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

---------------------------------------------------
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...

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