2012 Topps Phillies #PHI15 Jonathan Papelbon

Phillies 6, Red Sox 4
Game 40 - Friday Night, May 18th in Philadelphia
Record - 21-19, 5th Place, 4 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies scored early, added a few home runs and rode Cole Hamels' strong start to a 6-4 victory over the Sox.

What It Means:  The Phillies have now won six in a row, and they'll try to make it seven in a row tonight.

What Went Right:  The Phils scored four runs in the first thanks in part to three walks from Red Sox starter Daniel Bard.  Carlos Ruiz started the scoring with a two-run single, continuing his red hot month of May.  Ty Wigginton added a sac fly and John Mayberry, Jr. capped off the first inning scoring with an RBI-double.

The Phillies added two key add-on runs via solo homers from Hunter Pence in the fifth and Freddy Galvis in the eighth.

Hamels allowed three runs and six hits over seven innings of work, striking out nine on the way to his sixth win of the season.

Featured Card:  Prior to the game, Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon made it clear he was anxious to face his former team.  "I've been looking forward to this since the day I signed here - facing old teammates, bragging rights," he said.  Well he earned bragging rights through at least the first game of the series.  Papelbon came on in the ninth and would have had a one-two-three inning if not for a hard-hit ball booted by third baseman Mike Fontenot.  And it was fitting that the last two men he retired for his 11th save of the season were former Phillies - Marlon Byrd and Nick Punto.

The card featured here is one of Papelbon's three Phillies cards available to date.  He also has a Phillies card in the Topps Heritage set and a card within the team issued postcard set.

Field Report:  Jenna and I were there last night, and it was another gorgeous night for baseball.  There were quite a few Red Sox fans in attendance, but the four-run first quieted them down from the get-go.  The Phils are now 2-3 in games I've attended this year.