Game 90 - Saturday Afternoon, July 9th in Philadelphia
One Sentence Summary: Despite Cliff Lee's best efforts on the mound and at the plate, the Phils fell in extras to the Braves, 4-1.
What It Means: The lead in the East is down to 2 1/2 games and the Phillies record stands at 56-34.
What Went Wrong: Lee hit his first career home run in the third inning, providing the only offense for the day. He pitched eight innings, allowing just the run on three hits while striking out nine.
The offense managed six hits, including Lee's home run, and left seven men on base.
The Phils loaded the bases in the tenth, but John Mayberry, Jr. grounded out to first to end the threat. In the eleventh, Michael Stutes allowed a lead-off walk to Eric Hinske. Pinch-runner Wilkin Ramirez advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and came around to score the go-ahead run on an Alex Gonzalez single. On the previous pitch, Gonzalez had hit a pop up into foul territory that was dropped by Ryan Howard. Brian McCann's two-run homer sealed the win for the Braves.
Featured Card: According to the Phillies Media Guide, Lee hit the 213th home run by a Phillies pitcher, and the first since Chan Ho Park hit one on April 25, 2009. Here's a list of Phillies pitchers with at least five home runs -
- 11 - Larry Christenson, Rick Wise
- 9 - Steve Carlton, Schoolboy Rowe
- 7 - Al Orth
- 6 - Bill Duggleby
- 5 - Robin Roberts
I was hoping to come up with a card of Christenson swinging a bat, or at least wearing a batting helmet, but this baseball card is the best I could do.
Coincidentally, both Larry Christensen and Rick Wise wore #38.
ReplyDelete