Monday, June 15, 2020

1985 Game 59 - 1984 Topps Stickers #19 John Denny

Phillies 13Pirates 3
Game 59 - Saturday Night, June 15th in Pittsburgh
Record - 23-36, 5th Place, 12 1/2 games behind the Cubs

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies offense came to life with 15 hits and John Denny pitched a complete game while striking out 13 in this 13-3 win over the Pirates.

What It Means:  The Pirates were pretty bad at this point, and this loss set their record at 19-38, looking up at the Phillies while in the basement of the N.L. East.  Unfortunately, the Pirates would return to prominence and the postseason way before the Phillies would.

What Happened:  I was surprised to see the Phillies didn't hit any home runs in this game.  With the exception of left fielder John Russell (0 for 4), the entire starting line-up had a hand in scoring the team's runs.  Glenn Wilson led the way, falling a home run short of the cycle.  He tripled to lead off the fourth and scored on a wild pitch, and he had a two-run single in the fifth along with a two-run double in the eighth.  Juan Samuel and Mike Schmidt also knocked in a pair of runs, as Schmidt continued an uphill climb out of his early season slump.  His average was now up to .219 following his two-hit day.

Denny scattered 10 Pirates hits in his outing and walked only two to his 13 strikeouts.

Featured Card:  Denny gets the nod over Wilson, but mainly since I've featured way more Wilson cards than Denny cards so far.  Denny would continue to pitch well throughout the rest of the season, but this was arguably his best start of the year.  We didn't know it at the time, but the 1983 N.L. Cy Young Award winner was in his last year with the Phillies and he'd be dealt to the Reds following the season.

1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index

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