| Tampa Bay Rays | 12 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 1 |
 |
| 1993 Select Rookie & Traded #84T |
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
87-74, 2nd Place, 7 games behind the Braves
87-74, 2nd Place, 7 games behind the Braves
One Sentence Summary: Desperately needing a win, the Phillies were easily destroyed by the Rays on a rainy, dreary night.
What It Means: In an article for The Athletic, Matt Gelb called the loss "an all-time embarrassment for the franchise." Fortunately, the Padres beat the Diamondbacks last night. A Phillies win OR a Diamondbacks loss sends the team to Atlanta to face the Braves in the Wild Card Series, beginning on Tuesday. A Phillies loss AND a Diamondbacks win sends the Phillies home, hoping there's a reason to report to Clearwater in February with a lock-out looming.
What Happened: Aaron Nola gutsily took the ball to start on only two days' rest. It did not go well, and the Phillies were quickly down 3-0 before most fans had the chance to dry off their seats. Chase Shugart, Jose Alvarado and Jose Urquidy poured gasoline on the fire, allowing a combined seven more runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Alvarado's performance was especially bad as he was charged with three runs on three walks and only one hit. Max Lazar gave up two meaningless runs in the eighth.
What It Means: In an article for The Athletic, Matt Gelb called the loss "an all-time embarrassment for the franchise." Fortunately, the Padres beat the Diamondbacks last night. A Phillies win OR a Diamondbacks loss sends the team to Atlanta to face the Braves in the Wild Card Series, beginning on Tuesday. A Phillies loss AND a Diamondbacks win sends the Phillies home, hoping there's a reason to report to Clearwater in February with a lock-out looming.
What Happened: Aaron Nola gutsily took the ball to start on only two days' rest. It did not go well, and the Phillies were quickly down 3-0 before most fans had the chance to dry off their seats. Chase Shugart, Jose Alvarado and Jose Urquidy poured gasoline on the fire, allowing a combined seven more runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Alvarado's performance was especially bad as he was charged with three runs on three walks and only one hit. Max Lazar gave up two meaningless runs in the eighth.
The offense was in the midst of a 21-inning scoreless streak before an unearned run scored in the seventh inning. The Phillies had seven hits overall, including a pair of doubles from Bryson Stott, but went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.
Featured Card: Television muted, I decided to let Scott Franzke and Kevin Stocker get me through the night with the radio broadcast. They understood the mood, the desperation and the despondency of the situation, and it felt more like a therapy session than a baseball game. At one point, after Franzke had described the nearly empty Citizens Bank Park as "desolate," the two broadcasters decided that was the perfect descriptor and Stocker went so far as to read the word's meaning from the dictionary. "Empty, lacking people or life, deeply unhappy or lonely."
Franzke, ever the optimist, at least before the first pitch was thrown, started the game with the opening words shown here. We'll be at the ballpark today, likely in rain ponchos, so I won't hear if he comes up with something even more appropriate for Game 162.
Here's a Stocker card from happier days.
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