| Houston Astros | 6 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 5 |
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| 2023 Philadelphia Phillies Photocards |
Tuesday Night, September 8th
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
81-64, 2nd Place, 4 games behind the Braves
81-64, 2nd Place, 4 games behind the Braves
One Sentence Summary: A rough start from Andrew Painter and two costly base running blunders cost the Phillies in this 6-5 loss to the Astros.
What It Means: The Braves also lost, so the Phillies hold steady at four games behind them in the division. They're only a half game up over the Cubs for the top Wild Card spot.
What Happened: Painter was touched for four runs in a disastrous second inning, and allowed another run in the fourth to put the Phillies in a 5-0 hole. He allowed 10 hits overall and two walks, while striking out six. The Phillies started to climb back with three runs in the sixth. Justin Crawford doubled, Kyle Schwarber singled and Trea Turner hit a three-run home run into the left field bleachers. Brooks Raley allowed another run in the top of the seventh on a Daulton Varsho home run.
What It Means: The Braves also lost, so the Phillies hold steady at four games behind them in the division. They're only a half game up over the Cubs for the top Wild Card spot.
What Happened: Painter was touched for four runs in a disastrous second inning, and allowed another run in the fourth to put the Phillies in a 5-0 hole. He allowed 10 hits overall and two walks, while striking out six. The Phillies started to climb back with three runs in the sixth. Justin Crawford doubled, Kyle Schwarber singled and Trea Turner hit a three-run home run into the left field bleachers. Brooks Raley allowed another run in the top of the seventh on a Daulton Varsho home run.
In the bottom of the seventh, Alec Bohm doubled and came home on a Brandon Marsh double. With runners on second and third and no one out, J.T. Realmuto lined out to shortstop Jeremy Pena and Marsh was easily doubled off second when he wandered too far off the bag and broke for third on contact. The Phillies got another run closer in the ninth when Bryson Stott singled and came home on an Edmundo Sosa double. Sosa admired his hit for too long from the batter's box, and he likely should have had an easy triple. A few fly outs that could have been sac flies weren't, with Sosa anchored at second, and Kyle Schwarber popped out to second to end the game.
Featured Card: It was Jenna who noticed Paco Figueroa, the team's usual first base coach, was not manning his position at first base during this game. Bobby Dickerson, the infield coach, was there in his stead, as Figueroa is dealing with a hip injury. Interestingly enough, Figueroa is also the team's base running coach, so he could not have liked what he saw from the dugout from Marsh or Sosa. Figueroa appears in the 2011 Reading Phillies team set and has team-issued cards in the 2019, 2022 and 2023 photo card sets.
Featured Card: It was Jenna who noticed Paco Figueroa, the team's usual first base coach, was not manning his position at first base during this game. Bobby Dickerson, the infield coach, was there in his stead, as Figueroa is dealing with a hip injury. Interestingly enough, Figueroa is also the team's base running coach, so he could not have liked what he saw from the dugout from Marsh or Sosa. Figueroa appears in the 2011 Reading Phillies team set and has team-issued cards in the 2019, 2022 and 2023 photo card sets.
Field Report: Jenna and I spent most of the game watching from the Diamond Club on a beautiful late summer evening.
