Saturday, May 18, 2013

2013 Topps Heritage #258 Michael Young

Phillies 5, Reds 3
Game 42 - Friday Night, May 17th in Philadelphia
Record - 20-22, 3rd Place, 3 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies battled back to win late against the Reds, 5-3.

What It Means:  It's easy to feel good about the Phillies when they play like they played last night.  Now if they could only maintain some level of consistency.

What Went Right:  First, let's discuss what went wrong.  With the scored tied at two, Antonio Bastardo allowed an eighth-inning, lead-off home run to Joey Votto, giving the Reds a 3-2 lead and completely sucking all the air out of Citizens Bank Park.  The home run cost Cliff Lee, who had pitched well again, a win.

But then in the bottom of the eighth, things went right.  Michael Young worked a 10-pitch walk, Ryan Howard inexplicably reached on a check-swing infield single to the left side of the infield, Delmon Young was plunked, and Domonic Brown reached on an error, scoring Michael Young.  A Carlos Ruiz sac fly brought home Howard a batter later, although replays showed that Howard might have been out.

Featured Card:  Young drew his third walk of the game with his outstanding at-bat in the eighth, and he came around to score the eventual winning run.  I'm still waiting for my Bowman Phillies team set to arrive in the mail, which includes Young's first card wearing an actual Phillies uniform.  (Unless you count his team-issued card featuring him in Spring Training action.)  The Topps Heritage card featured here does a decent job of creating the illusion of a Phillies uniform, and it features a rare Young smile.

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