Wednesday, May 4, 2011

2011 Topps Heritage #328 Raul Ibanez

Phillies 7, Nationals 4
Game 29 - Wednesday Night, May 4th in Philadelphia

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies cruised past the Nationals, 7-4, as Raul Ibanez finally found his mojo.

What It Means:  The Phillies won their 20th game of the season moving them a game and a half ahead of the Marlins in the N.L. East.  (The Marlins are winning against the Cardinals tonight, as I write this.)

What Went Right:  The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth when Ibanez led off the inning with his second home run of the year.  Ibanez, who snapped an 0 for 35 skid last night, finished the night with three hits, an RBI and two runs scored.  The Phils plated four in the sixth inning to put the game away.

Vance Worley turned in a fine pitching performance, allowing just one run on four hits in his six innings of work.  He struck out seven Nationals along the way.

The Nationals' Jayson Werth went 1 for 4 with two strikeouts.

What Went Wrong:  Danys Baez had his first poor outing of 2011, allowing a 3-run home run to Danny Espinosa in the ninth.

Featured Card:  It feels good to feature an Ibanez baseball card after his offensive struggles so far this season.  By all accounts, Ibanez is one of true "good guys" of the game and here's hoping he's figured things out after going 5 for 8 the past two nights.  I've just ordered the 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen Phillies team set from an eBay seller, so I should be joining the rest of the baseball card blogoverse in posting Gypsy Queen cards within the next few days.

Transaction:  Before the game, lefty reliever J.C. Romero was activated from the disabled list and David Herndon was optioned to AAA Lehigh Valley.

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