Franco's Walk-Off Single/Fielder's Choice Wins It

2015 Donruss Diamond Kings #199

2016 Topps Allen & Ginter #269

2016 Choice Lehigh Valley IronPigs #17

Phillies 5, Giants 4 (12)
Game 109 - Wednesday Night, August 3rd in Philadelphia
Record - 50-59, 4th place, 14 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies mounted an improbable comeback against Johnny Cueto and the Giants, winning in the 12th inning on Maikel Franco's walk-off hit/fielder's choice.

What It Means:  There was a lot going on with this game.  On Wednesday afternoon, it was announced that Aaron Nola would miss his scheduled start (and perhaps the remainder of the season) with right elbow issues.  Phil Klein was recalled from the IronPigs to make the emergency start.

What Happened:  Trailing 4-0 as a result of  five shaky innings from Klein, the Phillies battled back first with back-to-back home runs from Ryan Howard (15) and Cameron Rupp (12) in the seventh.  A two run single from Franco in the eighth tied it up and Franco eventually singled* to right to score Tommy Joseph with the winning run.

Led by Brett Oberholtzer, the bullpen was fantastic, holding the Giants scoreless through the final seven innings of the game.

*The official scorer changed his mind multiple times following this game, eventually ruling Franco's ball as a fielder's choice since Aaron Altherr, who was on first at the time, failed to touch second base during the post-game celebration.

Featured Cards:  Franco ended up being the star of this game, and this is his most recent mainstream baseball card from the recently released Allen & Ginter set.

I also wanted to show off a card for Klein, who could become this season's version of Adam Bernero. Klein's two readily available baseball cards (to date) can be found within the 2015 Topps Update set and within the 2015 Donruss Diamond Kings set.

Finally, Michael Mariot made his Phillies debut along with Klein (see below).  Mariot is that rare player with absolutely no mainstream baseball cards to his name.  To date, he's appeared only within Royals and now Phillies minor league team sets.

Transaction:  Nola's injury and a paternity list stay for Jeanmar Gomez led to a few roster moves before this game.  Nola was placed on the disabled list and Klein was recalled from Lehigh Valley for the emergency start.  Taking Gomez's spot on the roster was Mariot, who had pitched nicely in relief for the IronPigs this season.

Be sure to check out the 2016 Season Summary page with game results and links to game summary posts.