NLDS Game 3 Preview: Phillies at Rockies

Practice- Shane Victorino, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins in the cold weather at Coors Field on Friday

It's 19 degrees and snowing in Denver, so MLB has postponed tonight's game 3 of the National League Division Series. The third game of the only MLB division series that isn't 2-0 at this point will be played tomorrow at 10:07pm, and game 4 that was originally slated to occur in that time slot will be pushed back to Monday. The delay of game 4 would allow Cliff Lee to start that game on regular rest. Read on for details on the game 3 pitching match up and other key notes.


Game 3- Sunday, 10:07pm. Pedro Martinez (5-1, 3.63 ERA) vs. Jason Hammel (10-8, 4.33 ERA). Pedro has pitched only twice since his September 13th gem against the Metropolitans. In those two games, he is 0-1 with 6 earned runs allowed in 7 innings pitched (7.71 ERA). In his career vs. Colorado, Martinez is 2-3 with a 4.31 ERA, a .247 batting avg. against and a complete game shutout in 10 games. Jason Giambi is 8-for-50 (.160 avg) with a homerun in his career against Pedro. Hammel is 3-3 with a 5.73 ERA and a.330 batting avg. against in 16 home games this season. Hammel was 2-1 with a 4.44 ERA in his last 5 games this season. Hammel was with Tampa last season, but did not appear in the postseason for the Rays.
** Just about perfectly timed with the posting of this preview, the Phillies informed the media that "Jay" Happ will start game 3 on Sunday. Charlie Manuel truly prefers the lefties against the Rockies' lineup. Here are some notes on Happ...
Happ, the rookie, is 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA. In 35 games this season, opponents are hitting .244 against the lefty. Happ threw a complete game shutout against the Rockies on August 5th. In 9 appearances after that game, Happ was 4-2 with a 3.35 ERA. Happ went 7-2 on the road this year with a 1.99 ERA in 18 games. **


Rookie Carlos Gonzalez is tied with Mark DeRosa of the Cardinals for most hits this postseason. CarGo is 5-for-9 with a double, a steal and 2 runs.

Raul Ibanez is 4-for-8 with 4 RBI this postseason with a double and a run scored.

The weather forecast for Denver on Sunday night is party cloudy with a temperature around 39 degrees.

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