2011 Topps Phillies #PHI11 Wilson Valdez

Phillies 11, Mets 0
Game 6 - Thursday Afternoon, April 7th in Philadelphia

One Sentence Summary:  The bats exploded for 16 hits and Roy Halladay pitched masterfully as the Phils put the Mets in their place and decisively won the series finale, 11-0.

What It Means:  Manager Charlie Manuel preaches winning the series, which is exactly what the Phillies have done against the second tier Astros and Mets clubs.  The first real test of the 2011 season will come this weekend as the Phils faces off against the Braves on the road.

What Went Right:  Just about everything went right.  Wilson Valdez collected a career-high four hits, including two doubles, with three RBIs, Placido Polanco drove in four runs and Raul Ibanez hit his first home run of the season.  Roy Halladay pitched seven shutout innings for his first win of the season, striking out seven along the way.  The only difficult part of his afternoon came in the third when the Mets loaded the bases on three singles.  Halladay struck out David Wright on four pitches and induced a ground-out from Ike Davis and the wind completely went out of the Mets' sails.  After two games, Halladay's ERA is now 0.69.

Featured Card:  I knew I'd get a chance to show off Valdez' Phillies Topps card at some point.  There's a definite chance this could be his only mainstream baseball card of 2011.  This card is especially fitting for this game summary post, as the picture looks as if it could have been taken during this afternoon's game.  Valdez is sporting the team's alternate home day game uniform.

Field Report:  As a person, and specifically as a person of business, I thought it my duty to accept the free ticket offered to me for this afternoon's Business Person's Special.  We sat in Section 137, along the third base line.  The seats are close to the field, but the mega-HD score board is obscured from view from where we were sitting.  Other than that very minor complaint, it was a wonderful afternoon of baseball, and it sure beat sitting in front of a computer screen all afternoon.  The Phillies are now 2-0 in games I've attended this year.