First Inning Explosion! #ChachiNow

2017 Chachi #34

Phillies 17, Nationals 3
Game 5 - Saturday Night, April 8th in Philadelphia
Record - 2-3, Tied for 3rd place, 1 game behind the Marlins and Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies scored a franchise-high 12 runs in the first inning on the way to a 17-3 route of the Nationals.

What It Means:  Some history was made in this game and having been lucky enough to have been in attendance, it was one of the best innings of baseball I've ever seen.

• The first inning broke down as follows - 16 batters, 9 hits, 2 sacrifice flies.
• The Phillies top six hitters combined to go 9 for 9 with four extra-base hits, 10 runs and 11 RBIs in the first inning.  (H/T Larry Shenk via Twitter.)
• The 12 runs scored in the first inning was one run short of the all-time franchise high in an inning.  The Phillies scored 13 in an inning on April 13, 2003 in Cincinnati.
• 12 runs is a franchise record for the first inning and the previous high had been 10, which the Phillies have accomplished four times.  (H/T Jim Salisbury via Twitter.)
• The last time the Phillies scored 17 runs in game was on July 6, 2009 when they beat the Reds, 22-1.  Jayson Werth had 5 RBIs in that game.  (H/T Kevin Cooney via Twitter.)
• Michael Saunders and Tommy Joseph became the first Phillies teammates with multiple RBI hits in an inning since Mike Schmidt and Gary Matthews did it on September 24, 1981.  (H/T Meghan Montemurro via Twitter.)

What Happened:  Saunders fell a home run short of the cycle and Howie Kendrick went 3 for 5 with 4 RBIs.  Lost in the offensive outburst was the fact that Aaron Nola pitched a pretty good game, allowing three runs on seven hits in six innings.  He also struck out seven.

Featured Card:  I knew I needed to create a custom highlight card for this game, but I couldn't find any great pictures that would work with the vertical orientation of the 1982 Topps Highlights card design.  I settled on this picture of Odubel Herrera and Freddy Galvis celebrating after Herrera had scored on Joseph's first single.  I like the fact that new hitting coach Matt Stairs is also featured in this photo.

Field Report:  And we were there!  Jenna and I enjoyed a pre-game meal at Harry the K's and then made our way to our seats just in time for the first inning fireworks to start.