Presented by the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame
What a win by the Flyers! That was about an exciting 1-0 game as you can get. They are set to take on the Hurricanes in the next round who are coached by our old friend Rod Brind’Amour. The Sixers are at home looking to force Game 7 in Boston. Good news for the Phillies, they were rained out and couldn’t lose. They’ll play two today. April 30 feature more Sixers and Flyers playoff moments and some quirky Phillies games.
Mauch Goes to the Bench for a Spark
In 1961 the Phillies lost 107 games. On April 30 they were in St. Louis and were losing to the Cardinals 6-0 heading into the eighth inning. Manager Gene Mauch figured since the starters weren’t doing much, why not go to the bench? Mauch used five pinch-hitters in the inning and the Phils responded with seven runs to give them the lead. After surrendering a run in the bottom of the ninth they tacked on four runs in the top of the 10th and held on for an 11-7 win. The five pinch-hitters were a team record for an inning.
Trivia – Greg Gross is the Phillies all-time leader in pinch-hits. Who is their leader for pinch-hit homeruns? (Answer Below)
Flyers One Win Away from the Stanley Cup Finals
In the 1974 Stanley Cup Semi-Finals, the Flyers and Rangers traded wins on home ice. After losing two straight in Madison Square Garden, they returned to the friendly confines of the Spectrum and quickly fell behind the Rangers 1-0 in the first period of Game 5. They came storming back to score four consecutive goals including two by Rick Macliesh. Bernie Parent saved twenty-seven shots as the Flyers got within one win of making their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance.
More Flyers Dominance
After losing Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals to the Canadiens the Flyers won four straight including a 4-2 win in Game 4 on this day in 2008. RJ Umberger scored two goals. Scott Hartnell and Danny Briere also scored as the Flyers took a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. They’d finish the job in Game 5 setting up yet another Flyers/Penguins postseason matchup, this time to see who would go to the Stanley Cup Finals
Maxey Breaks Out
The Sixers need someone other than Joel Embiid to step up tonight. Tyrese Maxey is more than capable of being that guy. Against the Knicks in Game 5 of the 2024 First Round, he showed what he can do. Facing elimination Tyrese went off and scored seven points in the final 26 seconds of regulation to send the game to overtime where the Sixers pulled away and won 112-106 sending the series back to Philly. Maxey scored a playoff career-high 46 including 7-for-12 from 3-point range. Tyrese added nine assists to his coming out party. Joel Embiid to his credit messed around and had a triple-double (19 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists). Unfortunately the Sixers would lose Game 6 but is tonight the night they force Game 7?
Record Setting Day for the Phils
On the same night that Tyrese Maxey was setting records, the Phillies set a couple of their own. Out in LA to take on the Angels they pulled out a 7-5 win. Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos, and Johan Rojas each hit homers. Alec Bohm went 2-5 with an RBI, giving him twenty-eight for the month of April, breaking Ryan Howard’s team record for RBI in April. The Phillies won their 19th game in April which was also a team record.
Trivia Answer – Greg Dobbs and Rickey Ledee each had 7 pinch-hit homers for the Phillies in their careers.
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