Phils Face the Second Place Team

It has been over a month since they last faced off. This week, the Phillies return to Citi Field for another head to head series with the Metropolitans. The Phillies lost both games the last time they visited Queens on May 6th and 7th. Ahead, check out the pitching match up for this series, plus loads more notes.

Tuesday, 7:10pm. "Jay" Happ (4-0, 2.48 ERA) vs. Johan Santana (7-3, 2.00 ERA). Happ has thrown 5 2/3 innings in relief against NY this year and has not been scored upon. Happ's WHIP this season is 0.98. Johan is 3-0 with a 2.49 ERA, as a Met against the Phillies. He gave up just 2 hits over 7 scoreless innings in that May 6th game. Pedro Feliz, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino are a combined 9-for-77 (.117 avg) against Santana in their careers. Raul Ibanez is 13-for-37 (.351 avg) in his career against Santana. Ryan Howard is 6-for-17 (.353 avg) against Santana with 2 homers.

Wednesday, 7:10pm. Cole Hamels (4-2, 4.40 ERA) vs. Mike Pelfrey (4-2, 4.85 ERA). Hamels is his career against the Mets is 1-3 with a 3.79 ERA in 6 games. Cole has not lost a game since April 23rd and his ERA since that loss is 2.84. Pelfrey is 3-2 with a 4.19 ERA in his career against the Phils in 6 games. Pelfrey is 2-0 with a 3.62 ERA through 5 home games this season. Pelfrey against the NL East this season is 3-0, 3.03 ERA in 5 games.

Thursday, 7:10pm. Jamie Moyer (4-5, 6.27 ERA) vs. Tim Redding (0-2, 6.97 ERA). Moyer has 2 starts against the Mets this year. In those games, he's 0-1, with 12 earned runs allowed in 8 innings. Batters are hitting a combined .307 overall against Moyer this year. Redding is 5-3 with a 3.29 ERA in 11 career starts against the Phillies. In 2008, Redding was 3-1 with a 3.41 ERA in 5 games against the Phils. Chase Utley is 8-for-18 (.444 avg) with 2 homers against Tim Redding.

Francisco Rodriguez has not allowed an earned run since April 24th. He's made 19 appearances since then. His batting average against is .053 in 6 career games against the Phillies.

Pedro Feliciano has not given up an earned run at Citi Field this year. His career ERA against the Phillies is 4.06 in 47 games.

David Wright is batting .529 (9-for-17) over the past week, with 5 runs scored and 4 RBI.

Carlos Ruiz is batting .321 since May 4th with 3 HR, 13 RBI and 3 steals.

Team runs scored Phillies- 302
Team runs scored Metropolitans- 257

Team ERA Phillies- 4.63
Team ERA Metropolitans- 3.93

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Update-

The Phils will be making the trip to New York without an active Brad Lidge. Lidge, the Phillies' closer, has a 7.27 ERA this season and has already been scored on in as many games (13) this year as he was last season, and is one shy of how many he was scored upon in 2007. The Phillies are citing a knee sprain as Lidge's ailment. Ryan Madson is expected to fill the closer role, in Lidge's absence.

Check out Fox Sports 1310am's Shore Sports Report today around 3:30 for a live dose of PhoulBallz!

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...

Rappers in Phillies Caps

Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal...

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. ...

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