Game 85 - Sunday Afternoon, July 3rd in Toronto
One Sentence Summary: Cliff Lee was rolling along as the best pitcher in baseball until the Blue Jays hit three quick home runs off him in the eighth and the Phils fell, 7-4.
What It Means: The Phillies record is now 53-32 and they have a 4 game lead over the Braves in the East.
What Went Wrong: The Phils jumped to a quick lead with four runs in the second off Blue Jays starter Jo-Jo Reyes. However, the Blue Jays scored seven unanswered runs to come from behind and avoid the sweep.
It all happened so quickly. Heading into the bottom of the eighth, Lee (9-6) was cruising behind a 4-3 lead. With little warning, Eric Thames homered to center, Jose Bautista hit a bomb to left, Adam Lind singled and Edwin Encarnacion capped it with a two-run home run. Just like that, it was 7-4 Jays and Lee's day was over.
Featured Card: Lee's scoreless inning streak was halted in the third when he allowed the first Marlins run. His 34 scoreless innings moved him past Larry Andersen's 32 2/3 scoreless innings for second place on the Phillies all-time list. Only Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland Alexander's streak is longer, as Ol' Pete threw 41 consecutive scoreless innings in 1911.
I picked up this Alexander card a few months ago from CheckOutMyCards.com. The 33-card Golden Press set was included in book form with perforations so that collectors could remove the cards from the book. Each of the subjects featured are Hall of Famers. It's a cool looking set and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before we're seeing sell sheets for the 2013 Topps Golden Press set.
All-Stars: It was announced this afternoon that Placido Polanco was voted by fans as the starting third baseman for the National League All Star squad. Also making the team were three of the Four Aces - Lee, Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels. Shane Victorino will once again try to make it to Phoenix via the Final Vote, which is currently under way over at MLB.com.
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