Game 73 - 2018 Phillies Team Issue 2 #37 Odubel Herrera

Phillies 12, Nationals 2
Game 73 - Friday Night, June 22nd in Washington
Record - 40-33, 2nd place, 2 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Odubel Herrera continued to torch the ball with a four-hit night and the Phillies banged out 15 hits in this 12-2 win over the Nationals.

What It Means:  The Phils re-took sole possession of second place and they find themselves 2 1/2 games behind the first place Braves.  It's way too early for this, but the Phillies are now also the second wild card.

What Happened:  Herrera homered (13) for the fifth straight game, with Carlos Santana also hitting a home run (12) and driving in 4 runs.  Andrew Knapp hit a solo home run (2) in the 9th, Cesar Hernandez had a 3-hit night and Nick Williams drove in 3 runs.

Zach Eflin threw five solid innings to pick up his 5th win.

Featured Card:  The autograph on this Herrera team-issued card is courtesy of my wife, who stood in line with our son Ben to wait for Herrera's autograph at Thursday's Phillies Phestival.  She insists that Herrera smudged the signature and not her and I believe her.  Herrera seems to have a habit of smudging his autographs.  Maybe he flips the pen after signing?

Transaction:  Prior to the Phillies Phestival on Thursday, Jake Thompson was optioned to the IronPigs, leaving Zach Eflin all alone at an autograph table.  Zac Curtis was recalled to take Thompson's place in the bullpen.