Rockies v. Phillies 4/27/22: Trading Paint

 I don't need many excuses to hit games at Citizens Bank Park these days, but I look for convenient ones.

As the season was gearing up, the Phillies did a discounted tickets flash sale, commemorating their new players at #8 and #12, so they had 12 dollar tickets, 8 dollar tickets, and 25 dollar tickets because the guy making the discount sale can't do math properly. But I checked some out, and while the 8 and 12 ones were some of the higher levels, the 25 dollar tickets were some pretty nice field level sections, and so I jumped at a few of them. You'll be seeing another game recap in another week if all goes according to plan.

But, on one of the chillier April nights we've had in Philly, I came down into the city for a night game, against the Colorado Rockies. I got there early so I could walk around and see what was new.

Citizens Bank Park had added a few new food kiosks, like a chicken joint co-owned by Ryan Howard [which a friend told me wasn't worth it], and a Manco and Manco pizza stand [which, like the real thing in Ocean City, was a bit overpriced]. Bull's BBQ was still holding court, and Greg Luzinski himself was out in front signing stuff for folks who came by. I declined, as I still had a Bull auto from Archives from last year. 

And while there really wasn't anything new and affordable in the gift shop, I did make a note of this:

Fully stocked card shelves. At a baseball stadium in a major market. I don't even think my local Target has a shelf that's as well-stocked as this. Kinda wild to see. No, I didn't get any. Not at these prices, which, you can't even see prices on these so that's how you KNOW they're gonna get ya.

These, for the record, were my 25 dollar seats. 

...not bad at all, I think. Row 20, not far from the third base line, decent view of the field. Getting to my seats, and getting further and further down, I was a little shocked. And no, don't worry, this was the stadium with like 45 minutes to go before the start. People did show up. Not a peak crowd, as it was a weeknight and chilly, but a decent enough crowd.

Eventually, once Charlie Blackmon started running around out there, it became more real. Looking out to the Rockies, seeing Connor Joe and Randal Grichuk and those guys out there warming up. The Rockies had most of their starters, though Kris Bryant, one of the players I was most excited to see, had the night off. Similarly, the Phils had everybody big except for Jean Segura and J.T. Realmuto; Johan Camargo started at 2nd and Garrett Stubbs started behind the plate. 

As for the pitching matchup, the Phils started Ranger Suarez, who was a strong, if slightly imperfect compared to last year, choice. The Rockies, as their next man in the rotation pitched the first game of a double-header 5 days ago, had to bring in Ryan Feltner, who had pitched in 2 games prior to this. As I explained to my friend Mat, Feltner got lit up in his first two games, so there was a chance it could happen again in his third.

Well, almost immediately, Odubel Herrera smoked a home run off of Feltner. First at-bat of the start. Boom. I am still very hesitant to cheer on Odubel Herrera, but he seems to be back in full form. And, once again, there's not a lot of great choices at center field, and Herrera can still hit, so...I guess we're sticking with Herrera. And if he can do what he did last night, including that homer and a sac-fly that accounted for another Phils run.

The thing, though about this being a close match between two flawed yet competitive teams is that it was never truly a runaway. The Phils put up 2 runs early? Fine. The Rockies throw some singles where they ain't thanks to Joe, Blackmon, C.J. Cron and Elias Diaz, and tie it up early. Then, before anyone gets too worried, Harper smokes a TRIPLE and Castellanos brings him home. Then Didi Gregorius heats up and brings in a run as well. Then Cron has a homer and makes it 4-3. I'm not saying I would have preferred a total blowout, but the tense quality of the game did make it interesting for a bit. Especially when both teams were making mistakes, like misplaying outfield fly balls or failing to take liners. The Phils even loaded the bases on some very bad outfield work, and still managed to squeak out of it.

This slowly became a big Didi Gregorius game. Once it became official, the PA announcer made it clear that Didi had now played 1000 games at shortstop, which was pretty cool. Then during the later innings, Gregorius's bat came alive, with a 2 for 3 night including 2 RBIs and 2 hits. Garrett Stubbs of all people came up with the second triple of the game to get him home in the 6th, and then Didi helped bring the game to a 7-3 lead after an explosive 7th inning. And heck, this was the inning where Alec Bohm had a bases loaded scenario, had a small infield single that Alan Trejo could NOT GET TO in time and let a run come in. 

And then, despite the Philly bullpen's best efforts, they got through it. Jose Alvarado struggled to throw strikes and landed some batters. Jeurys Familia gave up some hits and made it tense. Seranthony Dominguez and Brad Hand got us out of innings, including a truly incredible K from Hand, who I'm kinda glad we have around this year. And then by the time the ninth came around, Corey Knebel could come around and knock the heart of the lineup out for the win. Not the save, because 7-3, but a solid closing inning. I think he'll be alright for us.

The game overall was pretty cool [literally and figuratively], and the stars, like Harper, Castellanos and Didi, definitely showed up. I was worried that after the last 2 blowouts vs. the Rockies that they wouldn't have any energy left, but the Phils looked pretty damn good last night. I hope they keep it up...especially for another week or so.