Game 124 - Phils Go Quietly in Little League Classic

2023 Topps Now #740

Nationals 4, Phillies 3
Game 124- Sunday Night, August 20th in Williamsport
Record - 67-57, 2nd Place, 13 1/2 games behind the Braves

Second Summer Sabbatical Game Recap Catch-Up Post 1 of 10

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies offense was quiet for eight innings against Trevor Williams and two Nationals relievers, as they dropped this year's Little League Classic in Williamsport by a 4-3 score.

What It Means:  For the sake of completeness, and because I still enjoy recapping these games, even the brutal losses, I'm going to spend part of this holiday weekend catching up on game summary posts I missed while we were enjoying our wonderful week in Walt Disney World.

What Happened:  Zack Wheeler gave up four first inning runs, but then settled down to keep the Nationals from scoring again over his next six innings of work.  The Phillies offense managed three hits in the game's first eight innings.  In the ninth, Brandon Marsh singled home Bryson Stott and Jake Cave hit a two-run home run, his fifth of the season.  But it was too little, too late as the Nationals held on to win.

Featured Card:  Like they did in 2018, when the Phillies faced off against the Mets in the Little League Classic, Topps produced a Topps Now card to commemorate the game.  This is actually one of two cards produced, showing the No. 2 pencil bat and blue crayon bat used by Stott and Joey Meneses in the game.  The other Topps Now card features the post-game handshake line, long a staple of Little League games.

Transaction:  The Phillies and Nationals were permitted to add a 27th player to their rosters for this game, with the Phillies activated Marsh (of) from the 10-day Injured List.

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Game 157 - Gibson, Phils Embarrassed by Nationals

2018 Choice Lehigh Valley
IronPigs #18

Nationals 13, Phillies 4 (Game 1)
Game 157 - Saturday Afternoon, October 1st in Washington
Record - 84-73

One Sentence Summary:  Kyle Gibson continued his disturbing September trend of crappy pitching and the Phillies offense could not keep up in this lopsided and painful 13-4 loss.

What It Means:  Flush it.  The loss in game one of the Saturday double header dropped the Phillies into a tie with the Brewers for the third Wild Card.

What Happened:  Needing to win every single game at this point, the Phillies let this one get away early.  Gibson staked the Nationals a 6-1 lead after two innings, and the Phillies made a valiant effort to claw back to within 6-4 after four innings.  Gibson left after allowing seven runs on eight hits, including a pair of home runs, in his six innings of work.  Nick Nelson and Chris Devenski couldn't stop the bleeding, allowing six more runs in their combined 1 2/3 innings.  Nick Maton had to enter the game to record the final out.  There were no errors recorded, but the Phillies defense was far from crisp.

In six September starts, Gibson is now 1-5 with a 9.73 ERA, and I have to imagine his season is done at this point.  That 9.73 mark is a result of 31 earned runs allowed in 28 2/3 innings pitched.

Featured Card:  Joey Meneses did a lot of the damage for the Nationals, going 3 for 4 with four RBIs, including a home run and a three-run triple off Gibson in the second.  Meneses made his big league debut on August 2nd with the Nationals, having spent the last decade in the minors and playing internationally.  In 2018, he played with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Phillies' Triple-A team, and I wrote the passage below back in September 2018 when I originally featured this card.

The Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs had their season end on Saturday night when the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders eliminated them from the next round of postseason play.  Outfielder/first baseman Joey Meneses was the International League MVP this season, hitting .311 with 23 home runs and 82 RBIs.  This was Meneses' first year in the Phillies organization after playing the first seven seasons of his professional career in the Braves organization.  It's puzzling to me why the Phillies won't clear a 40-man roster spot and bring up Meneses to perhaps jumpstart a fizzling offense.

I have to imagine Meneses still remembers the September snub by the Phillies, and he exacted some revenge in this game. 

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Game 141 - 2018 Choice Lehigh Valley IronPigs #18 Joey Meneses

Mets 10, Phillies 5
Game 141 - Saturday Night, September 8th in Flushing
Record - 74-67, 2nd place, 3 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Zach Eflin was hit hard and the offense left 12 runners on base in this 10-5 loss to the Mets.

What It Means:  I sound like a broken record, but this team does not look like a team that should be or will be playing in the postseason.

What Happened:  Eflin exited after three innings, having allowed six runs on four hits and three walks.  The Phillies couldn't capitalize when they had runners on base.  They banged out 14 hits, but had just five runs to show for it.  Cesar Hernandez went 4 for 4 and Rhys Hoskins hit his 29th home run.

Carlos Santana started at third base, as he had done on Wednesday night, as manager Gabe Kapler is trying to inject some life into the line-up by having both Santana and Justin Bour start.  Prior to his Wednesday night start, Santana had not started at third since May 22, 2014. 

Featured Card:  The Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs had their season end on Saturday night when the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders eliminated them from the next round of postseason play.  Outfielder/first baseman Joey Meneses was the International League MVP this season, hitting .311 with 23 home runs and 82 RBIs.  This was Meneses' first year in the Phillies organization after playing the first seven seasons of his professional career in the Braves organization.  It's puzzling to me why the Phillies won't clear a 40-man roster spot and bring up Meneses to perhaps jumpstart a fizzling offense.

Transaction:  Continuing the trend of adding on a player per day, the Phillies recalled Mitch Walding from the IronPigs.  There are now 36 players on their active roster.  Of the available players on their 40-man roster, only pitchers Drew Anderson, Enyel De Los Santos and Ranger Suarez aren't active with pitcher Aaron Loup on the disabled list.