2022 Topps Home Field Advantage #HA-3 |
Game 64 - Saturday Afternoon, June 8th in London
Record - 45-19, 1st Place, 9 games ahead of the Braves
One Sentence Summary: The Phillies and Bryce Harper took London by storm, with The Showman living up to his name with a big day at the plate.
What It Means: This was fun to watch, although we quickly switched over to the Phillies radio broadcast to avoid the Fox announcers. The Phillies had a contingent of former players on hand, and I spent Saturday morning following along with the events in London on social media. This two-game series has the feel of an All-Star Weekend, except with the Phillies as the main characters and the Mets in town since the Phillies needed an opponent.
What Happened: Ranger Suarez gave up a first inning run, but then settled down to pitch 5 2/3 innings while striking out six. The win improved his record to 10-1. The Phillies' offense seemed to struggle at first given the early evening sun glare, but once that went away, they jumped on Mets' starter Sean Manaea for six runs in the fourth inning.
What It Means: This was fun to watch, although we quickly switched over to the Phillies radio broadcast to avoid the Fox announcers. The Phillies had a contingent of former players on hand, and I spent Saturday morning following along with the events in London on social media. This two-game series has the feel of an All-Star Weekend, except with the Phillies as the main characters and the Mets in town since the Phillies needed an opponent.
What Happened: Ranger Suarez gave up a first inning run, but then settled down to pitch 5 2/3 innings while striking out six. The win improved his record to 10-1. The Phillies' offense seemed to struggle at first given the early evening sun glare, but once that went away, they jumped on Mets' starter Sean Manaea for six runs in the fourth inning.
Bryce Harper hit a solo home run to right to tie the game at 1-1, sliding into a football/soccer goal celebration as he returned to the Phillies dugout. An RBI single followed from Edmundo Sosa to score Alec Bohm, and then Whit Merrifield hit a three-run home run to give the Phillies a 5-1 lead. Cristian Pache doubled and Kyle Schwarber singled him home, chasing Manaea from the game. Nick Castellanos capped the Phillies scoring with a solo home run to left in the eighth inning.
Featured Card: Harper doubled in the first, becoming the first Phillies player with a hit in Europe. His thrilling home run in the fourth will be replayed for years, and I'm waiting for the e-mail from Topps with the celebration image on an inevitable Topps Now card. Here's a card with several symbols from the first time Philadelphia and England mixed things up.
Transaction: The Phillies and Mets were both given an extra roster spot for this series, with the Phillies recalling Rafael Marchan (c). Nick Nelson (rhp) and Darick Hall (1b) are also in London as a two-player taxi squad, just in case they're needed.
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