Skip to main content

Series Preview: Astros vs. Phillies, 8/23-8/26


Former Philadelphia general manager Ed Wade's collection of former Phillies, and their Houston teammates, visit Philadelphia to begin a 4-game series on Monday night.

The Astros (54-69) are in 4th place in the NL Central and hope to disrupt the Phillies' (70-53) efforts to win their 4th straight NL East title, by sending Brett Myers to the mound to face his former team for the first time. Myers was a 1st round draft pick of the Phillies in 1999 and played 8 seasons with Philadelphia. The Phillies will counter with right-hander Joe Blanton

After a rash of injuries, the Phillies hope to have their 8 positional opening day starters in the lineup for the first time in 3 months. Phillies players Jimmy Rollins, Carlos Ruiz, Shane Victorino, Placido Polanco, Chase Utley and most recently Ryan Howard have all missed significant time with injuries this season.

The Phillies and Astros split four games played at Citizens Bank Park last season.

Continue reading for details on the pitching match ups and more information on this series.


Monday, 7:05pm. Brett Myers (8-7, 3.11 ERA) vs. Joe Blanton (5-6, 5.54 ERA).
In 13 road starts this season, Myers is 2-7 with a 3.96 ERA. In his career at Citizens Bank Park, Myers has a 27-27 regular season record with 10 saves, a 4.17 ERA and 5 complete games. Myers has pitched at least 6 innings in all 25 of his starts this season. In 7 starts since the All-star break, Myers has a 2.36 ERA. In 11 home starts this season, Blanton is 4-2 with a 4.72 ERA. Blanton in his last 5 starts is 2-0 with a 4.06 ERA.

Tuesday, 7:05pm. Bud Norris (6-7, 5.23 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (7-10, 3.51 ERA). In his last 5 starts, the righty hurler Norris is 4-0 with a 3.31 ERA. In 8 road starts this season, Norris is 3-3 with a 5.24 ERA. In his last 7 starts, Hamels is 0-3 with a 2.87 ERA. In his career against Houston, Hamels is 4-5 with a 3.52 ERA.

Wednesday, 7:05pm. "Jay" Happ (3-2, 3.54 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (16-8, 2.16 ERA). In 5 starts with Houston, Happ is 2-2 with a 4.62 ERA. In 26 career games at Citizens Bank Park, Happ's ERA is 4.42. Happ, a lefty, has a 7.50 ERA on the road this year. Halladay has won 6 straight starts and has posted a 1.37 ERA over that stretch. Carlos Lee is 7-for-23 (.304 avg) with 3 homers against Halladay in his career. In 15 home starts this season, Halladay is 10-4 with a 1.84 ERA.

Thursday, 1:05pm. Wandy Rodriguez (9-12, 4.00 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick (8-6, 4.58 ERA). In 12 road starts this season, Rodriguez has posted a 3-7 record with a 5.30 ERA. In his last 5 starts, Rodriguez is 1-1 with a 1.31 ERA. Jimmy Rollins is 4-for-9 (.444 avg) with a homerun against Rodriguez in his career. In his last 6 starts, Kendrick is 3-2 with a 3.86 ERA. Kendrick has a 5.48 ERA in 12 home starts this season.


Jason Michaels is a .323 hitter with 2 homeruns and 8 RBI in 13 career games against his former team, the Phillies. In 125 games at Citizens Bank Park, Michaels is a .305 hitter.

Another former Phillie, Mike Bourn leads the National League with 40 stolen bases. Bourn is batting .224 in 30 games since the All-star break.

Brandon Lyon, who is closing for the Astros while Matt Lindstrom is on the disabled list, has a career 9.82 ERA against the Phillies in 12 games.

Placido Polanco's .318 batting average is tied for 2nd in the National League, behind Joey Votto, who is batting .323.

Jayson Werth is batting .329 with a 1.024 OPS in 63 home games this year. Werth is batting .159 with runners in scoring position this season.

Ryan Howard has 10 homeruns in 36 career games against Houston.

Astros team ERA- 4.30
Phillies team ERA- 3.88

_____________________________________________________


Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sunday School: Phillies History Lesson 73

Danny Ozark was the Phillies' manager from 1973-1979. During his tenure as the team's general, Ozark led Philadelphia to three straight division titles. In his playing days, Ozark was a first baseman, who was a career minor leaguer in the Dodgers system. When Ozark took over the team in 1973, the Phillies were fresh off 5 consecutive losing seasons and 3 straight last place finishes. During his first season in charge, the Phillies would again finish in last place, 20 games under .500, but as his core of young talent, like Mike Schmidt and Larry Bowa, developed, the Phillies' win totals rose. Within 2 years, the Phillies were above .500 and in the playoff hunt until late in the season and the most successful era of Phillies history was about to begin. By 1976, the Phillies were headed to the post-season for the first time since 1950. The Phils would enjoy a 10-game lead over their nearest division rival at the midway point of the season. Despite a lul, which saw their lead d...

PhoulBallz Interview: First round pick Bryson Stott

Bryson Stott, image- Jay Floyd Shortstop Bryson Stott , the Phillies' first round draft selection this year, has enjoyed a successful initial pro campaign.  En route to being recognized as an All-Star for the Class A short-season Williamsport Crosscutters the 21-year-old UNLV product has tallied a .295 average with six home runs and 25 RBI in 45 minor league contests. Last week I spoke with the lefty hitting Stott to discuss his transition to professional baseball, joining the Phillies organization and plenty more.  Read ahead for that interview.  -Obviously, your performance and the production on the field is going well, but how do you feel you have adapted to the pro life? It feels good.  You hear about the everyday grind, but you don't really believe it till you feel it. I would say that's the difference between college and the pros, is you're not practicing, you're playing games every day.  I would say that's the biggest difference.  But I...

Velasquez shut down, Eflin on deck?

Eflin with Reading in 2015, image- Jay Floyd Following Vincent Velasquez leaving his start after just two pitches for the Phillies on Wednesday, righty prospect Zach Eflin was pulled from his start for Triple-A Lehigh Valley at Gwinnett. The 22-year-old sports a 5-1 record with a 3.14 ERA and a .210 batting average against in 10 starts for the IronPigs this season. He could take the place of Velasquez if he is required to miss any additional time. Initial word on Velasquez after he threw two fastballs that clocked in the 86-87 MPH range (considerably slower than the 94 MPH he averages) and was swiftly pulled from his outing, is that he has a biceps strain. He'll be further evaluated in the coming days. Prior to the regular season, Eflin got a taste of competing against big leaguers when he was charged with 12 runs (nine earned) on 11 hits while striking out two and walking one with a wild pitch in three innings of work in an intrasquad exhibition that pitted the Phils...