Something you never thought you would see is finally here...Phillies road games in Philadelphia. Thanks to the well documented issues with the G20 summit in Toronto, this weekend's 3-game interleague series was moved to Philadelphia. The games will still be played as though the Blue Jays are the home club, with American League rules.
Fans in Toronto looked forward to this series with great anticipation, as it would have marked the return of all-time great Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay, who was traded to Philadelphia after last season. Halladay spent over a decade with Toronto, collecting 148 wins in the process.
The Jays won't have to wait long to see Halladay, as he'll start the series opener on Friday night. The Blue Jays will counter with righty Jesse Litsch to start the series.
Toronto won all three games in Philadelphia last year. Read on for information on the pitching match ups and loads more details.
Friday, 7:05pm. Roy Halladay (8-6, 2.43 ERA) vs. Jesse Litsch (0-1, 6.75 ERA). In 8 starts at Citizens Bank Park this year, Halladay is 4-4 with a 2.48 ERA. Halladay is 2-5 with a 3.36 ERA over his last 8 starts. In Halladay's 6 losses, the Phillies have combined to score a total of 9 runs. This will be Litsch's third start of the year, after recovering from Tommy John surgery. In 2 career games against the Phillies, Litsch is 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA. Raul Ibanez is 4-for-9 (.444 avg) in his career against Litsch.
Saturday, 4:05pm. Cole Hamels (6-5, 3.75 ERA) vs. Shaun Marcum (6-3, 3.24 ERA). Hamels has a 5.06 ERA in 2 career starts against the Blue Jays. Hamels has posted a 2.91 ERA over his last 9 starts. In 7 starts at Citizens Bank Park this season, Hamels is 3-2 with a 2.96 ERA and has held opponents to a .219 batting avg. against. In 2 career starts against the Phillies, Marcum has allowed 4 runs in 7 innings (5.14 ERA). Marcum has posted a 4.33 ERA over his last 6 starts. Marcum has a 2.52 ERA at the Rogers Centre this season, and a 4.12 ERA outside of Toronto.
Sunday, 1:35pm. Jamie Moyer (8-6, 4.43 ERA) vs. Brett Cecil (7-4, 4.06 ERA). In 39 career games against Toronto, Moyer has a 15-9 record with a 5.41 ERA and 2 complete games. Excluding Moyer's awful outing against Boston on June 11th, he has posted a 2.48 ERA over his last 8 starts. In 6 starts at Citizens Bank Park this season, Moyer is 4-2 with a 3.00 ERA. Aaron Hill is 10-for-23 (.435 avg) with 3 homers against Moyer in his career. Cecil has lost his last 2 starts, allowing 11 earned runs in 11 innings. Cecil has a 3.11 ERA away from Toronto this season, compared to his 5.59 ERA at the Rogers Centre.
Chase Utley has a .330 batting average with 9 homers and 22 RBI in 33 games this year at Citizens Bank Park. Utley away from Citizens Bank Park this season- .228 avg, 2 homers, 12 RBI in 35 games.
In 11 career games against Toronto, Jayson Werth is a .351 hitter with a 1.462 OPS. Werth has posted a .395 avg. with 3 homers and 9 RBI over his last 12 games.
Shane Victorino has a .259 batting average this season batting in the leadoff spot. His average any other place in the lineup this season is .167.
DeWayne Wise, who was with the Phillies organization much of this year, before exercising an out clause in his contract, is now a Blue Jay and has gone 2-for-12 in 8 games thus far. Wise signed a minor league deal with Toronto, where he played in 2002, on June 5th and was promoted to the big club just 5 days later.In 15 career games against the Phillies, Aaron Hill is 14-for-62 (.226 avg) with 4 homers. Hill has 27 RBI through 58 games this season, after having a career high 108 in 2009.
Toronto closer Kevin Gregg is 2-2 with 8 saves and 1 blown save with a 1.09 ERA in 22 career games against the Phillies. Jimmy Rollins, Jayson Werth, Shane Victorino, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard are a combined 4-for-41 (.098 avg.) against Gregg.
Phillies team batting avg.- .259
Blue Jays team batting avg.- .239
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