Game 143 - Doug's Blast at The Yard Not Enough for Offense

Nationals 3, Phillies 1 (Game 1)
Game 143 - Tuesday Afternoon, September 11th in Philadelphia
Record - 74-69, 2nd place, 5 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  In a mostly empty ballpark, the Phillies crept closer to their offseason with a lifeless 3-1 loss to the Nationals.

What It Means:  The ground's crew didn't put the tarp on the field over the rainy weekend, and the field was deemed unplayable on Monday night necessitating a rare Tuesday afternoon game.

What Happened:  The offense was shut down by the Nationals' Erick Fedde who struck out 9 over 5 2/3 scoreless innings.  The Phillies managed five hits, including doubles from J.P. Crawford and Justin Bour.  Nick Pivetta lasted 4 1/3 innings and gave up two runs on three hits, including a home run to Spencer Kieboom.

Transaction:  The Phillies set a franchise record when they recalled pitchers Drew Anderson, Enyel De Los Santos and Ranger Suarez from the IronPigs, giving them 39 active players on their roster.  The disabled Aaron Loup is the sole member of the 40-man roster not currently active.

Featured Cards/Field Report:  Doug and I were two of about 500 people at this game.  We didn't arrive until the 5th inning, but we took advantage of the empty park with Doug's first trip to the wiffle ball field at The Yard.  He promptly sent a ball over the center field batter's eye, which was probably one of the hardest hit balls for the home team on Tuesday afternoon.

Between games, Doug and I took the field for a pre-game ceremony as part of the ALS Phillies Phestival sponsor's night.  While Doug was holding a sign for my employer, he was attacked by the Phillie Phanatic and I quickly took this picture from behind while an on-field photographer took the pair's picture from the front.