Game 45 - 2019 Donruss #18 Aaron Nola

Phillies 2, Rockies 1
Game 45 - Saturday Afternoon, May 18th in Philadelphia
Record - 26-19, 1st place, 1 1/2 games ahead of the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Aaron Nola struck out a career high 12 batters and Bryce Harper blasted a home run into Ashburn Alley as the Phillies held on to win, 2-1.

What It Means:  They'll go for the series sweep this afternoon.

What Happened:  Nola (4-0) pitched a solid ballgame, allowing a run on eight hits before running into trouble in the seventh inning.  Adam Morgan and Seranthony Dominguez got through the seventh, before turning the game over to Hector Neris for a two-inning save.

Harper's blast was measured at 466 feet and it's one of the longest in the short history of Citizens Bank Park.  The Phillies took the lead for good in the third when Jean Segura scored on a wild pitch.

2019 Topps Now Game-Used Base #13PHI

Featured Cards/Field Report:  Doug and I enjoyed this game from our semi-usual perch in Section 315.  Doug stationed himself at the corner of the Phillies dugout opposite first base for about an hour prior to gametime, and his persistence paid off with autographs from Rhys Hoskins, Zach Eflin and Enyel De Los Santos.  We witnessed Harper's bomb and Nola's masterful performance, and still found time to enjoy our first visit to the new Shake Shack.

While walking around the ballpark before the game, we noticed Harper Topps Now cards for sale at the Phillies Authentics stand on the third base side.  I couldn't pass up adding one of the game-used base cards from opening day to my collection, and since Doug has been keeping his grades up he got one too.  It appears as if this card is exclusive to Citizens Bank Park.  Checking the MLB Archive on the Topps Now website, versions of this card were originally for sale numbered to 1, 5, 10 and 25, with the cards numbered 13D, 13C, 13B and 13A in descending order of availability.  The Phillies Authentics stand was selling unnumbered versions along with versions numbered to 49 and 99.  Our unnumbered version carries a number on the back of 13PHI, and was available for sale at what I deemed to be a reasonable price of $30.

We'll make it a point to check that stand from now on to see if any other Topps Now cards are available for sale at future games.

Doug's autograph haul