Series Preview: Cubs @ Phils, July 20-22

The Chicago Cubs (47-43) make their only trip of the season to Philadelphia (51-38) starting tonight. The three game series will pit the World Champs against the team many people thought should have been the World Champs.

Below is a look at the pitching match ups for the series and other game notes.

Monday, 7:05pm. Ted Lilly (9-6, 3.18 ERA) vs. Rodrigo Lopez (1-0, 3.18 ERA). Lilly has a 2.11 ERA over his last 3 starts. In 4 career starts against the Phillies, Lilly is 1-3 with a 4.88 ERA. On the road this season, Lilly is 3-5 with a 4.66 ERA in 9 starts. Pedro Feliz against Lilly is 4-for-13 with 2 homers and 7 RBI. RoLo will be making his third start of the season for our Phillies. In 4 2/3 innings (1 start) in his career against the Cubbies (a June 2007 start), RoLo gave up 8 earned runs (15.43 ERA). Alfonso Soriano is a career .343 hitter (12-for-35) against RoLo with 3 homers and 5 RBI.

Tuesday, 7:05pm. Rich Harden (6-6, 5.06 ERA) vs. Joe Blanton (6-4, 4.44 ERA). The former teammates with the A's face off for the first time. In 2 career starts against the Phils, Harden is 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA and 16 K's in 13 innings pitched. On the road this season, Harden is 4-1 with a 2.17 ERA in 6 games. Chase Utley, Pedro Feliz, Jimmy Rollins, Carlos Ruiz, Jayson Werth, Paul Bako and Greg Dobbs are a combined 1-for-33 (.030 avg) against Harden. In his last 11 starts, Blanton is 5-1 with a 3.26 ERA. Blanton's ERA in his last 4 home starts is 2.33. Reed Johnson is 5-for-10 in his career against Blanton with a homer and a walk.

Wednesday, 1:05pm. Carlos Zambrano (6-4, 3.36 ERA) vs. Jamie Moyer (9-6, 5.58 ERA). Zambrano has only faced the Phillies once in the past two seasons. In that one start, last season, Zambrano got the loss when he allowed 5 earned runs over 6 innings pitched. In 7 career starts against the Phillies, Zambrano is 3-3 with a 3.38 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. Moyer has won 5 straight starts and has a 3.68 ERA in those games. Moyer is 4-4 at home this year with a 6.79 ERA. Aramis Ramirez is 0-for-10 in his career against Moyer.

Alfonso Soriano is a .296 career hitter at Citizens Bank Park with 3 doubles, 5 homers and 8 RBI in 16 games.

The Phillies have not lost a home series to the Cubs since April 2001.

Jimmy Rollins has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games. In that span, Rollins is batting .397 with 13 runs scored.

The Phillies had lost 10 of their previous 11 games prior to their current stretch of winning 12 of the last 13 games.

Cubs team batting average- .250
Phillies team batting average- .261

Michael Taylor Q&A

Michael Taylor is currently leading the Reading Phillies' offense and is near the top of the Eastern League in most stat categories (3rd in batting avg- .342, 3rd in HR- 14, tied for second in RBI- 55, 2nd in OPS.- .994, tied for 1st in runs scored- 49, tied for 1st in hits...). The 23 year old Taylor is 6 feet 6 inches tall and has quickly grabbed the attention of phans and media alike as a top prospect to watch. I spoke with Mike Taylor over the weekend, and here is that interview. With all the big stats and being among the league leaders in so many categories, do you think you're ready for the next step? It's kind of a difficult question. Do you have anything left to prove here? There's always something to prove. There's stuff to prove every game. I mean that's one thing that's very interesting about this game. It's such a numbers oriented game. You're only as good as your last "whatever statistical category that someone's valuing". ...

Kendrick & LaGrossa- Second Phils/Survivor Marriage

On Saturday, Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick married 3-time Survivor contestant and former Flyers employee Stephenie LaGrossa. The couple exchanged vows in front of 105 guests at the Silverado Resort in Napa, California. Their special day featured many personalized aspects, including cocktail hour snacks modeled in the fashion of mini Philly cheesesteaks, as well as the couple's two dogs, Bebe and Champ, serving as flower girl and ring bearer during the ceremony. The pets wore a white dress and a tuxedo, respectively. Kendrick is now the second Phillies pitcher to marry a former contestant of the CBS reality competition program, as lefty Cole Hamels wedded Heidi Strobel, who appeared on the sixth season of Survivor, in 2007. _________________________________________________________________ Be sure to follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter, for updates, stats and info, by clicking HERE . Photos- People.com

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...

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