Game 58 - One of the Weirdest Phillies Games I've Ever Seen

2021 Chachi #49

Phillies 12, Nationals 6
Game 58 - Sunday Afternoon, June 6th in Philadelphia
Record - 28-30, 3rd Place, 4 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  In a long, hot and weird game, the Phillies ultimately prevailed, 12-6, in a nearly five-hour contest that had a little bit of everything.

What It Means:  Monday is the second of seven scheduled off days in June, and then the Braves come to town for a mid-week series.  (One of those off days is already gone as the Phillies will play a make-up game against the Reds on June 28th.)

What Happened:  What didn't happen?  I don't often use bulleted lists for these game summaries, but this game merits it:

• Home plate umpire Brian O'Nora departed in the first inning after becoming ill and the umpiring crew went with a three-man squad for the game.  This was the first of many delays in this game.
• Nationals pitcher Austin Voth was hit in the eye with a Vince Velasquez pitch and was escorted from the field, bloodied by the beaning.
• The Phillies plated seven runs in the fourth inning, including the 1,000th run of Andrew McCutchen's career, making him only the fifth active player to have reached that plateau.
• Brad Miller homered in the fifth inning and debuted the new Phillies straw home run hat, apparently to be worn by a player upon returning to the dugout to celebrate his home run.
• In the sixth inning, J.T. Realmuto hit his 100th career home run, a three-run shot, giving the Phillies a 12-6 lead.  Realmuto joyfully donned the new home run hat after rounding the bases.
• Cristopher Sanchez made his big league debut in the eighth inning and after recording two outs, the netting behind home plate collapsed.  What followed was a 20-minute, incredible display of ingenuity as the grounds' crew rigged the net back into position with some rope and impressive knot-work.  This all transpired while the ballpark's speakers blared the William Tell Overture.

Featured Card:  All this transpired while at my Mom's house for some pool time and burgers and I felt it appropriate to create a special highlight card to mark the weirdness of the game.  This has some precedence in Chachi sets, as I created a highlight card back in 2007 to mark the time the entire Phillies roster helped the Rockies' ground crew secure their tarp during a fierce rain storm.

Transactions:  Chase Anderson (rhp) and David Hale (rhp) were placed on the Covid injured list.  Sanchez (lhp) was recalled from Lehigh Valley and Hector Neris (rhp) was activated from the paternity list.

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