Monday, September 9, 2019

Game 142 - 2019 Topps Archives #112 Maikel Franco

Phillies 10Mets 7
Game 142 - Sunday Afternoon, September 8th in Queens
Record - 74-68, 3rd place, 14 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies battled back and hung on to defeat the Mets, thanks in part to a pinch-hit bloop single from Phil Gosselin and a two-run home run from Maikel Franco.

What It Means:  The Phillies and Brewers are two games behind the Cubs for the second N.L. Wild Card and the Diamondbacks are 1 1/2 games back.  The Braves will come to Philadelphia for a crucial four-game series beginning Monday night.

What Happened:  With the score tied 4-4 in the sixth, Gosselin singled home Rhys Hoskins with the go-ahead run and then Franco hit his big blast (16) off Luis Avilan.  Adam Haseley (4) and Scott Kingery (18) also homered with Corey Dickerson adding a two-run single in the fifth.

Nick Vincent began to redeem himself with a scoreless eighth inning and Hector Neris escaped trouble in the ninth to record his 24th save.

And it wasn't pretty.  As Meghan Montemurro Tweeted, this was the second longest 9-inning game in Phillies history, a minute shy of the 4 hour, 30 minute marathon last season in Pittsburgh.  The Phillies and Mets combined to use 16 pitchers and 390 pitches were thrown.

Featured Card:  Mostly exiled to the bench or Lehigh Valley for the bulk of the season, Franco came through in a big way with his home run.  Here's his 1975 Topps-inspired card from the recently released Topps Archives set.

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