Monday, May 13, 2013

2013 Topps Turkey Red #35 Chase Utley

Phillies 4, Diamondbacks 2 (10 Innings)
Game 39 - Sunday Afternoon, May 12th in Phoenix
Record - 18-21, 3rd Place, 4 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies stunned the Diamondbacks (and me) by scoring twice in the ninth to tie the game and twice in the tenth to win the game, 4-2.

What It Means:  It means that the West Coast trip was kind of successful.  The Phillies finished the trip through San Francisco and Arizona with a decent record of 4-3.  They're off today before opening up a quick two-game series at home against the Indians on Tuesday.

What Went Right:  The offense was shut down through eight innings by Brandon McCarthy, who had struggled mightily so far this year against every other team not named the Phillies.  Kyle Kendrick earned a no decision, but he threw well again.  Kendrick allowed just two first inning runs and then settled in through the seventh inning.

Chase Utley led off the ninth with a double off Diamondbacks closer Heath Bell.  He scored when Delmon Young doubled.  Domonic Brown then knocked in John Mayberry, Jr., who was running for Young, with an RBI-single to left.  In the tenth, Jimmy Rollins singled and Utley doubled again.  Ryan Howard, who had just an awful series (1 for 18, with 9 strikeouts) drove them both in with his RBI single to right.

Featured Card:  I was all set to author a post lamenting the horrible state of the team's offense, when the Phillies decided to come to life and win late against the Diamondbacks.  The post would have featured current hitting coach Steve Henderson's card from the team issued set, and the tone would have been that of utter frustration and resentment.

Instead, Utley gets the honors for his four hit day, including the two doubles that helped both ninth and tenth inning rallies.  This is Utley's card from the quickly issued and seemingly quickly forgotten Topps  Turkey Red set, which was only available via the Topps online store earlier this year.

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