Spring Training Game 10 - Yanks Mash Phils

New York Yankees	12
Philadelphia Phillies	3

2020 Topps Heritage #654

Spring Training Game 10

Tuesday Afternoon, March 4

BayCare Ballpark - Clearwater, FL

Record - 4-5-1

One Sentence Summary:  Not much good happened for the Phillies in this 12-3 spring loss to the Yankees in Clearwater.

What It Means:  Ten games into the spring schedule, and this is the first game for which I had absolutely no idea what was happening until it was over.  It looks as if I didn't miss much.

What Happened:  Zack Wheeler was likely "working on some stuff" as he was hit early and often in his two-inning outing.  His final line - six runs (five earned) on eight hits and a pair of strikeouts.  Cody Stashak relieved Wheeler and was greeted rudely, allowing a three-run home run to Spencer Jones and a two-run home run to Paul Goldschmidt.  The Yankees scored seven runs in the third inning, and only two of those runs were earned as a result of costly errors from Cal Stevenson and Trea Turner.

Max Kepler hit his first home run of the spring in the second inning.

Featured Card:  Stashak is in camp with the minor league squad, and I was surprised to see he had pitched in parts of four seasons with the Twins between 2019 and 2022.  He showed up in a few Topps releases in 2020, and this is his card from the 2020 Topps Heritage set.

Camp Head Count:  66 - 5 = 61

The first five reassignments came prior to this game, with the following minor leaguers reassigned to minor league camp:  Justin Crawford (of), Tristan Garnett (lhp), Aidan Miller (inf), Carson Taylor (inf) and Caleb Ricketts (c).  

Congrats to Dick Allen - Hall of Famer!

On Sunday night, the 16-member Classic Baseball Era Committee finally inducted Dick Allen into the Hall of Fame.  Allen will posthumously be inducted this summer as part of the Class of 2025.  The Phillies Room is thrilled for Allen's family, the Phillies organization, and those who have continuously lobbied to have Allen immortalized in the Hall.  Finally!

1964 Topps #243

1965 Topps #460

1966 Topps #80

1967 Topps #450

1967 Topps #309

1968 Topps #225

1969 Topps #350

1970 Topps #40

1971 Topps #650

1972 Topps #240

1973 Topps #310

1974 Topps #70

1975 Topps #400

1976 Topps #455

Game 41 - Phils Can't Overcome Brutal 2nd Inning in Loss

2020 Topps Heritage #641

Giants 6, Phillies 3
Game 41 - Late Monday Night, May 15th in San Francisco
Record - 20-21, Tied for 2nd Place, 6 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Another rough outing from Bailey Falter and a costly Bryson Stott error led to this 6-3 loss in San Francisco.

What It Means:  These two teams face off again late tonight, and maybe I'll make it through more than two innings.  (Or maybe not.)

What Happened:  Connor Brogdon served as an opener, but departed with the bases loaded and two outs in the first inning.  Falter entered and worked out of the jam, but then had a miserable second inning.  Six Giants runs crossed the plate after Stott missed a relay throw on what was a likely double play.  The big blow was a three-run home run by Michael Conforto.  Falter would settle down somewhat after that, but he's now 0-7 after allowing six runs (all unearned) on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.  

Alec Bohm hit a two-run home run in the second, and added a sacrifice fly in the sixth to account for all three Phillies runs.  Overall, the Phillies offense was 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.

Featured Card:  Jeff Hoffman pitched the final two innings for the Phillies, striking out four and needing just 26 pitches.  He has yet to allow a run in three Phillies outings.  After spending spring training with the Twins, he was released on March 28th, and signed a few days later with the Phillies.  Hoffman is a veteran of seven big league seasons, spending five years with the Rockies as a swing man.

2023 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2023 Season Summary Index / 2023 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 2 - Misery Continues in Texas

2020 Topps Heritage #589

Rangers 16, Phillies 3
Game 2 - Saturday Afternoon, April 1st in Arlington
Record - 0-2, Tied for 4th Place, 2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  After a brutal opening day loss on Thursday, it got much worse on Saturday, as the Phillies were destroyed, 16-3, by the Rangers.

What It Means:  Definitely not an ideal start to the season for the defending National League Champions.  As Tweeted by @tgpschmenk, the 27 runs allowed by the Phillies are the most allowed in the season's first two games since the 1895 club allowed 29 runs.

What Happened:  Zack Wheeler was chased in the fifth inning, and his final line shows five runs (four earned) on seven hits and seven strikeouts.  Seranthony Dominguez didn't retire any of the six batters he faced and was charged with six runs, four earned.  He joins Gregory Soto with the early season ERA of infinity.  Craig Kimbrel faced four batters, recorded only one out and was charged with three runs.  Josh Harrison made his Phillies debut and came in to record the final two outs of the eighth inning.

Featured Card:  Harrison, a non-roster invitee with the club in 2020, received two mainstream Phillies baseball cards that year, including this Topps Heritage card.  This was his fifth career major league pitching appearances, as he appeared in a game with the Pirates in 2013 and relieved in three games last season for the White Sox.

Transaction:  Dalton Guthrie (of) was optioned to Lehigh Valley after being on the Opening Day roster and Cristian Pache (of) was activated.

2023 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2023 Season Summary Index / 2023 Chachi Set Checklist

NEW BLOG: Collecting the 1969 Topps Set

Earlier this week, as we turned the calendar to 2023, I started a new set-collecting blog for the 1969 Topps set we're building.  It's going to look and feel mostly like the blog I recently wrapped up, which chronicled our collation of a complete 1965 Topps set between December 2019 and December 2022.  Presented below is the post for the first official card we added to our set - Cookie Rojas.

Please check out my new project and follow along as I collect the under appreciated 1969 Topps set.

1969 Topps #507 Cookie Rojas - Philadelphia Phillies

Octavio Victor Rojas
Philadelphia Phillies
Infield-Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'10"  Weight:  160
Born:  March 6, 1939, La Habana, Cuba
Signed:  Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1956 season
Major League Teams:  Cincinnati Reds 1962; Philadelphia Phillies 1963-1969; St. Louis Cardinals 1970; Kansas City Royals 1970-1977

As a Manager:  California Angels 1988; Florida Marlins 1996

A long-time utility player for the Phillies, Cookie Rojas enjoyed the best years of his career as the starting second baseman for the Royals in the early 1970s.  Rojas was a five time All-Star - once with the Phillies in 1965 and then four times with the Royals between 1971 and 1974.  Blocked at second base by Tony Taylor (#108) early in his career, Rojas moved around the field playing wherever needed for Phillies manager Gene Mauch (#606).  He finished in the top 10 in singles in his respective league in 1965, 1966 and 1974.  Rojas is second on the Royals' all-time games played list at second base behind Frank White.

Rojas played for 16 seasons, accumulating a .263 average over 1,822 games.  Following his playing career, Rojas stayed in the game serving as a coach for the Cubs between 1978 and 1981, and becoming the first Cuban born manager in major league history when he was at the helm for the Angels in 1988, succeeding his former manager Mauch as manager of that club.  He later served as a coach for the Marlins (1993-1996), Mets (1997-2000) and Blue Jays (2001-2002).  He's been the Spanish-language color commentator on Marlins television broadcasts since 2003.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #3
November 6, 2021 from Cooperstown, NY (Stonehouse Toys of Fame)

In early November 2021, needing a quick vacation and wanting to take our sons to Cooperstown for the first time, we took advantage of the annual NJEA Teacher Convention in which public schools are closed for a few days.  We loaded our car on a Thursday morning with a loose plan of spending two days in Cooperstown and the surrounding area over the weekend, shopping in the village, soaking in the Hall of Fame exhibits and eating a few good dinners.  The 4 1/2 hour drive to Otsego County was scenic and enjoyable.  Most of the day Friday was spent in the Hall of Fame and Saturday was dedicated largely to shopping in the many stores, mostly baseball related, located in the blocks surrounding the Hall.

We'd add nine cards to our 1965 Topps set during the weekend and four cards to our not-yet-collecting 1969 Topps set.  This Rojas card was pulled from a stack of loosely organized vintage Topps commons found within the subterranean Stonehouse Toys of Fame and it cost me $3.  I hadn't planned on adding any 1969 Topps cards during this trip, but by the end of the weekend Rojas would be joined by three other cards from the set.  It's fitting Rojas would be the first official card purchased for our 1969 Topps set build, as his 1965 Topps card was one of the first five cards we purchased for that set in December 2019.

The Card / Phillies Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

Given the card comes late in the set, I'm going to assume this is one of the newer photos to appear, perhaps taken as late as spring training 1969.  The back of the card highlights Rojas' 14-game hitting streak in 1968 which came in May and early June.  Rojas' versatility is also mentioned, and through the 1968 season he had pitched in one game, caught in seven games, played a game at first base and played three games at third base.

Accuracy Index:  This card scores a +5 for showing Rojas on the correct team and not recycling an old photo.

1969 Season
This was to be Rojas' seventh and final season with the Phillies.  In 110 games, he batted .228, the fourth year in a row his average had declined.  Rojas made 96 starts overall, with 94 starts coming a second base and a pair of starts in April in left field.  Taylor gradually saw more playing time at second base as the season progressed, and by the end of the season the Phillies had decided to move ahead with young Denny Doyle as Rojas' permanent replacement for 1970.  As noted below, Rojas was shipped to the Cardinals on October 7, 1969 as part of a blockbuster seven-player deal.

Phillies Career
The Phillies acquired Rojas from the Reds on November 27, 1962 for reliever Jim Owens, and his Topps rookie card in the 1963 set shows him wearing a Reds uniform top.  He played for seven seasons with the Phillies, appearing in at least 100 games every year except his first in 1963.  His best season with the club was 1965 when Rojas was named to his first All-Star team, joining his teammates Dick Allen (#350) and Johnny Callison (#133).  He appeared in 142 games that year, and saw more time at second base than usual due to a season long slump endured by regular second baseman Taylor.  He also led the team with a .303 average, which placed him eighth overall in the league.

After several years of declining offensive output, the Phillies traded him in October 1969.  Rojas was one of the players included in the blockbuster deal between the Phillies and Cardinals that shipped Allen and Jerry Johnson (#253) to St. Louis in exchange for Curt Flood (#540), Tim McCarver (#475), Byron Browne and Joe Hoerner (#522).  (Flood never reported to the Phillies, but that's a story for another post.)

Rojas played in 880 games for the Phillies - the exact amount of games he played for the Royals.

1963 Topps #221

1968 Topps #39

1971 Topps #118

1975 Topps #169

1988 Topps Traded #97T

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1963 Topps #221
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16):  1963-1977, 1988
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2019 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs #FFA-CR
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  90 in the Beckett online database as of 12/27/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog / The Phillies Room

Game 1 - An Electric Opening Day!

2022 Chachi Special Edition #1

2022 Topps Now Spring Training #ST-11

2020 Topps Heritage Minor League #175

1959 Topps #300

Phillies 9, Athletics 5
Game 1 - Friday Afternoon, April 8th in Philadelphia
Record - 1-0, 2nd Place, 1/2 game behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  In an electric Citizens Bank Park, the first "normal" opening day since 2019 was celebrated with a 9-5 win over the visiting Athletics.

What It Means:  As promised, the offense was impressive and the defense was at times shaky.  Bryson Stott, making his big league debut, mishandled three balls in a rough seventh inning, but redeemed himself with an RBI-double in the eighth.  The base running was also suspect, which I believe can be chalked up to an over-excited and aggressive Phillies line-up.

What Happened:  Kyle Schwarber introduced himself to the Phillies fans with a lead-off first inning home run, and then earned the first curtain call of the season.  In the third, Bryce Harper doubled home Schwarber, Rhys Hoskins drove in a pair with a line drive single to right and Didi Gregorius drove home Hoskins with his own RBI single.  Every Phillies starter had a least one hit, other than Matt Vierling, although Vierling contributed a sacrifice fly in the sixth.  Nick Castellanos, who had struck out in his first three at-bats, doubled home Harper in the seventh.  Stott and Schwarber added a few more runs in the eighth with Stott's first big league double and an RBI-single from Schwarber.

Aaron Nola cruised through the first three innings, and his first hit allowed was a solo home run to Chad Pinder in the fourth.  It was relatively smooth sailing for Jeurys Familia, Brad Hand and Seranthony Dominguez out of the bullpen, and Corey Knebel pitched a perfect ninth, striking out two, in his Phillies debut.

Featured Cards/Field Report:  For the second year in a row, Doug and I were there!  Here's a summary of a memorable opening day:

• We were there right after gates opened at 1:05.  Traffic was heavy and I've never seen the parking lots surrounding the ballpark so crowded.  Tailgating had obviously been going on for the better part of the day and we ended up parking right outside Lincoln Financial Field.
• Doug was craving Bull's and we waited in a long line for his standard order - BBQ pulled pork with cole slaw on top, with sides of baked beans and corn bread.
• The pre-game ceremony was once again impressive, with the Phanatic skydiving into the ballpark with the first pitch ball and Dan Baker throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.  Baker, the long-time public address announcer for the Phillies, was celebrating his 50th opening day with the club and his catcher for the first pitch was the first batter he every announced - Larry Bowa.
• We were lucky to have Diamond Club seats with my brother-in-law and his Dad.  Tommy Greene was seated a few rows in front of us.
• The Phillies Authentics store now has a wide selection of baseball cards for sale!  The cards all seemed reasonably priced and they were organized by player (Utley, Thome, Harper, Rollins, etc.) or alphabetical in white boxes.  There was a nice selection of star cards underneath a glass countertop.  I added the 1959 Topps Richie Ashburn card and Doug got a Luke Williams game-used base Topps Now card.  I'm not collecting the 1959 Topps set for a little bit, but we thought it would be cool to add a card to our set from the ballpark.
• The ballpark was PACKED.  We had trouble walking around and navigating through the lengthy lines that stretched beyond each concession stand.  The paid attendance was 44,232, and it seemed as if there were at least 10,000 more people than that there.
• Word is that team-issued photo card sets will make a return in 2022 after a two-year absence.  According to an employee from the Phillies Authentics store, they expect to have Yearbooks and photo card sets available for sale in May.

Transactions:  On Thursday, to get to the 28-man opening day roster, Stott (inf) had his contract selected from Lehigh Valley.  To make room for Stott on the 40-man roster, Rafael Marchan (c) was recalled and placed on the 60-day injured list with a knee injury.  Odubel Herrera (of), Sam Coonrod (rhp) and Ryan Sherriff (lhp) were placed on the 10-day injured list while James Norwood (rhp) was placed on the bereavement list.

On Thursday afternoon, we learned the unfortunate news that Mickey Moniak had suffered a hair-line fracture in his hand and would miss four to six weeks.  Moniak was set to be the club's opening day center fielder after his extremely impressive spring, and he received a warm welcome from the fans during pre-game introductions.  Simon Muzziotti (of) was recalled from Lehigh Valley to take his place.

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Game 105 - 2020 Topps Heritage #593 Kyle Gibson

Phillies 15, Pirates 4
Game 105 - Sunday Afternoon, August 1st in Pittsburgh
Record - 52-53, 2nd Place, 3 1/2 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Kyle Gibson picked up the win in his Phillies debut and the offense banged out 20 hits in this 15-4 drubbing of the Pirates.

What It Means:  Finally, the offense exploded and this would mark the start of the team's eight game winning streak.  By the following week, the Phillies would have swept the Nationals and Mets and found themselves in first place.  (Spoiler alert, I guess?)

We listened to this game from somewhere around Trenton in between our oldest son Doug's baseball tournament games.  Both he and his team did well over the weekend, and it was nice to drive home with wins from both our favorite teams - Doug's team and the Phillies.

What Happened:  J.T. Realmuto led the way, going 5 for 6 with a pair of doubles, three runs scored and four RBIs.  The Phillies had nine doubles overall with three of them coming from Bryce Harper, who continued to heat up.  Didi Gregorius had a much-needed three-hit afternoon as well.

Featured Card:  I'll need to go back into Gibson's baseball card archives until he receives his first Phillies baseball card.  The new addition to the starting pitching rotation was impressive, allowing two runs on five hits over 6 2/3 innings while striking out five.

August 1, 2021 - Warming up in East Windsor, NJ

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Phillies Trade Deadline Round-Up (Hooray?)

On Friday afternoon, the Phillies pulled the trigger on a trio of trades that will hopefully make them a better team for the rest of this season and potentially beyond.  I don't know enough about the prospects dealt or most of the players received to compose an in-depth analysis, so this post will focus on the baseball cards of the players leaving the organization and the new players who we'll get to know better in the coming months.

2021 Indianapolis Indians Team Issue

2019 Choice Lakewood BlueClaws #8

Trade #1 - Warming Up

Phillies acquire Braeden Ogle (lhp) from the Pittsburgh Pirates for Abrahan Gutierrez (c)

This doesn't help the team immediately, but Braeden Ogle is a highly-rated pitching prospect who had yet to appear in the majors with the Pirates.  Drafted in the fourth round of the 2016 draft, Ogle had a 3.13 ERA over 31 2/3 innings pitched this season with the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians.  To date he's appeared on some pre-rookie cards with Leaf and a few Pirates' minor league team sets.

Abrahan Gutierrez was supposed to head to the Pirates in the aborted Tyler Anderson deal.  He was batting .288 with the Low-A Clearwater Threshers, and I have two of his baseball cards in my collection, both from 2019 Lakewood BlueClaws team sets.

2021 Topps Heritage #224

2020 Topps Heritage #213

2020 Bowman Prospects #BP-119

2021 Topps Gypsy Queen #231

2019 Choice Lakewood BlueClaws #7

Trade #2 - The Big One

Phillies acquire Kyle Gibson (rhp), Ian Kennedy (rhp), Hans Crouse (rhp) and cash for Spencer Howard (rhp), Kevin Gowdy (rhp) and Josh Gessner (rhp).

Kyle Gibson was an All-Star this year with the Rangers and in 19 starts he's 6-3 with a 2.87 ERA.  He came up with the Twins in 2013, where he spent the first seven seasons of his career.  Gibson has appeared in six Topps flagship sets beginning in 2013, and then between 2015 and 2020.  He's in the 2021 Topps Heritage set, and I imagine he'll receive an All-Star card in the 2021 Topps Update set.

Veteran Kennedy is in his 15th big league season and in 32 games with the Rangers this year he has a 2.51 ERA with 16 saves.  Kennedy was a 21-game winner with the Diamondbacks in 2011, and he converted to a closer in 2019, saving 30 games for the Royals.  He's appeared in Topps flagship sets most years dating back to 2010, and he appears with the Royals in this year's flagship set.  He could assume the closer role with Ranger Suarez potentially returning to the starting rotation.

Crouse is interesting here, as he's apparently one of the Rangers' top pitching prospects.  His most readily available cards can be found in the 2020 Bowman set.

I'm genuinely sad to see Spencer Howard go, and it's tough to accept he went from the team's top pitching prospect to a complete question mark in such a short span of time.  I have 36 of his cards in my Phillies collection to date, and I'll continue to root for him even if he's wearing a Rangers uniform.  Kevin Gowdy was the Phillies' second round pick (after Mickey Moniak) back in 2016 and Josh Gessner was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Australia.  Gowdy has appeared on a few Bowman and minor league team set cards, and Gessner doesn't have any baseball card appearances yet.

2021 Topps #274

2019 Choice Williamsport Crosscutters #3

Trade #3 - The Reunion

Phillies acquired Freddy Galvis (ss) and cash from the Baltimore Orioles for Tyler Burch (rhp)

The popular Freddy Galvis returns to his original team, where he was the everyday shortstop for three seasons between 2015 and 2017.  Galvis is expected to provide a defensive upgrade to the team's poorly fielding infield.  He's in the 2021 Topps flagships set as well as this year's Topps Heritage set, with the Reds.  I currently have 49 Galvis cards in my Phillies collection and I'm looking forward to adding a few more.  Tyler Burch is a 23-year-old reliever who has played in the Phillies system since 2019.  I have one card of his in my collection from the 2019 Williamsport Crosscutters team set.

Game 92 - 2020 Topps Heritage #338 Hector Neris

Phillies 7, Marlins 4
Game 92 - Sunday Afternoon, July 18th in Philadelphia
Record - 47-45, 2nd Place, 2 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Zack Wheeler struggled, but the Phillies mounted an impressive come-from-behind effort in this 7-4 win over the Marlins.

What It Means:  The Phillies find themselves two games out of first place after taking three of four from the Marlins.  Since the calendar turned to July, their record is 9-4.  Following an off-day Monday, they'll play a quick two-game set at Yankee Stadium.

What Happened:  Wheeler allowed four runs in a long third inning and the Phillies were faced with a 4-2 deficit.  Andrew McCutchen and Didi Gregorius hit solo home runs in the fifth to tie the score.  The Phillies played some small ball in the sixth to take the lead.  Travis Jankowski singled and advanced to second on a Jorge Alfaro passed ball.  Brad Miller singled Jankowski to third, and the hirsute runner scored the go-ahead run on a Jean Segura sac fly.  Miller would ultimately score after a single, a walk and a force out that McCutchen beat out to spoil the double play.  J.T. Realmuto added an RBI single in the eighth - his third hit of the game.

Featured Card:  There were a lot of contributors to this win, but it was nice to see Hector Neris pitch a clean ninth inning for his 12th save.  Neris has lost the closer's role to Ranger Suarez, but with Suarez needing a day off, Neris got the ball and struck out a pair.

Transaction:  Since the Phillies and Marlins were technically playing two games on Sunday, including the resumption of Saturday night's suspended game, they were allowed to add a 27th man to the roster.  The Phillies recalled Mauricio Llovera (rhp) for the day.

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

Game 36 - 2020 Topps Heritage #384 Chase Anderson

Phillies 6, Nationals 2
Game 36 - Tuesday Night, May 11th in Washington
Record - 19-17, 2nd Place, 1 game behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Chase Anderson turned in a strong outing and the Phillies benefitted from a few timely hits in this 6-2 win over the Nationals.

What It Means:  The win ended a two-game losing streak and kept the Phillies a game behind the Mets for the division lead.  The Mets (17-13) have played six less games than the Phillies at this point.

What Happened:  Bryce Harper hit his seventh home run of the season in the first inning, and Rhys Hoskins drove in another run with a single in the third.  An Andrew McCutchen sacrifice fly scored Odubel Herrera, who had doubled to reach, giving the Phillies a 3-0 lead after four innings.

It could have gone downhill from there, especially after the Phillies loaded the bases in the sixth with no outs and couldn't plate a run.  The Nationals scored a pair of runs in the sixth to chase Anderson.  In the eighth, and in need of insurance runs, Alec Bohm doubled home Herrera and Andrew Knapp came through with a two-run, pinch-hit single to give the Phillies a 6-2 lead.  Hector Neris made the ninth inning interesting before securing the win.

Featured Card:  Anderson has pitched as expected as the team's fifth starter, typically going four or five strong innings before faltering.  Like most of the new additions to the Phillies in 2021, he's still waiting for his first Phillies baseball card.

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

Game 35 - 2020 Topps Heritage #156 Ranger Suarez

Braves 6, Phillies 1
Game 35 - Sunday Night, May 9th in Atlanta
Record - 18-17, 2nd Place, 1 game behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Other than a lead-off home run from Andrew McCutchen, not much went right for the Phillies in this 6-1 loss to the Braves.

What It Means:  With both teams decked in pink in celebration of Mother's Day, the Phillies lost their second in a  row, somewhat diminishing the prior four-game sweep of the Brewers.  After a much-needed off day on Monday, they'll open a three-game series in Washington on Tuesday night.

What Happened:  Aaron Nola just didn't have it.  He labored through four innings, allowing five runs on five hits before yielding to the bullpen.  The offense couldn't come up with any clutch hits, going 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position as Braves' starter Huascar Ynoa kept them off-balance for six innings.

Featured Card:  Ranger Suarez made his season debut, pitching two shutout innings after relieving Nola.  It was Suarez's first appearance since last September and he was hit hard in his three appearances last year.  Suarez lost a significant chunk of time due to the coronavirus, and just wasn't the same last season, so it was nice to see him pitch well essentially for the first time since 2019.

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