Game 132 - Friday Night, August 31st in Atlanta
Record - 63-69, 3rd Place, 17 1/2 games behind the Nationals
One Sentence Summary: Erik Kratz tied it and John Mayberry, Jr. won it with clutch home runs in the 9th and 10th innings, respectively.
What It Means: Despite early season struggles, Mayberry should get a chance to come back and compete for a starting job once again in 2013. He's hitting .279 in the second half and he hit .290 for the month of August. Kratz has all but guaranteed himself a spot on the 2013 roster as Carlos Ruiz' back-up, thanks to his bat and steady play behind the plate.
What Went Right: Kratz was on the receiving end of Chipper Jones' forearm in a violent home plate collision in the fourth. He held on to the ball, and kept the Braves temporarily off the scoreboard. Starter Roy Halladay, once again battling some sort of bug, struggled and didn't make it out of the fifth inning. He allowed four runs on seven hits.
Trailing 5-4, Kratz hit a solo homer to lead off the ninth inning to tie up the ballgame. With two runners on in the 10th, Mayberry hit his 13th home run of the year to give the Phils the lead and the eventual victory.
Jonathan Papelbon pitched a perfect 10th for his 250th career save.
Featured Card: Someone get this man another Phillies baseball card! I have only four Kratz cards in my collection as of this writing - three IronPigs cards, including the card featured here, and his lone Phillies card from the Phillies Team Issue 2 set.
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