Sunday, April 14, 2013

2004 Upper Deck Vintage #29 Placido Polanco

Marlins 2, Phillies 1
Game 11 - Saturday Night, April 13th in Miami
Record - 5-6, 4th Place, 5 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Rookie pitcher Jose Fernandez shut down the Phillies and the Marlins took advantage of some shaky defense to walk-off with a 2-1 victory.

What It Means:  Each of the team's five losses prior to this game were tough, but this one may have trumped them all.  The Marlins are just an awful team, and the Phillies need a win on Sunday to win the series.

What Went Wrong:  The Marlins scored their first run when Laynce Nix misplayed a ball that led to a triple by Adieny Hechavarria.  He'd come in to score on pitcher Fernandez's first Major League hit and RBI.  Nix had made an amazing diving catch in right earlier in the game.

With the score tied, Phillies reliever Phillippe Aumont started the ninth by walking Placido Polanco.  Polanco moved to third when first baseman Kevin Frandsen couldn't cleanly field a grounder and he scored the winning run when Chase Utley also couldn't cleanly field a ground ball.  Frustrating.

Starting pitcher Cole Hamels didn't allow a Marlins hit until Hechavarria's triple, which came with two outs in the fifth.  The Phillies managed just five hits off Marlins pitching.

Featured Card:  There was a nice article on Philly.com yesterday about Polanco and his thoughts on playing with the Marlins.  This is one of his cards from his first stint with the Phils in which Upper Deck borrowed loosely from the design of the 1954 Red Heart Dog Food set.

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