Home, Not-So-Sweet Home
The Phillies probably cannot wait to hit the road. They simple cannot score runs or win in their home ballpark as evidenced by yet another homestand sweep (0–6) this season. It was only the fourth time in history the Phillies have been swept during a homestand where they played more than one team. Today’s 0–2 loss to the Braves sealed the historic mark.
In fact, the most exciting thing that happened all day was the pre-game wrestling match between the Phanatic and Braves catcher, Anthony Recker. First, there was taunting. And then a challenge:
Then the fight began:
And Recker declared victory, much to the delight of his teammates.
It was the first of two Braves wins on the day. The second began with the sound of bats whiffing.
And when the Phillies did make contact, not much happened. There was yet another opportunity to score in the 5th inning, but as has been the case many, many times this year, 3rd base coach Juan Samuel held the runner, Freddy Galvis, at third on a Peter Bourjos double. When a team is struggling this badly to score, you have got to take a shot there. Because the odds of the next batter or two getting that run in are very slim, based on this offensive’s past behavior. So it was just another frustrating inning.
All the while, pitcher Jake Thompson pitched extremely well, despite the lack of run support. He allowed only one run, a Matt Kemp solo shot, over 7 innings.
By the way, where was that hurricane we were supposed to get? Oh wait, it was just the Braves blowing through town taking the Phillies dignity with them…sigh.
Super depressing, right? Just to cheer you up, here are a few “fun” shots from the game. One looks like Darin Ruf is giving birth to a baseball ;) Tommy Joseph: “Check, please!” Galvis: “Pleeease can we get a win? I’ll be your best friend!”
Here is the full Photo Album from the game.
