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

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...

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...

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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