Series Preview: Phillies at Pirates, July 1-4

AP Photo- Chase Utley injured his thumb on this play, where he was tagged out by Brandon Phillips

As the Phillies head to Pittsburgh to begin a four game series against their Keystone State rivals, the Pirates, news has surfaced that Chase Utley, who hurt his thumb during Monday's game in Cincinnatti, will require surgery to repair a torn ligament. Several reports place Utley in New York City earlier today to have the surgery.

Reported first by MLB Network's Peter Gammons, the news is likely to force the Phillies to make a deal in order to fill the void during Utley's absense. Until that happens, the existing team will need to focus on the task at hand, and that is to win series, starting in Pittsburgh.

The current band of substitutes have been performing well for the Phillies as of late, with Utley, Placido Polanco and Carlos Ruiz on the shelf with injuries. Brian Schneider and Wilson Valdez have combined to go 10-for-32 (.313 avg) with 2 homers and 10 RBI over the past week. Those two and the rest of the Phillies will take on righty Daniel McCutchen in the series opener. Cole Hamels will take the mound for the Phillies on Thursday night at PNC Park.

Read ahead for info on the pitching match ups and plenty more details from this series.

Thursday, 7:05pm. Cole Hamels (6-6, 4.08 ERA) vs. Daniel McCutchen (0-3, 11.00 ERA). Hamels is 3-4 with a 5.40 ERA and a .302 batting avg. against in 8 road starts this season. Over his last 6 starts, Hamels has posted a 1-4 record and a 4.36 ERA. In 3 career starts against the Pirates, Hamels is 1-0 with a 3.79 ERA and 20 strike outs in 19 innings. Andrew McCutchen is 3-for-6 with a double and a homerun against Hamels. This will be Daniel McCutchen's 5th start of the season and will be just his 2nd appearance since April. Daniel McCutchen allowed 4 earned run in 6 innings against the Athletics in Oakland last week, taking the loss.

Friday, 7:05pm. Jamie Moyer (9-6, 4.30 ERA) vs. Ross Ohlendorf (0-6, 4.90 ERA). Moyer is 3-0 with a 1.95 ERA in his last 3 starts. In 15 career games against Pittsburgh, Moyer has a 5-6 record with a 5.24 ERA. In 9 road starts this season, Moyer is 5-4 with a 5.44 ERA. In 10 innings pitched at PNC Park, Moyer has allowed 8 earned runs (7.20 ERA). In 2 starts against the Phils, Ohlendorf has no decisions and a 3.75 ERA. In his last 6 starts, Ohlendorf is 0-3 with a 4.75 ERA. Jimmy Rollins is 3-for-5 with a double and 2 homers against Ohlendorf.

Saturday, 7:05pm. Kyle Kendrick (4-3, 4.88 ERA) vs. Paul Maholm (5-6, 3.98 ERA). In 3 career starts against the Pirates, Kendrick is 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA. On the road this season, Kendrick is 2-1 with a 3.68 ERA. Maholm has a 3-1 record with a 3.29 ERA in 6 career starts against the Phillies. In 7 starts at PNC Park this season, Maholm has posted a 3-4 record with a 4.71 ERA. Maholm is 2-2 with a 3.29 ERA over his last 7 starts. Jayson Werth is 5-for-15 (.333 avg) against Maholm with a double and a homer.

Sunday, 1:35pm. Joe Blanton (3-5, 6.19 ERA) vs. Jeff Karstens (2-3, 4.46 ERA). In 3 career starts against the Pirates, Blanton is 1-0 with a 1.77 ERA. Blanton is 2-0 with a 3.80 ERA over his last 3 starts. In 5 road starts this season, Blanton is 1-3 with a 7.80 ERA. In six home games this year, Karstens is 2-0 with a 4.30 ERA and a .239 batting average against. Karstens, a right-hander, has a .372 batting average against vs. lefty batters this season.

In 54 career games against the Pirates, Jimmy Rollins is a .339 hitter with 33 extra base hits. In 3 games at PNC Park last year, Rollins was 5-for-14 (.357 avg) with a double and 2 homers.

Raul Ibanez is a career .176 hitter in 11 games against Pittsburgh. Ibanez is batting .229 in 40 road games this year.

Andrew McCutchen has 3 homers in 8 games played against the Phillies. In 34 home games this season, McCutchen is batting .342.

Andy Laroche is batting .192 in 27 home games this season. Against Hamels, Kendrick and Blanton, Laroche is a combined 2-for-17 (.118 avg).

Phillies team batting average- .259

Pirates team batting average- .237

_________________________________

Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE.

Share on Facebook

All I Want For "the Holidays" is the MLB Network

Ladies and gentlemen, there are 5 days left till Hannukah, 9 days left till Christmas and 16 days left till the premiere of the MLB Network. It's about time. Those of you that enjoy MLB.com's original programming, it may be a while till your favorite hosts appear on The MLB Network. The announced TV schedule is not similar to MLB.com's online schedule. MLB.com's studios are in NYC, and the MLB Network's studios will be in Secaucus NJ...so that's another bump in the road. Cross overs, while possible, might be less likely. The great internet programming on MLB.com includes morning and afternoon talk shows, a midday fantasy advice call-in show, a lunch time talk show and variety half hour formatted show, and of course the nightly wrap up, as well as other original programming that focuses more on the history of the game. MLB.com's programming started as streaming radio shows, then upgraded to a visual medium when video feeds were provided for the same sho...

Hockey Taking Over CBP

The takeover has begun. As the holiday season approaches and winter becomes more imminent, January 2nd, the date of this season's NHL Winter Classic draws nearer. In 2012, Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park will play host to the annual regular season hockey contest that is broadcast on national television. The ballpark is otherwise home to Major League Baseball's Phillies. In the upcoming game, the Flyers will take on New York Rangers. It will be New York's first Winter Classic appearance, while the Flyers, who lost at Boston in 2010, will be seeing action in the annual event for the second time. This will mark the fifth year for the NHL's premiere regular season contest, which first took place in 2008 at Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the NFL's Bills. The process to convert the baseball playing field into an ice rink, in time for the week of hockey events set to take place at CBP, began this week. In addition to the January 2nd regular season...

Division Lead Back to 3 Games

Six shut out innings by the bullpen, a diving catch by Jayson Werth and two homeruns by Chase Utley won the game for the Phillies and got their lead in the NL East back to 3 games over the Metropolitans. It was a surprising effort from the bullpen as Scott Eyre, JC Romero, Jack Taschner, Chad Durbin, Ryan Madson and even Chan Ho Park shut down the Mets lineup in the extra inning victory. It was a risky play by Werth, who could have allowed the winning run to score if he hadn't made the catch on the ball batted by David Wright. It was clutch hitting by Utley, who, with his second homerun of the game, gave the Phillies an 11th inning lead that they would not let up. Huge win for the Phillies! ------------------------- Stats to ponder- Jimmy Rollins in the lead off spot this season- 49 games, .208 avg (47-for-226), .244 OBP, 1 HR, 29 runs. Jimmy Rollins batting any place else in the lineup this season- 7 games, .409 avg (9-for-22), .440 OBP, 3 HR, 6 runs. Carlos Ruiz against the Mets ...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog