Friday, September 2, 2016

2016 Phillies Team Issue 2 #50 Hector Neris

Nationals 2Phillies 1
Game 133 - Wednesday Night, August 31st in Philadelphia
Record - 60-73, 4th place, 18 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies managed two hits in this 2-1 loss to the Nationals.

What It Means:  The Phillies now have a nine-game losing streak going against the Nationals, which is the longest losing streak against the Nationals/Expos since these two teams first matched up back in 1969.

What Happened:  Adam Morgan gave up a first inning home run to Jayson Werth, but then he settled in to pitch a decent ballgame.  Overall, he allowed two runs on three hits in 6 2/3 innings of work.  Freddy Galvis hit a solo home (15) off Gio Gonzalez to account for the only Phillies run.

Featured Card:  While the case could be made to feature another card for Morgan, I wanted to pay tribute to reliever and set-up man Hector Neris who has quietly had an outstanding year out of the bullpen.  The sorry state of non-closer relievers receiving baseball card appreciation is on full display with the case of Neris.  To date in 2016, his only card can be found within the team's second series photocard set.

As the Phillies Tweeted after this game, Neris has not allowed a run in his last 11 2/3 innings and he has a 1.06 ERA (4 earned runs, 34 innings) over his last 33 games.  He leads the National League in appearances with 67 and his 2.11 ERA for the season is incredible.  Jeanmar Gomez has been exceptional this year in the closer's role, but there are rumblings that Neris may have earned himself at least an audition for the role in 2017.

As discussed in this post, I'm taking a poll on how collectors track baseball card collections. 

Please vote in the poll on the sidebar if you haven't already.  Thanks!

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