Game 156 - Fan Appreciation Day Doesn't Deliver Much Appreciation

Pirates 6, Phillies 0
Game 156 - Sunday Afternoon, September 26th in Philadelphia
Record - 81-75, 2nd Place, 2 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies went down quietly in their final regular season home game of the 2021 season.

What It Means:  It all comes down to the final six games.  The Phillies and Brave face off in Atlanta for three games beginning on Tuesday night with the Braves holding a 2 1/2 game lead in the division.  The Phillies then head to Miami for a final series while the Braves will take on the Mets at home.

What Happened:  Hans Crouse got the call as the team's surprise starter and he made his big league debut.  On the first pitch he threw, Pirates second baseman Cole Tucker drilled a home run that banged off the right field foul ball.  Crouse, who settled down after that, combined with Cristopher Sanchez and Cam Bedrosian to keep the Padres from scoring again through six innings.  Unfortunately, the Phillies couldn't get anything together either.  In the seventh, Jose Alvarado endured a nightmare inning with the following sequence:  walk, balk, ground out, intentional walk, wild pitch, double, intentional walk, fly out.  The Pirates would tack on three more runs after that.  The Phillies offense had six hits and left nine runners on base.

Featured Card/Field Report:  All four of us enjoyed (?) this game from the Diamond Club with the pregame meals of choice being Bull's BBQ (one more time) for Doug and me and Pass and Stowe for Jenna and Ben.  As he did in 2019, Bryce Harper came out onto the field before the first pitch and addressed the fans, thanking us for our dedication.  Once in our seats, Doug added the third foul ball of the season to his collection!  He alertly picked up a foul ball thrown by Crouse and launched behind us off the bat of Bryan Reynolds after it had caromed down from the section above us.

Doug and I briefly met up with our friend and fellow collector Steve, Ben got to say hello to the Phillie Phanatic for the first time in two years and at least the weather was perfect.  We lingered after the final pitch and Doug noticed the newest Phillies pitcher Crouse by the dugout meeting with his family.  Crouse signed Doug's foul ball and the day was deemed a success, despite the product on the field.  I have to imagine that's the first autograph Crouse signed as a big league ballplayer.  Best case scenario, we return to the ballpark the second week of October for the divisional series against the Brewers.  Worst case scenario, we're back on April 8th when the Phillies open the 2022 season against the Athletics.

Transaction:  Crouse (rhp) had his contract selected from Lehigh Valley and Matt Joyce (of) was designated for assignment.

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