Skip to main content

Champs Return to LA

Tonight, the Phillies make their first visit to Los Angeles, California since clinching a trip to the 2008 World Series. It's a four game series, which will culminate with a prime time nationally televised game on Sunday night. The Phillies lost 2 of 3 games with the Dodgers, in Philadelphia, just three weeks ago. Read on for pitching match up details and plenty more notes.


Thursday, 10:10pm. Cole Hamels (3-2, 5.21 ERA) vs. Clayton Kershaw (3-2, 4.34 ERA). Kershaw is 0-2 with a 7.41 ERA in 5 career games against the Phillies, which includes last post season. Kershaw is 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA in 4 home starts this year. Cole has a 6.89 ERA in 3 road appearances this season. Cole was 3-0 with a 4.06 ERA in five May games, this year. June was Cole's best month last year, when he went 3-1 with a 2.61 ERA, a 0.87 WHIP and a .187 batting avg. against over 5 starts.


Friday, 10:10pm. Jamie Moyer (4-5, 6.75 ERA) vs. Eric Milton (2-0, 3.14 ERA). Moyer's ERA over is last three starts is 4.50. Casey Blake, Mark Loretta and Juan Pierre are a combined 9-for-51 (.176 avg) in their careers against Moyer. Milton, the former Phillie, recently returned to the Majors after having Tommy John surgery a couple years ago. Milton was 14-6 with a 4.75 ERA in 34 starts for the Phillies in 2004. Milton has a 1-2 record and 5.56 ERA in 4 career starts against the Phils.


Saturday, 4:10pm. Joe Blanton (4-3, 5.86 ERA) vs. Hiroki Kuroda (1-1, 2.53 ERA). Blanton has won three straight starts. His ERA in those 3 games is 3.79. In 3 career games against the Dodgers, Blanton is 1-0, with a 3.32 ERA. Blanton started game 4 of the NLCS last year, and gave up 3 runs over 5 innings pitched. That was the Victorino/Stairs homer game against Jonathan Broxton. Kuroda has only made 2 starts this season, due to an oblique strain. Against Arizona on Monday, he let up 2 earned runs in 5 innings.


Sunday, 8:05pm. Antonio Bastardo (1-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. Randy Wolf (3-1, 3.21 ERA). Bastardo will be making his second Major League start. Wolf, another former Phillie has no decisions at home this season, through 6 starts, with a 3.86 ERA. In his career against the Phillies, Wolfy is 1-0 in starts with a 2.50 ERA and a .200 batting avg. against. Pedro Feliz is 4-for-16 with 3 homeruns in his career against Wolf.

Shane Victorino, who is questionable for this series due to a hip ailment, is hitting .458 (11-for-24) with 7 runs scored in the past 7 days.

Juan Pierre is a .312 career hitter with 38 steals in 94 games against the Phillies.

The Phillies on the road- 19 wins, 6 losses.
The Dodgers at home- 20 wins, 6 losses.

Phillies team batting average- .266.
Dodgers team batting average- .284.

Comments

Amanda said…
Great matchups. Look at those former Phillies.. Milton, Wolf.

Should be a good series. No Manny! Yay!

Popular posts from this blog

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...