2012 Topps Heritage #270 Nate Schierholtz

Phillies 3, Rockies 2
Game 138 - Friday Night, September 7th in Philadelphia
Record - 67-71, 3rd Place, 18 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies mounted a late inning comeback, defeating the Rockies, 3-2.

What It Means:  The Phillies need to go 15-9 the rest of the way to finish the disappointing season with a winning record.  Given the teams they play over the final three weeks of the season, that seems feasible.  As for the second Wild Card?  Todd Zolecki tweeted this last night: "Cardinals are second NL wild card team at the moment. They are on pace for 87 wins.  Phillies would need to finish 20-4 to finish 87-75."

What Went Right:  Three timely pinch-hits paved the way to victory.  Pete Orr led off the seventh by beating out a ground ball to short for an infield hit.  He and Juan Pierre would eventually come around to score on a Laynce Nix pinch-double, which tied up the game at 2-2.  In the ninth, Nate Schierholtz hit a pinch-single to right, scoring Jimmy Rollins with the winning run.

Featured Card and Field Report:  It's becoming more and more likely that Schierholtz won't have a 2012 Phillies baseball card.  We were there last night and the game was long and (quite frankly) a little boring.  We ventured from our seats in the fourth inning and I found the nearest Phillies Newstand to ask whether or not the photocard set for sale was the "new" set.  The nice lady working the Newstand replied that the set had come out after the All-Star break, and it was in fact the new set.  I pressed onward.

"But does this set have a Kevin Frandsen card?," I asked.

"No one has ever asked for a Frandsen card," she responded, "But you’re free to look through the cards to check."

So I did.  And there was no Frandsen card.  And the cards of Hunter Pence, Shane Victorino and Joe Blanton remained.  "Sorry," nice Newstand lady said. "I guess Frandsen doesn’t have a card this year."

So there you have it.  The Phillies have three more home series remaining this year (11 more home games) and I can't imagine they'll be producing Team Issue set 2.1 at this point.  I'll be attending a few more games, and I'll continue to check though.  (The Phils are now 4-7 in games I've attended this year.)