Tuesday, April 17, 2012

2012 Topps #120 Hunter Pence

Phillies 5, Giants 2
Game 10 - Late Monday Night, April 16th in San Francisco
Record - 5-5, Tied for 3rd Place, 2 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  A four-run first inning provided Roy Halladay all the support he needed, as the ace won his third game of the year.

What It Means:  When a pitcher doesn't have his best stuff yet still manages to win, the baseball cliche is to save he "grinded" or "gutted" one out.  Halladay grinded and gutted one out last night.  He didn't have his A game, and he was the victim (as was Giants starter Tim Lincecum) of a tight strike zone from the home plate umpire.  He pitched eight innings, while allowing seven hits and walking two.  Doc struck out six.

What Went Right:  The offense jumped on Lincecum early.  Placido Polanco doubled, Jimmy Rollins walked, Hunter Pence singled, Shane Victorino singled and Laynce Nix doubled in quick succession in the first to hand the Phils a 4-0 lead.  Halladay himself added the fifth run with an RBI-single in the fourth.

Featured Card:  I haven't had many reasons to feature any of the team's bats so far this season, so it's nice to show off one of Pence's 2012 cards here.  Pence had two hits last night and drove in a run.  He also had a nice leaping catch against the right field wall in the fourth to end the inning.

This is Pence's card from the 2012 Topps set, and the photo used for this card is the same photo featured on Pence's Topps Opening Day and Topps Phillies cards.

Programming Note:  This could be my last game summary post for a few days.  The West Coast trip coupled with some upcoming travel means The Phillies Room will be mostly on auto-pilot until the weekend.  Go Phils!

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