Braves and Phillies Weekend Preview

Fresh off being swept in two games by the Metropolitans, our Phillies head home to begin a three game weekend series with the Atlanta Braves. The Phillies are 6-8 at home. The Braves are 8-6 on the road. Check out the pitching match ups and notes that follow.

Friday, 7:05 pm. Jo-Jo Reyes (0-1, 5.00 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (0-2, 7.27 ERA). Reyes has 5 career appearances against the Phillies and has not done well. His record against the Phils is 0-2 and his ERA is 6.94. Jimmy Rollins is 0-for-13 off Reyes, while Jayson Werth, Shane Victorino, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Pedro Feliz combine for a .340 batting avg. (17-for-50). In 11 career starts against the Braves, Hamels is 6-3 with a 3.45 ERA with 73 innings pitched. Brain McCann is a .381 career hitter (8-for-21) off Hamels. McCann has been on the disabled list since April 25th, and is eligible to be activated on Friday.

Saturday, 3:40 pm. Javier Vazquez (2-3, 4.19 ERA) vs. Joe Blanton (1-2, 6.84 ERA). Vazquez is 10-7 with a 4.55 ERA in his career against the Phils. Jimmy Rollins is a career .170 hitter (8-for-47) against Vazquez. In 2 career starts against Atlanta, Blanton has thrown 6 innings and allowed 9 earned runs (13.50 ERA). In 3 home starts this season, Blanton has allowed 16 earned runs in 14 1/3 innings pitched (10.05 ERA). Brain McCann is the only Braves hitter with a homerun off Blanton...McCann is 3-for-3 off of him.

Sunday, 12:35 pm. Kenshin Kawakami (1-4, 6-41) vs. Brett Myers (2-2, 5.35 ERA). Kawakami has not faced the Phillies before. He has lost his last 4 starts, and has a 10.13 ERA in two day starts this season. In 27 games against the Braves, Myers is 4-9, with 4 saves and a 4.66 ERA. Brian McCann and Chipper Jones combine for a career .365 avg. against Myers (23-for-63) with 5 homers and 15 RBI. Both of Myers' losses have occurred at home this season, although his ERA is more than a full run better at home (home- 4.82, road-5.89).

Comments

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...

Jason Knapp Q&A

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

Yankees Fans Misled By Pepsi Promotion

**** Today, New York Yankees fans attended a Pepsi promotion in Times Square hoping for chances to win opening day tickets to the new stadium, but the tickets, which were difficult to track down due to poor organization on Pepsi's part, were actually for a game in June. Furthermore, the 250 pairs that were promised were actually only 100 pairs. The fans, who were made to sprint through traffic over multiple city blocks when locations for the promotion changed, quickly turned against the soda brand by pooring out their beverages and chanting anti-Pepsi phrases. Yankees fans are even threatening a boycott of Pepsi. An appearance by Yankee great Goose Gossage could not even settle the angry mob, as he had to be whisked away, as a precaution, according to the Daily News . Ooo , I'd hate to see what "the worst fans in sports" (Philadelphia fans) would have done to their free Pepsi cans and beloved reliever in that situation. Because this happened in a non-Philly city, th...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog