Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Game 16 - 2018 Choice Lakewood BlueClaws #15 Nick Maton

Giants 2
, Phillies 0
Game 16 - Monday Night, April 19th in Philadelphia
Record - 8-8, 2nd Place, 1 1/2 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies' offensive troubles continued as they were shut out by Kevin Gausman and the Giants, 2-0.

What It Means:  The Phillies set an unfortunate record, with their center fielders now hitless in the last 13 games.  That breaks the record set by the Cubs' center fielders in 1965 who were hitless in 12 games.  Lead-off hitter Andrew McCutchen went 0 for 4 to drop his season average down to .157.

What Happened:  The offense had plenty of chances, but went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners stranded.  Bryce Harper was the sole bright spot with three hits.  Jean Segura collected his 200th career double and Nick Maton blooped a single to left in the sixth inning for his first big league hit.

Starting pitcher Chase Anderson's only blemish was the two-run home run he allowed to Brandon Belt in the third.  The bullpen had another stellar performance, with David Hale, Sam Coonrod, Brandon Kintzler and JoJo Romero throwing five scoreless innings.

Featured Card:  Didi Gregorius banged up his elbow, so Maton started at shortstop and batted eighth in his big league debut.  He's the first shortstop to wear #29 in his debut since Jimmy Rollins back in 2000.

Transactions:  In a flurry of pre-game Covid-related moves, Jose Alvarado (lhp), Matt Moore (lhp) and Ronald Torreyes (inf) were all placed on the injured list with the Phillies recalling Damon Jones (lhp), Maton (inf) and Cristopher Sanchez (lhp).  First base coach Paco Figueroa and coaching assistant Bobby Meacham both also entered Covid protocols with infield coach Juan Castro serving as first base coach last night and Lehigh Valley IronPigs manager Gary Jones serving as third base coach.

Castro was the third first base coach in four games, with Figueroa and Meacham coming before him.  There's a precedent for me issuing Chachi cards for interim coaches, so I'll need to add Gary Jones to the 2021 set at some point.

2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Season Summary Index 2021 Chachi Set Checklist

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