Friday, July 29, 2011

2007 Chachi #45 Chase Utley AS

Phillies 10, Pirates 3
Game 105 - Friday Night, July 29th in Philadelphia

One Sentence Summary:  On the night the Phillies acquired slugger Hunter Pence, the offense suddenly came to life, cruising to victory over the Buccos, 10-3.

What It Means:  The Phils improve to 66-39.  The Braves won too, so the lead in the East stands at five games.

What Went Right:  The Phillies were in control from the outset, when they scored three runs in the first and five more in the second.  Chase Utley led the way with a single, triple, home run and four RBIs.  Shane Victorino also enjoyed a three-hit night and Jimmy Rollins hit his 12th home run of the year, a two-run shot in the seventh.

Roy Halladay (13-4) allowed just one hit in his seven innings of work while striking out five.

Featured Card:  I flipped through the virtual 2007 Chachi set a few nights ago while looking for Pat Burrell's card and came across this Utley card.  It's his All-Star card from 2007, featuring a photo taken as Utley was jogging to the join his teammates lined up along the first base line during pre-game introductions at that year's All-Star Game in San Francisco.  (Programming note - There could be a slight delay in my posting of the 1976 Topps Phillies post.  The Topps Phillies series usually runs on Sundays, but I'm taking off for a quick vacation.)

Transaction:  As mentioned at the top, there has been a deal.  In the seventh inning of tonight's game, word came through various websites and Tweets that the Phillies had nabbed their man and Hunter Pence was heading over from Houston.  Pence and cash were acquired for minor league prospects Jonathan Singleton, Jarred Cosart, Jose Zeid and a player to be named later.

It's the third consecutive July 29th that General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. has pulled off a major trade.  Two years ago, he landed Cliff Lee from the Indians and last year, he acquired Roy Oswalt from the Astros.

Pence will hopefully arrive in time for tomorrow night's game and a corresponding roster move will have to be made.  He'll become the team's regular right fielder and hit fifth in the line-up behind Ryan Howard in the hopes that Howard will finally get the protection he's lacked since Jayson Werth headed to D.C.  Welcome to Philadelphia, Hunter and Go Phils!

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