Game 100 - Phils Drop Sunday Snoozefest

New York Mets	6
Philadelphia Phillies	1

1998 Stadium Club #238

Sunday Afternoon, July 19th

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
55-45, 2nd Place, 3 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  A bullpen game, coupled with once-again absent offense, led to this 6-1 loss to the Mets on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon for baseball.

What It Means:  I listened to most of this game while enjoying the Ocean City beach along with seemingly a few million of my closest friends.  The outcome of the game didn't match the picture perfect summer day.

The Phillies are 41-14 in games started by Cristopher Sanchez, Zack Wheeler or Jesus Luzardo this season.  They are 14-31 in games started by anyone else, including Aaron Nola, Taijuan Walker, Andrew Painter and Alan Rangel.

What Happened:  Rangel got the start for this game, and it didn't go well.  He departed after four innings with the Mets holding an insurmountable 5-0 lead.  Tim Mayza would allow a sixth run in the fifth inning.  The Phillies offense couldn't get anything going, and Mets' starter Nolan McLean had 10 strikeouts in his six-inning outing.  Alec Bohm hit a solo home run in the seventh, and overall the Phillies were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.

Featured Card:  At least the beach was wonderful?  (I've got nothing.)

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1997 Fleer #406 Matt Beech

Diamondbacks 5, Phillies 1
Game 67 - Saturday Afternoon, June 17th in Philadelphia
Record - 22-45, 5th place, 19 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Jerad Eickhoff had a good outing, but shoddy relief coupled with a lack of offense helped the Diamondbacks to a 5-1 win.

What It Means:  The Phillies will try to avoid another series sweep this afternoon.

What Happened:  Eickhoff allowed a run on five hits in his six innings of work.  Edubray Ramos and Casey Fien allowed four Diamondbacks runs to score in the seventh, sealing the loss.  Howie Kendrick and Michael Saunders both had a pair of hits, but the offense went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

Featured Card:  Meghan Montemurro delivered again via Twitter with this gem:  Eickhoff is the first Phillies starting pitcher to go winless through 14 starts since Matt Beech in 1997.

1998 Pacific Online #554 Matt Beech

Marlins 14, Phillies 5
Game 43 - Wednesday Night, May 22nd in Miami
Record - 20-23, 4th Place, 4 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Marlins destroyed Kyle Kendrick and the more questionable members of the Phillies bullpen in this game, winning easily by a score of 14-5.

What It Means:  Kendrick is now 0-10 with a 5.11 ERA in his last 16 starts, putting him close to eclipsing Matt Beech's 11-game losing streak back in 1996 and 1997.

What Happened:  I think Kendrick summed it up best in his postgame comments saying, "Guys put up two runs for me and I go out [and] do that [expletive] [expletive]…it’s just bad.  It needs to stop."

Jeff Manship allowed four runs in the seventh and Luis Garcia was sacrificed in the eighth, allowing four runs on three hits and four walks while throwing 49 pitches.  Had he not retired another batter, shortstop Reid Brignac would have been brought in to record the final out of the inning.

Featured Card:  After five years in this crazy baseball card blogging racket, I'm still surprised when I stumble across a relatively recent Phillies player who hasn't had a card featured yet in any posts.  Beech will make his debut with this post, and I sincerely hope that Kendrick doesn't tie or break his 17-year "record."