Game 5 - Wheeler Wins First of 2025

Colorado Rockies	1
Philadelphia Phillies	5

2025 Topps #218

Game 5

Wednesday Night, April 2nd

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
4-1, 1st Place, 1 game ahead of the Marlins

One Sentence Summary:  Zack Wheeler picked up his first win of the season and Edmundo Sosa stayed hot at the plate in this 5-1 win over the Rockies.

What It Means:  The Phillies will go for a series sweep on Thursday afternoon behind Taijuan Walker, before welcoming the Dodgers to town for a weekend set.

What Happened:  Wheeler allowed a solo home run to Hunter Goodman in the seventh inning, the only blemish during his otherwise spotless performance.  He had allowed two hits prior to that, and ended his outing with 10 strikeouts.

The Phillies scored first in the fourth inning when Kyle Schwarber doubled home Alec Bohm.  With a slim 2-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh, Trea Turner singled home Sosa.  Sosa made it 5-1 Phillies with a two-run double in the eighth.  Filling in for Bryson Stott in this game, Sosa went 3 for 4 to raise his season average to a gaudy .600 (9 for 15) with four doubles.

Featured Card:  Here's Wheeler's most recent Topps flagship card from Topps Series One.

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Game 4 - Sosa Sparks Late Inning Win

Colorado Rockies	1
Philadelphia Phillies	6

2024 Philadelphia Phillies Photocards

Game 4

Monday Afternoon, March 31st

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
3-1, 1st Place, 1/2 game ahead of the Marlins

One Sentence Summary:  Back-to-back doubles by Bryson Stott and Edmundo Sosa in the seventh gave the Phillies the lead for good in this game, supporting a strong outing from Cristopher Sanchez.

What It Means:  We originally had tickets for this game, as it's become an annual tradition for us to get to the home opener.  Having two sons now playing high school sports, and with both their teams, baseball and tennis, kicking off their seasons, we made the easy decision to give away our Phillies tickets and attend their opening day high school game/match.  The Phillies fared better than their high school teams.

What Happened:  Rockies' starting pitcher German Marquez held the Phillies to four hits with nary a run over the first six innings of the game.  Sanchez had allowed a sixth inning solo home run to Hunter Goodman.  The Phillies plated four quick runs in the seventh, all with two outs, with Stott doubling, Trea Turner drawing a walk, Sosa doubling Stott home and Kyle Schwarber hitting his third home run of the season.  In the eighth, Max Kepler and Nick Castellanos hit back-to-back solo home runs to give the Phillies a 6-1 lead.

Featured Card:  Sosa has filled in nicely for Turner the last few days, as the regular shortstop deals with back issues.  Here's his card from the fairly rare and not yet completely checklisted 2024 Phillies Photo Card set.

Transaction:  On Tuesday, the Phillies claimed Brett de Geus (rhp) off waivers from the Miami Marlins and optioned him to Lehigh Valley.  Also, Buddy Kennedy (inf) cleared waivers, declined his assignment to the minor leagues, but then resigned with the Phillies on a minor league contract.

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