Game 83 - 2018 Donruss Whammy! #W3 Rhys Hoskins (and #GenerationDbacks)

Phillies 3, Orioles 2
Game 83 - Tuesday Night, July 3rd in Philadelphia
Record - 46-37, 2nd place, 2 1/2 games behind the Braves

Massive, Meandering Post-Vacation Catch-Up, Part 4 of 11

One Sentence Summary:  Zach Eflin won his 6th straight decision with seven solid innings of pitching as the Phillies downed the Orioles, 3-2.

What It Means:  Eflin became the first Phillies pitcher with six straight wins since Cliff Lee did it back in 2011.

What Happened:  Rhys Hoskins reached the 100 career RBI mark with a 2-run double in the third.  Andrew Knapp plated the go-ahead run with an RBI triple in the fourth to score Nick Williams.  Tommy Hunter and Seranthony Dominguez loaded the bases with Orioles in the 8th, only to escape the jam due to an amazing play at third by Maikel Franco to throw out Chris Davis and end the inning.

Featured Card:  Hoskins became the fastest player in franchise history to 100 RBIs.  He reached the mark in his 124th game with Chuck Klein previously holding the record by needing 143 games.  (Per Tweet from Todd Zolecki.)  I don't have the Topps Now card commemorating this feat yet, but here's a cool insert from this year's Donruss set.

2018 Chachi Ballpark Visits #7

Field Report:   The Phillies were off on Monday night, but we were in Phoenix for the Diamondbacks-Cardinals game.  We were the only four people to show up for the 9am tour of Chase Field, and we enjoyed our behind the scenes look at the ballpark along with our visit down to the field and the Diamondbacks dugout.  Following a fun afternoon at the Arizona Science Center, we were among the first to enter the ballpark when gates opened for the game.

Doug scored an Archie Bradley autograph along with a signature from an unknown Diamondbacks reliever, or "some random pitcher" as Doug put it.  We met up with Randy Johnson, Mark Grace and Baxter during the game and the Big Unit is even taller in person than I realized!  Ben appeared dancing on the scoreboard, but it wasn't enough to help the Diamondbacks beat the Cardinals.  The Cardinals won this game 6-3 behind a home run and three RBIs from Yadier Molina.

Following the game, we drove to Flagstaff and we spent Tuesday touring the beautiful Red Rocks of Sedona.

2018 Chachi Ballpark Visits #8

2018 Chachi Ballpark Visits #9

2018 Chachi Ballpark Visits #10