Thursday, July 22, 2010

1988 Topps Rite-Aid Team MVP's #8 Mike Schmidt

Cardinals 8, Phillies 4
Game 92 - Monday Night, July 19th in St. Louis

I'm catching up after being out of town this week for work.

The headline on the Phillies home page said it all: "Kendrick unravels in 5th as Phillies fall." I listened to most of the Phillies game on Monday night during a 2+ hour drive up the New Jersey Turnpike. The drive started pleasantly enough, as the Phillies uncharacteristically scored 3 runs in the top of the 1st to take an early lead. The key hit in the inning was a clutch 2-out, 2-run single from Shane Victorino. So far, so good.

Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick allowed a pair of Cardinals' runs in the first two innings, but he seemed to calm down in the 3rd and 4th innings. As the Phillies' radio broadcast began to fade into the distance, I noticed storm clouds forming further up the Turnpike. By the time I found the Cardinals' radio feed on XM, the Cardinals had scored another run and it was 4-3 Phillies. And then the skies opened, the rain fell and Kendrick imploded all at once. Kind of symbolic, isn't it? Kendrick allowed 3 home runs in the inning to Albert Pujols, Allen Craig (his first in the Majors) and Skip Schumaker, and the Cardinals led 7-4.

I drove the rest of the way in the rain, checked into my hotel room, and watched the last few innings of ESPN's broadcast. The offense managed 13 hits, but most of the them were left stranded on the basepaths. In the end, the 4 runs managed by the Phils weren't enough to overcome Kendrick's 5th inning unraveling.

Time to Shave the Beard?: Per Todd Zolecki's Twitter feed - Jayson Werth is hitting .165 (13 for 79) with runners in scoring position. That's 118th out of 119 players in the NL. And he got himself picked off tonight in the 3rd, just to rub salt in the wound.

On a completely random note, I'm going to continue posting oddball drug store/food issued baseball cards from 1988 until the Phils win another game.

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