Game 6 - Sunday Afternoon, April 12th in Philadelphia
Record - 3-3, Tied for 2nd Place, 2 games behind the Braves
One Sentence Summary: A late comeback bid fell short as the Phillies dropped the series finale to the Nationals, 4-3 in ten innings.
What It Means: The Phils are back to .500 and they'll head to New York to open a three-game series with the Mets this afternoon.
What Happened: Sean O'Sullivan got the ball for the Phillies and he pitched a decent game against Max Scherzer and the Nationals. O'Sullivan pitched six innings, allowing just two runs on five hits. He also scored the Phillies first run when he came around to score in the fifth after drawing a lead-off walk from Scherzer.
Darin Ruf's pinch-hit home run in the seventh temporary tied up the ballgame, but Jake Diekman and Justin De Fratus couldn't keep the Nationals off the board in the 10th.
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| 2013 Choice Lehigh Valley IronPigs Update #11 |
Featured Cards: Ruf broke an 0 for 11 slump to start the 2015 season with his solo home run. He's featured in the Topps Phillies retail set, and this is probably a good preview of what his Series Two Topps card will look like.
Transaction: Phillies selected the contract of O'Sullivan from the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and designated Cesar Jimenez for assignment. Of note to only a few of us, O'Sullivan has switched from the #61 he's worn thus far with the Phillies to #47.
Jimenez pitched in 2/3 of an inning for the Phillies on opening day and he's appeared in 36 games overall with the club since 2013. If he makes it through waivers, he'll most likely end up back with the IronPigs.
The Phillies basically have the equivalent of two pitchers hitting in their starting lineup this year--one in the 9-hole and the other batting clean-up, at least on the days that Ruf doesn't start at first base. It's like the opposite of the DH, and it's going to be hard to succeed with that sort of lineup. Ruf isn't "The Answer", but he's better than having the equivalent of a pitcher hitting fourth.
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