Game 162 - Sunday Afternoon, September 29th in Atlanta
Record - 73-89, 4th Place, 23 games behind the Braves
One Sentence Summary: The Phillies limped into the offseason with yet another brutal loss, dropping the season finale to the Braves, 12-5.
What It Means: Pitchers and catchers will report to Clearwater in about 140 days. This is the seventh time since 1980 the Phillies have lost at least 89 games in a season. The other forgettable seasons were - 1988 (96), 1989 (95), 1992 (92), 1996 (95), 1997 (94) and 2000 (97).
What Went Wrong: The Phillies never had a chance in this game as starter Zach Miner allowed five runs in his 2 1/3 innings of work. Relievers J.C. Ramirez and Cesar Jimenez couldn't stop the bleeding, allowing a combined five more runs in their three innings of work.
Featured Card: Michael Martinez singled with two outs in the ninth for the final Phillies hit of the 2013 season. Martinez, who in most organizations would represent Triple-A depth and not a Major League bat off the bench, perfectly represents the shortcomings of '13 Phillies. He finished the season with a .175 average (7 for 40) in 28 games. Nothing against Martinez and most of his 2013 Phillies teammates, but I hope they're playing elsewhere in 2014.
Memory Lane: On a personal note, this is now the fifth season in a row that I've tracked the Phillies season with game summary posts following each game. While the Phillies were definitely tough to watch at times this year, I still enjoyed my daily ritual of summarizing the game, sharing my personal thoughts on the team and coming up with a baseball card from my Phillies collection with some connection to the game.
I know I'm not breaking any news with these game summary posts, and I won't win any Pulitzer Prizes. But it's fun. And I'll be back next year.
Here are the links to the other Game 162s from the prior four seasons:
October 4, 2009 - Catcher Paul Hoover singled in the winning run in the 10th in a 7-6 win over the Marlins.
October 3, 2010 - The Phillies lost 8-7 to the Braves in their final tune-up before facing the Reds in the N.L.D.S.
September 28, 2011 - The Phillies closed out the 2011 regular season with a 13-inning victory against the Braves, setting a franchise record with their 102nd regular season win.
October 3, 2012 - The Phillies closed out their 2012 season with a lethargic 5-1 loss to the N.L. East Champion Nationals.
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