Game 2 - Impressive Comeback Falls Short

Texas Rangers	5
Philadelphia Phillies	4

10 Innings

2021 Topps Chrome Platinum
Anniversary #271

Saturday Afternoon, March 28th

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
1-1, Tied for 4th Place, 1 game behind the Braves, Marlins and Mets

One Sentence Summary:  After collecting just one hit through the first eight innings, the Phillies miraculously tied the game in the ninth, only to lose in the tenth.

What It Means:  The Phillies will not finish the season 162-0.

What Happened:  Aaron Nola got the start and allowed two home runs - a solo shot from Corey Seager in the first and a two-run home run to Jake Burger in the third.  Nola went five, and Tanner Banks, Jose Alvarado and Tim Mayza all pitched scoreless frames to keep the Phillies in the game.  In the bottom of the ninth, Alec Bohm singled with two outs, and went to second on an Edmundo Sosa walk.  Adolis Garcia should have been out to end the game on a foul pop-up dropped by Burger, and Garcia's subsequent double scored Bohm.  Brandon Marsh brought Sosa and Garcia home to tie the game at 3-3.

Jhoan Duran uncorked a wild pitch in the top of the 10th allowing ghost runner Brandon Nimmo to score the go-ahead run, and Andrew McCutchen provided an important insurance run with an RBI single to left.  The Phillies pushed across a run in the bottom of the 10th on a Bryce Harper RBI single, but they could not come back for a second time.

Featured Card:  It seems as if McCutchen has had a lot of big hits against his former team since departing following the 2021 season.

2026 Virtual Phillies Wall (Coming Soon) / 2026 Season Summary Index / 2026 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 65 - Phils Swept Out of Pittsburgh

Philadelphia Phillies	1
Pittsburgh Pirates	2

2019 Topps Gallery
Heritage #HT-25

Sunday Afternoon, June 8th

PNC Park - Pittsburgh, PA
37-28, 2nd Place, 4 1/2 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Paul Skenes made easy work of the scuffling Phillies offense and Cristopher Sanchez was the hardluck loser in this 2-1 loss to the Pirates.

What It Means:  The Phillies have lost nine of their last ten games, and they were swept by a not great Pirates team.  They've lost five games in a row, scoring just one run in four of those games.  They return home on Monday for three with the Cubs, followed by three more with the Blue Jays.

What Happened:  The Phillies managed a single run in this game when Brandon Marsh singled in the third and came around to score on Rafael Marchan's double to right, coupled with an error by Pirates' second baseman Nick Gonzales.  The only other hit from the Phillies was a double by Trea Turner in the ninth, but Alec Bohm grounded into a double play to end the threat and the ballgame.  Skenes was cruising and was oddly removed after 97 pitches, having given up the unearned run and striking out seven.  Sanchez just about matched him, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out nine.

Featured Card:  With the score tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Oneil Cruz walked, stole second and scored on Andrew McCutchen's single to right.  Now in his 17th season, McCutchen is batting .255 with five home runs and 21 RBIs.

2025 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2025 Season Summary Index / 2025 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 98 - Ortiz, Bucs Easily Handle Phils

2022 Topps Chrome #153

Pirates 4, Phillies 1
Game 98 - Saturday Night, July 20th in Pittsburgh
Record - 62-36, 1st Place, 7 1/2 games ahead of the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Pirates starting pitcher Luis L. Ortiz baffled the Phillies' offense in this 4-1 loss to the Pirates.

What It Means:  The Phillies have a three-game losing streak and they'll look to avoid a sweep this afternoon with Taylor Phillips on the mound.

What Happened:  Ortiz allowed three hits over seven innings, as the offense just couldn't get anything going.  Bryce Harper hit a solo home run in the ninth off Pirates' closer David Bednar.  All-Star Cristopher Sanchez battled through 5 2/3 innings, allowing a pair of runs on eight hits.  Fellow All-Star Matt Strahm gave up two big runs in the bottom of the eighth on an Oneil Cruz two-run home run.

Featured Card:  Old friend Andrew McCutchen broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run.

Transactions:  J.T. Realmuto (c) was activated from the Injured List and Yunior Marte (rhp) was once again recalled from Lehigh Valley.  Rafael Marchan (c) and Michael Mercado (rhp) were both optioned to Lehigh Valley.

2024 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2024 Season Summary Index / 2024 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 16 - Sloppy Defense, Pitching, Offense Cost Phils in Loss

2021 Topps Update
1992 Topps Redux #T92-37

Pirates 9, Phillies 2
Game 16 - Sunday Afternoon, April 14th in Philadelphia
Record - 8-8, 2nd Place, 2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Sloppy play, a lack of offense and a rough start from Zack Wheeler contributed to this 9-2 loss to the Pirates.

What It Means:  The Phillies split the series, and they'll open up a three-game series against the last place Rockies on Monday night.

What Happened:  The Phillies are winless in Wheeler's four starts, scoring a total of six runs when he's on the mound.  Ahead 2-1 in the top of the sixth, the Pirates opened the inning when Ke'Bryan Hayes reached on an error by Alec Bohm.  Rowdy Tellez walked, Andrew McCutchen singled and Jack Suwinski hit a back-breaking grand slam off Wheeler to give the Pirates a 5-2 lead.  Relievers Seranthony Dominguez and Ricardo Pinto would allow four more runs to score.  Trea Turner raised his average to .302 by going 3 for 4 with a third inning solo home run.

Featured Card:  McCutchen hit a two-run home run off Pinto in the ninth, the 300th of the popular outfielder's career.  I remember being so hopeful when McCutchen signed here prior to the 2019 season, but a devastating knee injury on June 3rd that season and the pandemic-shortened 2020 season essentially derailed his Phillies career.

Transaction:  Orion Kerkering (rhp) was activated from the Injured List, pitching a scoreless inning in this game in his 2024 debut, and Nick Nelson (rhp) was optioned to Lehigh Valley.

2024 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2024 Season Summary Index / 2024 Chachi Set Checklist

Spring Training Game 22 - Luplow Homers in Debut, Phils Tie Again

2022 Topps Heritage #21

Phillies 5, Blue Jays 5
Spring Training Game 22 - Sunday Afternoon, March 16th in Clearwater
Record - 8-9-5

One Sentence Summary:  For the fifth time this spring, the Phillies played to a tie after the bullpen couldn't lock down the win.

What It Means:  The Phillies wore green hats in honor of St. Patrick's Day, and for the second year in a row the Phillies were not also wearing green jerseys.  The green jerseys were a tradition started in 1986 with the help of Tug McGraw, and ended in 2021 when Nike took over manufacturing MLB's uniforms.  The graphic below is from Phillies Nation's X feed.

What Happened:  Zack Wheeler had another solid spring outing, allowing a run on three hits in his four innings of work.  Spring training stats don't mean much, but Wheeler's 2.00 ERA through three starts and nine innings pitched is impressive.  Following the game, manager Rob Thomson named Wheeler the opening day starter, ending Aaron Nola's streak at six straight opening day starts.  The Phillies held a 5-4 lead going into the eighth, but Austin Brice blew his third save of the spring as the Blue Jays tied up the score.

Cristian Pache and Rodolfo Castro both doubled in the second, giving the Phillies a 3-1 lead.  A Kyle Schwarber single in the fourth made it 4-1 Phillies, and newcomer Jordan Luplow hit a solo home run in the sixth.

Featured Card:  I'm not sure why the Phillies would sign Luplow so late in spring training, unless they didn't feel as if Jake Cave or Pache were going to be viable options as back-up outfielders.  Luplow last appeared on mainstream baseball cards in 2022, including this card from the Topps Heritage set.

Camp Head Count:  57

Phillies at Pirates: July 28th to July 30th

2014 Topps Heritage #337

2014 Topps Heritage #160

Friday and Saturday 7:05, Sunday 1:35
PNC Park - Pittsburgh, PA

At the Ballpark:  The first 20,000 fans arriving at PNC Park tonight will receive a Yinzerpalooza t-shirt.  On Saturday, the Pirates are giving away a bobble head of All-Star closer David Bednar.  And on Sunday, all kids will receive a "cuddly pierogy plush."

Phillies 55-47
2nd Place in the N.L. East, 10 games behind the Braves

Phillies Probables
Zack Wheeler (7-5, 3.88)
Aaron Nola (9-6, 4.25)
Cristopher Sanchez (0-3, 2.98)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Bryson Stott - .300
Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 59
Home Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 26
RBIs:  Alec Bohm and Kyle Schwarber - 62
Stolen Bases:  Trea Turner - 21

Wins:  Taijuan Walker - 11
ERA:  Zack Wheeler - 3.88

Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 134
Saves:  Craig Kimbrel - 16

Pirates 45-57
Tied for 4th Place in the N.L. Central, 11 1/2 games behind the Brewers

Pirates Probables
Mitch Keller (9-6, 4.01)
Quinn Priester (1-1, 9.28)
Rich Hill (7-10, 4.82)

Pirates Leaders
Average:  Andrew McCutchen - .265
Runs:  Bryan Reynolds and Carlos Santana - 45
Home Runs:  Jack Suwinski - 21
RBIs:  Carlos Santana - 53
Stolen Bases:  Ji Hwan Bae - 20

Wins:  Mitch Keller - 9
ERA:  Mitch Keller - 4.01

Strikeouts:  Mitch Keller - 137
Saves:  David Bednar - 20

2023 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2023 Season Summary Index / 2023 Chachi Set Checklist

Philly Baseball Card Show Report - 1969 Topps Commons Explosion

On Sunday, Doug and I drove an hour north to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks for the March Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, known to its friends as the Philly Show.  This could be our last show for a while, as baseball schedules along with a packed summer and fall tend to keep us away from any June or September shows.  We were happy we had decided to attend on Sunday, as we both heard from dealers and other collectors that Saturday's show was, "way too crowded, "a madhouse" and "chaos."  There were still a lot of people there on Sunday, but we were able to leisurely browse the dealer tables and we both came away with hauls that had us smiling all the way home.

• Doug's collecting habits are geared towards cards he thinks are cool, which is usually some combination of a signature, a relic and/or a low serial number for a favorite baseball or basketball player.  He's got quite the display going on his bedroom desk, and he added the cards shown below to his collection after a few hours of scouting and negotiating.
• After being a big spender on star cards at the December show, and completing our 1965 Topps set, I was focused on volume this time around.  I pulled up a chair at Uncle Dick's table, found the first binder of 1969 Topps commons (1-300) and plowed through it.  I stopped after each 100 cards to ask for a price check, and with the understanding I'd buy more if there was as a discount in play for volume, I soldiered on.  I added 193 cards to our 1969 Topps set, which is most likely the highest single set tally since the 1980s when my Dad and me were collecting the 1976 Topps set and we bought most of the commons needed for that set at an Ocean City baseball card show.
• I was happy to find quite a few dealers with Diamond Stars cards for sale.  I visited three separate dealers, making three separate purchases, all of which came in a little lower than the advertised prices. With five more cards added to that set, I'm down to needing 38 cards out of the 119 I'm collecting as my version of a master set.

I purchased one Phillies card, a 1987 team-issued variation card of the Phillie Phanatic, and we didn't purchase autographs from any of the dozens of autograph signers.  It was another great show, and it may need to hold us over until December.

Doug's Haul

New Diamond Stars cards

Memory Lane

Valley Forge 1 - September 2010 - Thinking of my Dad
Valley Forge 2 - October 2012 - Doug's first baseball card show
Valley Forge 3 - September 2014 - Meeting Darren Daulton
Oaks 1 - October 2015 - Meeting Pete Rose and Steve Carlton
Valley Forge 4 - September 2016 - Phillies acquisitions and 4 Phillies Legends
Valley Forge 5 - December 2016 - Meeting Don Money
Valley Forge 6 - September 2017 - Doug's big day
Valley Forge 7 - December 2017 - Ben's first baseball card show with Mike Schmidt and Rhys Hoskins!
Oaks 2 - December 2018 - Meeting Matt Stairs and Cole Hamels
Valley Forge 8 - March 2019 - 5 Phillies Autographs and Vintage Phillies Additions
Valley Forge 9 - September 2019 - Closing in on 1971 Topps set and Andrew McCutchen
Valley Forge 10 - December 2019 - Finishing 1971 Topps set, Starting 1965 Topps set, adding key autographs from Ryan Howard and Brad Lidge
Valley Forge 11 - February 2020 - More 1965 Topps cards, Jimmy Rollins, Mike Lieberthal and Jim Kaat

Valley Forge 12 - December 2021 - Huge haul of 1965 Topps, Jim Thome

Valley Forge 13 - March 2022 - Easy like Sunday morning, close to completing 1965 Topps

Oaks 3 - December 2022 - 1965 Topps set completed, dent made in 1969 Topps, Schwarber, Vierling and Stott

Oaks 4 - March 2023 - Huge haul of 1969 Topps and five Diamond Stars cards added

Blue Jays 8, Phillies 3
Spring Training Game 16 - Sunday Afternoon, March 12th in Clearwater
Record - 7-8-1

One Sentence Summary:  Further south, the Phillies dropped a spring training game to the Blue Jays.

What It Means:  With our fresh spoils in hand, we listened to the start of this game on our ride home from the Philly Show.

What Happened:  Starting pitcher Bailey Falter got hit early and often, allowing seven hits and three runs (two earned) in 2 2/3 innings of work.  Jake Jewell was the recipient of four unearned runs in the ninth due to a costly error by second baseman Hao-Yu Lee.  Josh Harrison hit a two-run home run in the fifth.

Featured Card:  See above!

Camp Head Count:  65 - 7 - 3 = 55

Before the game, James McArthur (rhp) was optioned and Mick Abel (rhp), Andrew Baker (rhp), Jon Duplantier (rhp), Griff McGarry (rhp), Francisco Morales (rhp) and Billy Sullivan (rhp) were all assigned to minor league camp.  Following the game, Jhailyn Ortiz (of) and Simon Muzziotti (of) were optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and Johan Rojas (of) was optioned to Double-A Reading.

Game 15 - Phils Still Waiting for Offensive Explosion

2022 Topps Phillies #PHI-3

Brewers 5, Phillies 3
Game 15 - Saturday Afternoon, April 23rd in Philadelphia
Record - 6-9, 3rd Place, 4 1/2 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Brewers' pitching held the Phillies' bats in check in this 5-3 loss.

What It Means:  The rubber match is tonight, and it's the Sunday Night Baseball game on ESPN.

What Happened:  At least Zack Wheeler's stuff seemed to have returned, although last year's Cy Young Award candidate allowed four runs on seven hits over his five innings of work.  Cristopher Sanchez gave up the fifth Brewers run on a solo home run to Hunter Renfroe in the sixth.

The Phillies offense kind of shut it down after the third.  The Phillies scored first following back-to-back doubles from Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos in the first inning.  They took a 3-0 lead in the third when Jean Segura singled home Odubel Herrera, and Castellanos added a sacrifice fly.

Featured Card:  This is probably the last Phillies baseball card to be issued for current Brewer Andrew McCutchen while he's still an active player, and it's one of the 17 cards in the Topps Phillies team set available for sale at the ballpark.  I'm happy to see the return of these sets, as covered in my last game summary post.  This is a fitting card for this post as the team's cream-colored alternate uniforms, worn during home day games, finally arrived in time for yesterday's game.  There had been a delay in the uniforms being shipped, so the Phillies had been wearing their red pinstripes during home day games.  The baby blue throwback alternates, worn on home Thursday games, have also arrived after a similar delay.

2022 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2022 Season Summary Index / 2022 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 152 - 2021 Topps Allen & Ginter #207 Uncle Larry

Phillies 4, Orioles 3
Game 152 - Wednesday Night, September 22nd in Philadelphia
Record - 78-74, 2nd Place, 3 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  A few late-inning clutch hits delivered the win for the Phillies as they maintained their three-game deficit behind the Braves.

What It Means:  The Phillies took two out of three from the worst team in baseball and they'll open a four-game series against the Pirates tonight.  The Pirates, at 57-94, are the second worst team in the National League.

What Happened:  The game was scoreless until the sixth inning, which was extremely frustrating given the Orioles starting pitcher (Keegan Akin) had a 6.93 ERA coming into the game.  Zack Wheeler battled through six innings, allowing a run on four hits.  The Phillies took a brief 2-1 lead thanks to a two-run home run from Andrew McCutchen in the bottom of the sixth.  In the seventh, the Phillies took the lead for good when Jean Segura hit a sacrifice fly to score Matt Vierling and then J.T. Realmuto singled home Brad Miller.  Ian Kennedy made the ninth inning interesting with a pair of walks, before retiring the Orioles and recording his ninth save.

Featured Card:  Here's another card of McCutchen's alter ego, Uncle Larry, from the recent Topps Allen & Ginter release.

Transaction:  Travis Jankowski (of) was activated from the injured list and Damon Jones (lhp) was optioned to Lehigh Valley.

2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Season Summary Index / 2021 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 133 - 2021 Stadium Club #62 Andrew McCutchen

Phillies 7, Nationals 6
Game 133 - Thursday Afternoon, September 2nd in Washington
Record - 69-64, 2nd Place, 2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies overcame a 6-0 deficit to win this game, 7-6, making it six games in a row and putting them just two games behind the Braves.

What It Means:  Following a damaging day of wind and rain from Hurricane Ida, the Phillies completed a three-game sweep of the Nationals and made their way to Miami for a weekend series.

What Happened:  Aaron Nola and Bailey Falter combined to allow six runs on eight hits through the first 4 2/3 innings.  The Phillies bullpen then settled in and kept the Nationals scoreless for the rest of the game.  Sam Coonrod picked up the win while Ian Kennedy recorded his sixth save with the Phillies.

Andrew McCutchen cleared the bases with a double to left in the top of the sixth.  He singled in the top of the eighth to improve the score to 6-4.  Two ground balls (from Nick Maton and Odubel Herrera) and a costly error from Nationals second baseman Luis Garcia gave the Phillies an improbable 7-6 lead in the eighth.

Featured Card:  Here's hoping McCutchen gets red hot down the stretch.  He went 2 for 5 in this game with four huge RBIs.

Transactions:  Active rosters expanded to 28 players on September 1st, and the Phillies added a pair of relievers.  Cam Bedrosian (rhp) and Ramon Rosso (rhp) had their contracts selected from Lehigh Valley.  Didi Gregorius (ss) was moved to the restricted list to extend his paternity leave by a day.  Rhys Hoskins (1b) was moved to the 60-day injured list.  Seranthony Dominguez (rhp) was activated from the injured list and optioned to Lehigh Valley.

2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Season Summary Index / 2021 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 115 - Introducing the 2022 Chachi Set Design

Phillies 2, Dodgers 1
Game 115 - Thursday Afternoon, August 12th in Philadelphia
Record - 60-55, 1st Place, 1/2 game ahead of the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Ranger Suarez and four Phillies relievers somehow combined to shut down the Dodgers in this 2-1 series finale win.

What It Means:  The Phillies maintain a slim lead in the East and they'll open a three-game series against the Reds on Friday night.

What Happened:  Suarez is slowly getting stretched out and he threw 4 1/3 innings and 82 pitches in this game, allowing a run on three hits.  Archie Bradley picked up the win with two perfect innings of work and Ian Kennedy battled the Dodgers and the home plate umpire to pick up his third Phillies save.  Bryce Harper hit a solo home run in the first and Ronald Torreyes had a clutch two-out single in the fourth to deliver the eventual winning run.

Featured Cards:  Earlier than ever, Topps released its first look at its 2022 flagship design back on July 15th.  Over the past several years, I've tried to reveal the design I'll be using for the next year's Chachi set a day or two after Topps' big announcement, but this year work and a family vacation put me behind schedule.  But now, I'm happy to announce my Chachi custom baseball card set will be heading to the 2000s for the first time in 2022, paying tribute to the underrated (in my opinion) 2000 set.  I hinted at my leaning towards the 2000 set in last year's announcement post, and in the end it came down to that design or the designs for the 1972, 1984 or 1987 Topps sets.

I wanted to put some distance between using the 1972 design and this year's Topps Heritage set, as well as the 1987 design and Topps paying tribute to that set with its own 2022 insert releases.  The 1984 set's design would be easy enough to replicate but finding two photos of some of the players could pose a challenge.  So in the end, the 2000 Topps set won out and I'm excited to take this step into the future . . . relatively speaking.

Here's a look at potential future Chachi set candidates, and I'm getting close to the point where I'll run out of 1970s and 1980s Topps designs to use:

1965 - My favorite Topps design from the 1960s and the subject of this other blog of mine.
1972 - The only set design from the 1970s I've not used yet.  Will 2023 finally be the year for this groovy set?
1984, 1987, 1989 - Or will 2023 be the year I tackle the two-photo challenge of the 1984 set.
2001, 2006, 2008 - Over the past few years, I've really come to appreciate the designs of the 2006 and 2008 sets.
Other Future Candidates - 1981 Donruss, 1981 Fleer, 1982 Donruss, 1983 Fleer, 1985 Fleer, 1987 Donruss

For a complete visual summary of past years' Chachi sets, please see here.

Memory Lane
2014 Chachi Preview #1 (8/8/13)
2015 Chachi Preview #1 (8/15/14)
2016 Chachi Preview #1 (8/11/15)
2017 Chachi Preview #1 (8/10/16)
2018 Chachi Preview #1 (8/7/17)
2019 Chachi Preview #1 (8/20/18)
2020 Chachi Preview #1 (8/2/19)
2021 Chachi Preview #1 (8/7/20)

2022 Chachi Preview #1 (8/13/21)

Transactions:  David Paulino (rhp), who last pitched in the majors in 2018, had his contract selected from Lehigh Valley and Nick Maton (inf) was optioned back down.  Sam Coonrod (rhp) was moved to the 60-day injured list to open up a spot on the 40-man roster for Paulino.

2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Season Summary Index / 2021 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 99 - 2021 Topps Opening Day Walk This Way #WW-12 Andrew McCutchen

Phillies 6, Nationals 5
Game 99 - Monday Night, July 26th in Philadelphia
Record - 50-49, 2nd Place, 3 1/2 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Andrew McCutchen hit a dramatic, three-run walk-off home run to give the Phillies a much-needed 6-5 win over the Nationals.

What It Means:  Win of the season?

What Happened:  Spencer Howard started this game, was cruising through three innings and then abruptly imploded in the fourth with two outs.  Howard surrendered back-to-back triples followed by a single and manager Joe Girardi had seen enough.  Howard left with a blister and his final line shows 3 2/3 innings pitched, with four runs allowed on six hits.  The Phillies offense was once again suffering from a lack of clutch hitting when Rhys Hoskins delivered a three-run home run in the sixth to bring the Phillies to within a run.  Archie Bradley allowed a ninth inning run to make it 5-3 Nationals and it appeared as if the Phillies would go quietly into the night.

Jean Segura led off the bottom of the ninth with a double, went to third on a wild pitch and Bryce Harper walked.  McCutchen then launched his 18th home run of the year, an opposite field shot, to give the Phillies a jubilant win.

Featured Card:  This is one of the rarer inserts from this year's Opening Day set, and I thought it would be an appropriate card to feature for McCutchen's big game.

2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Season Summary Index / 2021 Chachi Set Checklist

Series Preview - Marlins at Phillies: July 16th to July 18th

2021 Chachi Fan Favorites #8

1986 Topps Traded #90T

Friday Double Header 4:05, Saturday 6:05, Sunday 1:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

At the Ballpark:  Postgame fireworks return to Citizens Bank Park following the Friday double header.  On Sunday, all kids 14 and under will receive a Phillies beach towel featuring J.T. Realmuto, Rhys Hoskins, manager Joe Girardi, Bryce Harper and Andrew McCutchen.

Marlins 39-50
5th Place in the N.L. East, 9 games behind the Mets

Marlins Probables
Sandy Alcantara (5-8, 3.09)
TBD
TBD
TBD

Marlins Leaders
Average:  Jesus Aguilar - .268
Runs:  Starling Marte - 44
Home Runs:  Adam Duvall - 19
RBIs:  Jesus Aguilar and Adam Duvall - 62
Stolen Bases:  Starling Marte - 17

Wins:  Trevor Rogers - 7
ERA:  Trevor Rogers - 2.31
Strikeouts:  Trevor Rogers - 122
Saves:  Yimi Garcia - 13

Phillies 44-44
2nd Place in the N.L. East, 3 1/2 games behind the Mets

Phillies Probables
Matt Moore (0-1, 5.40)
Zach Eflin (4-6, 3.88)
Vince Velasquez (3-4, 5.35)
Zack Wheeler (6-5, 2.26)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Bryce Harper - .278
Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 49
Home Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 20
RBIs:  Rhys Hoskins - 55
Stolen Bases:  Bryce Harper - 7

Wins:  Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler - 6
ERA:  Zack Wheeler - 2.26
Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 145
Saves:  Hector Neris - 11

2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Season Summary Index / 2021 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 84 - 2021 Topps #431 Andrew McCutchen

Cubs 8, Phillies 3
Game 84 - Wednesday Night, July 7th in Philadelphia
Record - 41-43, Tied for 3rd Place, 4 1/2 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Thanks in part to a costly error from Didi Gregorius and a relatively shaky outing from Zack Wheeler, the Cubs snapped their 11-game losing streak with this 8-3 win.

What It Means:  The Phillies will go for the series win tonight behind Zach Eflin.

What Happened:  The Cubs took a 3-0 lead in the first when Gregorius couldn't cleanly field a ground ball.  The Cubs offense followed with four singles (three of them not even hit that hard) as they nearly batted around.  Two more Cubs runs followed in the fifth, but the Phillies were able to improve the score to 5-3 with an RBI double from Bryce Harper and a two-run home run from Andrew McCutchen in the sixth.  They could have possibly scored more, but Alec Bohm was caught over sliding second base, resulting in the final out of the inning.  Wheeler and reliever Connor Brogdon failed to have a shut-down inning in the bottom of the sixth and the Cubs scored three more runs.

Featured Card:  After a dreadful start, McCutchen has his season average up to .233.  He's second on the team with 48 RBIs and he's tied for second on the team with 15 home runs.

2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Season Summary Index / 2021 Chachi Set Checklist

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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Game 46 - Hoskins Blasts 100th Homer; Phils Lose Again

2021 Chachi #46

Red Sox 4, Phillies 3
Game 46 - Saturday Night, May 22nd in Philadelphia
Record - 22-24, Tied for 2nd Place, 2 1/2 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  The offensive struggles continued and Spencer Howard pitched only two strong innings in his first start of '21, as the Sox downed the Phils, 4-3.

What It Means:  The Phillies will try to avoid the three-game sweep this afternoon behind Zack Wheeler.

What Happened:  Howard was fantastic for two innings, but then the wheels came off in the third as his velocity and control went alarmingly south.  The usually reliable Sam Coonrod allowed back-to-back home runs to Xander Bogaerts and Danny Santana in the sixth, giving the Red Sox a 4-1 lead.  The Phillies had their chances, but both Bryce Harper and Brad Miller struck out with the bases loaded in the seventh.  They had the go-ahead run on second base in the ninth, but Harper grounded out to first and Rhys Hoskins struck out to end the game.  Harper, either hurt, mired in a deep slump or both, went 0 for 5 with three strikeouts.  The offense as a whole struck out 13 times.

Featured Card:  Hoskins connected for his 100th career home run in the sixth off Red Sox pitcher Nathan Eovaldi.  Playing in his 450th game, he became the third fastest Phillies player to reach that milestone, behind Ryan Howard, who holds the MLB record with 325 games, and Chuck Klein, who hit his 100th home run in his 390th game.  Given my wife Jenna and our sons were at the game where Hoskins hit his first Citizens Bank Park home run, I wanted to celebrate that we were also all there for his 100th.

Field Report:  And we witnessed this debacle.  The Phillies relaxed their mask policy in accordance with the new CDC guidelines, and it was a bit jarring to be around that many people unmasked.  As more and more people get vaccinated, this is going to take a little getting used to.  We watched the game from Section 105, directly behind Harper, and I enjoyed seeing the game from the outfield.  I've traditionally sat along the baselines or behind/above home plate, but watching the game from the outfield was great too.

Transaction:  Howard was recalled from Lehigh Valley and Matt Moore (lhp) was placed on the injured list with back spasms.

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Game 43 - 2021 Topps Heritage #240 Andrew McCutchen IA

Marlins 3, Phillies 1
Game 43 - Wednesday Night, May 19th in Philadelphia
Record - 22-21, 2nd Place, 1 game behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Andrew Knapp ended this game on what was nearly a three-run, walk-off home run but it was not to be as the Phillies fell, 3-1.

What It Means:  They'll go for the series win tonight and then open up a home weekend series against the first place Red Sox.

What Happened:  Zach Eflin allowed only two runs in his six innings of work, but that was too high an amount for the Phillies offense to overcome.  Playing once again with a short bench, the Phillies went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and grounded into three double plays.  Rhys Hoskins and Ronald Torreyes both had multi-hit games.

In the bottom of the ninth, with two runners on and two outs, Knapp flew out to the warning track in what might have been a huge game-winning home run.

Featured Card:  Andrew McCutchen hit his seventh home run of the season in the sixth off Marlins' pitcher Trevor Rogers, and it was also the 250th of his career.  He joins only Mike Trout as one of two active players with at least 250 home runs and 150 stolen bases.  (H/t to schmenkman.)

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Game 30 - 2021 Topps Heritage #239 Andrew McCutchen

Phillies 6, Brewers 5
Game 30 - Tuesday Night, May 4th in Philadelphia
Record - 15-15, 1st Place, 1/2 game ahead of the Mets and Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Andrew McCutchen hit a pair of home runs and Sam Coonrod recorded a five-out save in this nerve-wracking 6-5 win over the Brewers.

What It Means:  The Phillies have won two games in a row for the first time since April 5th and the first four games of the season.

What Happened:  Like Zack Wheeler before him, Aaron Nola labored through the first inning but then settled in to not allow another run.  Nola gave up five hits while striking out ten over six innings of work.  The bullpen depleted, and not helped by the line-up card snafu - see below, Coonrod was called on for the two-inning save.  He allowed a pair of singles in the ninth but retired Jackie Bradley, Jr. for his second save of the year.

Along with McCutchen's blasts, Brad Miller added a three-run home run in the third, which was preceded by an RBI-single from Didi Gregorius.

Featured Card:  Hopefully McCutchen has found his swing and his two home runs give him four so far this season and raised his average to .191.

Transaction:  Prior to the game, Cristopher Sanchez (lhp) was optioned to Lehigh Valley and Enyel De Los Santos (rhp) had his contract selected.  De Los Santos would have pitched in the seventh inning of this game, except that his name was omitted from the team's line-up card submitted to the umpires and Brewers' manager Craig Counsell.  It was a horrible mistake that could have led to disaster as David Hale entered the game instead and allowed a pair of singles, and hit a batter before being relieved by JoJo Romero.

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Game 27 - 2021 Topps 70 Years of Topps #70YT-5 Andrew McCutchen

Mets 5, Phillies 4
Game 27 - Saturday Night, May 1st in Philadelphia
Record - 13-14, Tied for 1st Place, 1 game ahead of the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  A missed fly ball and a missed umpire's call were the differences in this 5-4 loss to the Mets.

What It Means:  The two teams face off in tonight's rubber match on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.

What Happened:  Zack Wheeler was in trouble early, allowing four runs in a long first inning, but then he settled back down and threw six scoreless innings.  The big hit in the first for the Mets was a sharp line drive hit right to left fielder Andrew McCutchen that he never saw.  The ball flew past McCutchen to the wall and Conforto had a two-run double.  Down 4-0, the Phillies chipped away with a pair of runs in the second and a two-run, game-tying home run from Alec Bohm in the sixth.

With the score tied, Hector Neris allowed a go-ahead home run in the ninth to Conforto, ultimately giving the Mets the win.

Featured Card:  The McCutchen miscue led to multiple runs in the first, and then an umpire's miscue involving McCutchen took the Phillies out of a potential rally in the seventh.  McCutchen was called out for leaving the base paths on a hard ground ball hit by Matt Joyce.  He clearly never left the base path, running in a perfectly straight line, but he was ruled out and Joyce was also out at first for an inning-ending double play.  (Bryce Harper got tossed from the bench for letting the umpires know how he felt.)

This is the second Phillies card from the 70 Years of Topps insert set.  The interesting thing about this card is the front features the 1955 Topps design, but the back is from the 1955 Bowman set.  I can't help but wonder if Topps did this on purpose (unlikely) or completely by accident (probably).

Transactions:  After only a day out, Didi Gregorius (ss) was activated from the Covid-related injured list and Mickey Moniak (of) was recalled.  Roman Quinn (of) went on the Covid-related injured list and Rafael Marchan (c) was sent back down.

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Game 13 - 2020 Topps Now #171 Jackie Robinson Salute

Phillies 9, Cardinals 2
Game 13 - Friday Night, April 16th in Philadelphia
Record - 7-6, 2nd Place, 1/2 game behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  The offense came to life and Zach Eflin was fantastic in this 9-2 series opening win against the Cardinals.

What It Means:  The game's easy, Harry.  When you get pitching, good fielding and score a few.

What Happened:  Nine straight Phillies reached in the second, giving the team a much-needed crooked numbers inning.  The big hits in the inning were Jean Segura's wind-aided RBI double, Andrew McCutchen's two-run single and Bryce Harper's two-run double.  Also contributing was questionable Cardinals defense, an intentional walk to Mickey Moniak and two hit batters, including Eflin getting grazed on his pants zipper with the bases loaded.  The line-up enjoyed a nine-hit night with Segura (three hits) and McCutchen (two hits) leading the way.

Featured Card:  McCutchen gets the card here for his three-RBI night, and for busting out of his 0 for 14 slump.  He featured prominently in a pre-game video in which the Phillies dedicated a new space at the ballpark to celebrate the history of the Negro League's Philadelphia Stars.  All fans also received McCutchen Philadelphia Stars t-shirts upon entering the ballpark.  The other players featured on the card, released last year to celebrate a delayed Jackie Robinson celebration, are Mookie Betts, Dexter Fowler and Dominic Smith.

Field Report:  We braved the cold and the drizzle to witness the Phillies' second inning offensive outburst.  After getting our four McCutchen Philadelphia Stars t-shirts we grabbed dinner and settled into our four-seat pod in Section 116 for the night.  Hot chocolates were a popular choice following the seventh inning stretch.

Transaction:  It's not necessarily an official transaction, but the team announced hitting coach Joe Dillon, third base coach Dusty Wathan and bullpen coach Dave Lundquist were not with the team due to COVID-19 safety protocols.  Paco Figueroa moved over to coach third with Bobby Meacham coaching first in this game.

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