Game 87 - Friday Night, July 5th in Philadelphia
Record - 42-45, 3rd Place, 7 1/2 games behind the Braves
One Sentence Summary: Humberto Quintero was the unlikely offensive star tonight, as the back-up catcher supported Cliff Lee's fine outing with three RBIs.
What It Means: The Phillies took game one of this important series, and they'll try for their third straight win behind Kyle Kendrick tonight.
What Went Right: Quintero hit a two-run home run in the second and added an RBI-double in the sixth. The struggling Ryan Howard hit a solo shot to center in the third for his 11th home run of the season. It should also be noted that Ben Revere's two-hit night raised his average to .293 and he's hitting .337 since May 1st.
Lee cruised through six innings before faltering in the seventh. The bullpen trio of J.C. Ramirez, Antonio Bastardo and Jonathan Papelbon were able to hold the lead for Lee, giving him his 10th win. Ramirez has yet to allow a run in his five appearances.
Featured Card: Back-up catchers usually don't receive much cardboard appreciation and third string catchers receive even less. So it's no surprise that Quintero's sole Phillies baseball card to date comes in the team's postcard set available for sale at the stadium. I've seen a few recent eBay auctions for the second series of this set, which the team seemingly released a bit early this year. I plan to pick up a set this weekend and I'll have a full report once I have the set in hand.
Poor Humbert the Fifth, dropped from the set just as he gets a starring role!
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