Game 110 - Phils Find New Ways to Lose Nightly

2013 Topps Heritage #186

Mariners 6, Phillies 5 (10 Innings)
Game 110 - Late Saturday Night, August 3rd in Seattle
Record - 65-45, 1st Place, 5 games ahead of the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies' bullpen blew a five-run lead and the Mariners secured a walk-off win with a bases loaded, 10th inning walk in this 6-5 loss.

What It Means:  Another devastating loss, and the losing streak has reached six games.  The Phillies, still 20 games over .500 and with a five-game lead in the division, are going through a historically bad stretch.

What Happened:  Opener Orion Kerkering (one inning) and Kolby Allard (four innings), pitched well and the Phillies led 5-0 heading to the bottom of the fifth.  Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh both had two-run singles to give the Phillies what seemed to be a comfortable lead.  Allard gave up a solo home run to Mitch Haniger in the fifth, and All-Star Jeff Hoffman surrendered four runs in the sixth.  It was by far the worst performance of Hoffman's season.

The Phillies had chances to take the lead, but instead the game headed to extras.  Carlos Estevez, who had pitched an uneventful ninth, intentionally walked the lead-off batter in the 10th, putting runners at first and second.  After recording two outs, he hit Dylan Moore to load the bases and walked Haniger, scoring the winning run.  Replays show Haniger should have been called out on strikes to end the inning prior to his walk, but the Phillies aren't getting any breaks these days.

Featured Card:  Maybe this card of Phillies legend Casper Wells will bring us some luck.

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

Lerud to Braves, Wells to Cubs

2014 Chachi Transactions #5

If you're a fan of either Steven Lerud or Casper Wells, you may want to see if there's any door buster/Black Friday deals at your local sporting goods store on Braves and Cubs gear today.  Last week, word arrived that Lerud had signed a minor league contract with Atlanta, while Wells will try to catch on with the Cubs.  Both saw limited action with the Phillies in 2013.

Lerud made his Phillies debut on August 30, 2012, and ended up appearing in just nine games overall with the team.  He hit .133 (2 for 15) and earned two starts behind the plate.  Lerud appeared on several minor league cards with the Phillies in 2012 and 2013.  He "rookie cards" appeared this year in the Topps Heritage and Topps flagship sets.

2014 Chachi Transactions #6

Wells will forever be remembered as the guy will pitched the 18th inning in the eventual 12-7 loss to the Diamondbacks back on August 24th.  Prior to taking the mound due to a completely depleted bullpen, Wells went 0 for 7 at the plate with four strikeouts as the team's right fielder.  Overall, Wells hit just .042 (1 for 24) with the Phillies in 12 games.

His signing with the Cubs means that he's joined his sixth organization in 2013.  Having started with the Mariners in spring training, Wells bounced to the Blue Jays to the A's to the White Sox to the Phillies.  He has a Topps Mariners card in the team's retail set, and he appears in the Topps Update set as a member of the White Sox.  He also appeared as a Mariner in the 2013 Topps Heritage set.

Moving On

Steven Lerud (10/1/13) - Elected free agency.  (Signed as a minor league free agent with the Atlanta Braves, 11/23/13)

Raul Valdes (10/2/13) - Claimed off waivers by the Houston Astros.

Tyler Cloyd (10/2/13) - Claimed off waivers by the Cleveland Indians.

Michael Martinez (10/7/13) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency.

Zach Miner (10/7/13) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency.

Pete Orr (10/7/13) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency.

Roger Bernadina (10/17/13) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency.

J.C. Ramirez (10/17/13) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency.  (Signed as a minor league free agent with the Cleveland Indians, 11/1/13)

Casper Wells (10/17/13) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency.  (Signed as a minor league free agent with the Chicago Cubs, 11/23/13)

John Lannan (10/17/13) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency.

Roy Halladay (10/31/13) - Elected free agency.

Mauricio Robles (11/5/13) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and became a minor league free agent.

Coming Back

Cesar Jimenez (11/15/13) - Signed to a minor league contract and invited to spring training.

Carlos Ruiz (11/21/13) - Resigned by the Phillies to a three-year contract with a club option for a fourth year.

New Additions

Marlon Byrd (11/12/13) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

2013 Chachi #57b Casper Wells

Diamondbacks 12, Phillies 7 (18 Innings)
Game 129 - Saturday Night, August 24th in Philadelphia
Record - 58-71, 4th Place, 19 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies managed to tie up this game in the eighth, only to eventually lose ten innings later in the 18th after reliever Casper Wells couldn't stop the Diamondbacks.

What It Means:  It means I'm tired.  I decided to stay up and watch this entire game, finally turning off the TV around 2:30 Sunday morning.

2013 Phillies Team Issue 2 #50

What Went Wrong:  This is one of those historical wacky games that merits a bullet-pointed list in lieu of the standard sentence and paragraph format:

• Starting pitcher Ethan Martin threw just 44 pitches in his outing, retiring only two batters before getting the hook in the first.  He allowed three runs on three hits while walking three.  Relievers Luis Garcia and Zach Miner gave up a pair of runs each to put the game pretty much out of reach for the Phils.  Or so it seemed . . .

• Down 6-0 heading to the bottom of the fifth, the Phillies crept back into the ballgame and eventually tied it at seven on Darin Ruf's two-run home run in the eighth.

• From the seventh through the 17th innings, the Phillies bullpen held the Diamondbacks scoreless.  The scheduled starter for Sunday's game, Tyler Cloyd, entered in the 12th and pitched five scoreless innings.  He also ripped a double to lead off the 16th, but the the Phils weren't able to get him home.

• With the bullpen used up and only starting pitchers left in the stable, interim manager Ryne Sandberg opted to use outfielder Wells to pitch the 18th.  Wells retired the first two batters he faced, but then allowed a series of walks and hits to give the Diamondbacks the lead.  Fellow position player John McDonald relieved Wells and recorded the final out of the inning, but only after the Diamondbacks had scored five runs.

• Wells had one of the worst single game performances in recent history.  He went 0 for 7 at the plate with four strikeouts and allowed five runs in relief.  That's a rough day at the ballyard.

• The time of game of 7:06 made this the longest game in franchise history.

2012 Choice Lehigh Valley
IronPigs Update #9

Featured Cards:  The Wells card featured here is an extremely rare, super short-printed Chachi card available only as inserts in random box tops of the 2013 Chachi set.  Wells' more readily available Chachi card was published early this morning as the game was drawing to a close.

Former Phillie farmhand Tuffy Gosewisch spent 7 1/2 years toiling in the team's minor league system before being sold "for no compensation" to the Toronto Blue Jays last July.  He finally made it to the big leagues with the Diamondbacks earlier this month.  Gosewisch made two outs in the 18th inning, off non-pitchers Wells and McDonald.  He's got to be the first person in history to accomplish that feat.

Memory Lane - Other Recent Lengthy/Wacky Phillies Games
August 24, 2010 - Astros 4, Phillies 2 (16 Innings) - Roy Oswalt plays left field.
May 25, 2011 - Phillies 5, Reds 4 (19 Innings) - Wilson Valdez earns the win in relief.

2013 Chachi #57 Casper Wells

#22

Casper Charles Wells

Outfield-Relief Pitcher

Bats: Right  Throws: Right  Height: 6'2"  Weight: 220

Born: November 23, 1984, Grand Rapids, MI

Drafted: Selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 14th round of June 2005 draft

Teams: Detroit Tigers 2010-2011, Seattle Mariners 2011-2012, Oakland Athletics 2013, Chicago White Sox 2013, Phillies 2013

Acquired: Selected off waivers from the Chicago White Sox, August 8, 2013

Contract Status: Arbitration eligible following the 2013 season

2013 Topps Heritage #332 John McDonald

Dodgers 5, Phillies 0
Game 122 - Saturday Night, August 17th in Philadelphia
Record - 53-69, 4th Place, 21 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies continued their descent into the depths of the N.L. East with a 5-0 loss to Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers.

What It Means:  It means that interim manager Ryne Sandberg is now 0-2, and the Phils have yet to score a run on his watch.

What Went Wrong:  Kershaw dominated an anemic Phillies offense, limiting the team to three hits in his eight innings of work.  Sadly, the Phils had just as many errors in this game as hits.  Kyle Kendrick put in a decent outing, allowing just two runs (one earned) in his six innings of work.

Featured Cards:  John McDonald wasn't supposed to play in this game, but starting third baseman Michael Young left after the second with sore ankle and McDonald found himself manning the hot corner.  McDonald never even had a chance against Kershaw and his 0 for 3 on the night dropped his (National League) average to .093.

2013 Topps Heritage #186

McDonald was traded by the Diamondbacks to the Pirates at the end of Spring Training for a player to be named later (PTBL) or cash.  In mid-June, the Pirates sent him to the Indians for another PTBL or cash.  A few weeks later, the Phillies got in on the action, acquiring McDonald from Cleveland . . . for a PTBL or cash.  The 38-year-old journeyman infielder went 2 for 31 (.065) with the Pirates, 0 for 7 with the Indians and he's now 3 for 16 with the Phils.

Casper Wells started in center in this game.  Not to be outdone by McDonald, Wells has been with five different organizations in 2013.  He started the season in the Mariners organization where he had hit .228 and .216 with Seattle in 2012 and 2011 respectively.  The Blue Jays claimed Wells off waivers on April 10th.  Twelve days later, the Blue Jays sold him to the A's, who then sold him to the White Sox a week later.  Finally, a little over a week ago, the Phillies picked him up off waivers from the White Sox.  In total, Wells has been with five different organizations this year and he's hitting .150 (12 for 80) overall.

Now I'm no genius, but how can the Phillies expect to even compete when these are two of our options off the bench at this point?  And are McDonald and Wells really in the team's plans for 2014?  Of course, Wells doubled off Kershaw in the eighth, so I probably have no idea what I'm talking about.

Field Report:  I took my six-year-old Doug to this game, and despite the shoddy product on the field, we enjoyed ourselves.  Doug posed next to a "Thank You Charlie" sign in front of the Steve Carlton statue beyond the outfield gate.  Popcorn, cherry water ice and a little Lego Phanatic figurine made it a successful game in Doug's eyes.  If only Sandberg had it so easy.

I should stop keeping track of this, but the Phils are now 3-8 in games I've attended this year.

Doug and Lefty

The view from Section 315

No card for Wells