Skip to main content

Series Preview: Phillies @ D-Backs 4/23-4/25


The Phillies' (10-5) road trip continues, as they travel to Arizona for 3 games against the DiamondBacks (6-9). Arizona is struggling, as they won just one game over their last seven outings. Their relievers have a 12.42 ERA in that span. The first place Phillies will face two familiar pitchers, Kris Benson and Rodrigo Lopez, who have both been in the Phils' system in recent years, as well as a manager who is familiar, AJ Hinch, who once caught for the Phillies. The Phillies hope to build on recent strong starting pitching that has posted a 0.58 ERA in the past 4 games.

Read ahead for information on pitching matchups and more.


Friday, 9:40pm. Cole Hamels (2-1, 3.86 ERA) vs. Kris Benson (0-1, 3.00). Hamels is 2-0 in 3 starts against Arizona with a 1.74 ERA. In 13 2/3 innings pitched at Chase Field, Arizona batters have a .146 batting avg. against Colbert. Mark Reynolds is 0-for-6 in his career against Hamels. Benson is 5-0 with a 3.22 ERA in 9 career starts against Philadelphia. Prior to his season debut with Arizona this season, Benson appeared in 8 games last season for the Rangers. Before that, he had not pitched in the Majors since 2006, after suffering a torn rotator cuff.

Saturday, 8:10pm. Nelson Figueroa (1-1, 2.45) vs. Ian Kennedy (0-1, 5.65 ERA). Figueroa will make his first start for the Phillies 2001. Figueroa, in 4 games against the D-Backs, is 0-2 with an 8.68 ERA. Mark Reynolds is 2-for-2 with 2 homers against Figueroa. The righty Kennedy was once a Yankees prospect who pitched for the Trenton Thunder. Kennedy, a rookie, has just 3 starts in his Major League career.

Sunday, 4:10pm. Kyle Kendrick (0-0, 7.24 ERA) vs. Rodrigo Lopez (1-0, 3.50 ERA). Kendrick threw 8 shut out innings in his last outing against the Braves, after giving up 6 earned runs in 1 2/3 innings to the Nationals the previous week. In 2 games against Arizona, Kendrick has no decisions and a 5.11 ERA. In 7 games for the Phillies last season, Lopez was 3-1 with a 5.77 ERA. Ryan Howard is 3-for-5 off of Lopez with a homerun. Juan Castro is 4-for-9 (.444 avg) with 2 doubles against Lopez.


Second baseman Kelly Johnson is a career .245 hitter in 50 games against the Phillies with 7 homers. He is 3-for-17 (.176 avg) in his career against Hamels.

Mark Reynolds is batting .231 in 8 home games this year with a .412 on-base % (6 hits, 7 walks).

Chase Utley is a .298 hitter with 7 homeruns in 32 career games against Arizona. In 17 games at Chase Field, the man by the same name only has a .220 batting average.

Through 15 games this season, Raul Ibanez is batting .200 with no homers and 7 RBI. Through 15 games last season, Ibanez had a .339 avg, with 5 homers and 11 RBI.

Since his first game batting leadoff, when he had 4 hits in 5 at bats and 3 runs scored, Shane Victorino is 5-for-30 (.167 avg) with 3 runs scored.

--------------------------------------

Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE.

Comments

Jay Floyd said…
Updated w/ correct game time for Sat. night.

Popular posts from this blog

Heroes- Fight of the Century

VS. It's a big day for your boy, Jay Ballz . No work, X-Men Origins: Wolverine premieres, our Phillies face the Metropolitans for the first time this season and tailgating for BOTH doesn't sound all that absurd to me. Anyway, I surveyed some qualified phans and got several opinions on how exactly a fight might go down if the mutant hero Wolverine faced off against Phillies hero Matt Stairs. Well known blogger, Chris, of I've Made a Huge Tiny Mistake , kept it real and said the following- "Wolverine has adamantium ( indestructible metal substance) claws, so that's a great advantage. Stairs' Wonder Bat is neutralized there. See, the problem becomes Wolverine's ability to recover (he has a regenerative power) faster. Stairs is merely human. Sure, he has a goatee, and goatees are great, but they're great for saving sauce, not for defeating mutants. I think Wolverine takes it in a fight to the death in about 15 minutes because Stairs simply doesn'...

Jealous Ones Envy

Joe Blanton continues to excel and prove his worth in the Phillies pitching rotation. In his latest outing on Sunday, Blanton threw 8 strong innings, striking out 6, while walking just 1 and surrendering 2 earned runs, improving his record to 7-4. This season in July, Joe is 3-0 over four starts with 22 K's, 5 walks and a 1.21 ERA. Over his last 6 starts, Joe's ERA is 1.94. As a member of the Phillies, Blanton has a 3.84 ERA after the all star break with a 5-0 record. The Phillies are 20-12 (.625 winning percentage) in games that Blanton has started, since being acquired last July. Combined this season against other National League playoff contenders St. Louis, Chicago and Los Angeles, Blanton has a combined 1.67 ERA in 4 starts with a 2-0 record. Blanton is on such a sizzling run that the Bowling Green Hot Rods, a Tampa Bay Rays farm team, will host a Joe Blanton bobble head give away tomorrow. Bowling Green will host Joe's mother, father and sister for the event, as Joe...

...Got My Learn On

The weekend is just about here, but it's not feeling great so far. My college hoops team lost, and my mail included a huge image of Mets star David Wright on the cover of The Sporting News. "All Wright"? Um, I don't really believe it is. Aside from the non-appealing cover, it's the MLB preview issue, so allow me to share some things I learned from this week's magazine. 1- Former Phillie, and regular Sporting News columnist, Todd Jones has gone insane. Jones predicts that Jamie Moyer will win the NL Cy Young Award, and that Manny Ramirez will run for governor of California after the Dodgers win the 2009 World Series. 2- Ichiro Suzuki rocks the party that rocks the body. Metropolitans reliever Francisco Rodriguez compares Jose Reyes to Ichiro, saying they do many of the same things. I must have missed Ichiro performing rehearsed celebratory hand jives after getting a hit or scoring a run in a losing effort. And I know I missed Ichiro getting caught cheating on...