Weekend Preview: Phillies at Yankees

The Phillies (22-17) head up to New York to take on the Yankees (24-17) in their new digs this weekend. It should be a fun Memorial Day weekend at the new Yankee Stadium. A record 75 homeruns have been hit at Yankee Stadium in the first 20 games there. The Phils haven't visited the Bronx since 2000. Read on for pitching match ups, game times, and plenty more notes.

Friday, 7:05pm. Brett Myers (3-2, 4.50 ERA) vs. AJ Burnett (2-1, 5.02 ERA). Myers has had one career start against the Yankees. He won that game, in June 2006, by throwing 6 2/3 innings, striking out 11 and giving up just 2 earned runs. Myers is 3-0 on the road this season. Burnett has a 5-7 record in 16 career games against the Phils with a 4.57 ERA and 2 complete games. Burnett at home this season has no record in 4 starts, with a 4.15 ERA. Greg Dobbs is 4-for-6 in his career against Burnett with a double and 2 RBI. Matt Stairs is 2-for-8 off Burnett...both hits are homeruns.

Saturday, 4:10pm. "Jay" Happ (2-0, 2.49 ERA) vs. Andy Pettitte (4-1, 4.18 ERA). Happ has a 3.77 ERA in 21 career games. This game will be Happ's first start this season. Batters are hitting .184 against Happ this year. Pettitte has faced the Phillies 6 times in his career. His record in those games is 2-2 and his ERA is 3.38. In 4 Interleague starts last year, Pettitte's ERA was 1.80. Jayson Werth, Ryan Howard, Matt Stairs and Chase Utley are a combined 2-for-29 (.069 avg) off of Pettitte, with 1 HR and 2 RBI (the homer and RBI's belong to Werth).

Sunday, 1:05pm. Cole Hamels (2-2, 4.95 ERA) vs. CC Sabathia (4-3, 3.43 ERA). Hamels has only faced the Yankees once. He took the loss in that June 2006 game, giving up just 2 runs in 7 innings pitched. Mark Teixeira against Cole Hamels is 3-for-14 with a homerun. Sabathia in the regular season is 1-1 in 2 career starts. In 4 May starts, Sabathia is 3-1 with a 2.05 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP. When considering which righty batter to call up from triple A, the Phillies may give some thought to Pablo Ozuna, who is a career .412 hitter (14-for-34) against Sabathia.

Jimmy Rollins is a career .154 hitter (4-for-26) in 6 career games against the Yankees.
Pedro Feliz is hitting .435 (10-for-23) over the past week, with 4 RBI.

Mark Teixeira has a career .236 avg. (21-for-89) in 23 career games against the Phillies. Teixeira is batting .462 (12-for-26) over the past week, with 4 HR and 14 RBI.

The Yankees have won 9 straight games and are 13-7 at home.
The Phillies are 6-1 on their current road trip and are 14-5 on the road, which is best in MLB.

Phillies team runs scored- 224
Yankees team runs scores- 232

Phillies team ERA- 5.33
Yankees team ERA- 5.15

Lidge Shaky, T-Mac Honored in Trenton

TRENTON, NJ- Brad Lidge made his second rehab appearance for the Double A Reading Phillies on Thursday night and it didn't go as well as the veteran reliever or the team had hoped. Lidge struggled with his command and turned in a rather poor outing for the club that entered the night in a playoff race, 1 game behind division rival Trenton for the Wild Card spot in the Eastern Division. On the disabled list since spring training with a strained right rotator cuff, Lidge experienced an elbow strain when he was working back from that issue in late May. In his outing against the Yankees affiliate in Trenton, Lidge displayed difficulty with his control as he threw three wild pitches, hit two batters, walked another and gave up a single, all while letting up two earned runs on 28 pitches in 2/3 of an inning. After the disappointing performance, Lidge was composed and focused on some positive aspects, having reached 89 and 90 MPH on scouts' radar guns, according to some reports. ...

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...

Eric B Needs to be Cut (and My Name is Rakim)

While the Phillies are on a hot streak this month, one player on the team is not. Eric Bruntlett is 1-for-12 in July. Since the start of May, Bruntlett's apex in batting average has been .167 on June 14th. Bruntlett's ineptitude can be tolerated no longer. Get rid of this guy NOW! Eric B. is the 2009 Endy Chavez. Remember Endy...the guy who in 2005 managed just 2 hits in his final 42 games played as a Phillie? That is about the sort of output the Phillies are getting from Bruntlett, and it's time to fix this void. Julio Lugo was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox and is expected to become a free agent. The Metropolitans are rumored to be interested. Why wouldn't the Phillies be interested in a guy who could surely outhit Bruntlett? Lugo was hitting .284 through 37 games played this season with Boston. Suspended Lehigh Valley IronPig Pablo Ozuna is eligible to return next Wednesday. Ozuna is batting .294 through 51 games at triple A. Miguel Cairo is also...

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