Sunday, April 1, 2018

Game 3 - 2017 Choice Lehigh Valley IronPigs #16 Hoby Milner

Braves 15, Phillies 2
Game 3 - Saturday Night, March 31st in Atlanta
Record - 1-2, Tied for 4th place, 1 1/2 games behind the Mets and Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies were completely embarrassed by the Braves in this 15-2 series finale loss.

What It Means:  Is it too early to have a low point of the season?  The Phillies will regroup on Easter Sunday with an off day before opening a three-game series in New York with the Mets.  As best as Larry Shenk can determine (via Twitter) this is the first regular season Sunday off-day for the team since the Pennsylvania Blue Laws required they not play on August 27, 1933.

What Happened:  Let's cut to the chase here.  The pitching was awful, the bullpen already looks exhausted and Gabe Kapler was (rightfully) repeatedly questioned by the media following the game as to whether or not he knows what he's doing.  Starter Vince Velasquez was chased in the third inning and reliever Hoby Milner was summoned from the bullpen by Kapler before he had thrown a warm-up pitch.  Jake Thompson got hit hard in two innings of relief and super utility player Pedro Florimon had to be summoned to pitch the eighth inning.  It's the third game of the season.

Ryan Flaherty, released by the Phillies at the end of spring training and signed by the Braves, went 7 for 13 (.538) scoring five runs.

Featured Card:  Milner was at the center of a lot of head scratching caused by his manager.  He's still waiting for his first mainstream Phillies baseball card release, having only previously appeared in minor league team sets and the team's late season photo card update set last year.

Happy Easter to you and your family!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

FWIW, Milner was also in 2013 Panini USA Baseball Champions; that's what's filling his slot in my NL East Rosters binder.