyler Moore hit his 25th homer for the Senators.

etc....

-Harper either stepped in a hole or tripped over his elongated pants while trying to field a single in an effort to make a throw to the plate.  In the game I saw Harper play in Harrisburg last month, he played it safe coming in on a ball that may have been catchable allowing it to drop in for a single.  He did run the bases well once again, and that definitely appears to be an asset - especially for a guy that came up as a catcher.  

-Oliver Perez (yes that Ollie Perez) got the start for the Nats.  Not only did he get a hit, but he also had a stolen base in the game.  For all of my complaints about his performance at the major league level, Perez did appear to be having fun in last nights game and did demonstrate some leadership qualities.  Perez had a decent outing giving up only 1 run over 5.  it ws the bullpen that gave up the big runs.

-Reading has done a good job updating their ballpark.  They have added a significant outdoor area w/ pre-game activities and a real clubhosue store, of course it has major league prices.

-Since the Phils promoted Freddy Galvis this week, other than Matt Rizzoti who is playing Ryan Howard's position, I am not sure that Reading had a legitimate prospect playing in the field right now.

-Tyler Moore went 3-4 last night and has homered in both games I saw the Sens play this year. 

-Apparently the Sens have a player named Stepen King.

-The Nats just picked up Erik Komatsu in return for Jerry Hairston Jr at the deadline - Komatsu busted bats in each of his first 3 at bats of the game - he is a LH bat with speed.  Little guy potential leadoff man.