Skip to main content

Series Preview: Metropolitans at Phillies, 8/6-8/8


Back at home, where they've won 11 in a row, the Phillies (60-48) hope to gain ground in the standings as they face the rival Metropolitans (54-54) in a 3-game series. Without injured All-stars Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Shane Victorino, Philadelphia hasn't shown signs of slowing down as they've closed the gap on the NL East leading Braves to 2 games, with a series sweep at Florida this week.

Philadelphia will send Joe Blanton to the mound in the series opener. New York will counter with left-hander Jonathan Niese.

The last time these two teams met, from May 25th-27th, Metropolitans pitchers shut out the Phillies over 3 games, sweeping the series.

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


Friday, 7:35pm. Jonathan Niese (7-5, 3.78 ERA) vs. Joe Blanton (4-6, 5.86 ERA). In his last 5 starts, Niese is 1-3 with a 4.20 ERA. In 8 road starts this season, Niese has posted a 3-2 record with a 3.91 ERA. In 5 career starts against the Metropolitans, Blanton has a 2-1 record with a 2.67 ERA. Opponents are batting .301 against Blanton in 17 starts this year. Jose Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran are a combined 6-for-34 (.176 avg) against Blanton.

Saturday, 7:05p. Johan Santana (8-6, 3.20 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (7-7, 3.56 ERA). In Santana's last outing against the Phillies, he allowed 10 earned runs in 3 2/3 innings. In 12 road starts this season, Santana is 2-3 with a 2.98 ERA. Santana has a 7.81 ERA over his last 2 starts. Raul Ibanez is 15-for-42 (.357 avg) with 2 homers against Santana in his career. In 10 career starts against the Metropolitans, Hamels is 2-5 with a 3.98 ERA. In his last 5 starts, Hamels is 1-0 with a 2.07 ERA.

Sunday, 1:35pm. RA Dickey (7-4, 2.36 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (13-8, 2.17 ERA). In his last 5 starts, Dickey has posted a 1-2 record with a 1.59 ERA. In 10 road starts this season, Dickey is 3-3 with a 2.83 ERA. New Phillie Mike Sweeney is 3-for-6 in his career against Dickey. In his last 6 starts, Halladay is 4-1 with a 1.88 ERA. In 13 home starts this season, Halladay is 8-4 with a 1.65 ERA. In his last 5 starts at Citizens Bank Park, Halladay is 4-0 with a 0.43 ERA. Carlos Beltran is 11-for-27 (.407 avg) against Halladay in his career.


David Wright is a .265 hitter in 99 career games against the Phillies. Wright is hitting .331 at home this season, while his batting average is .268 on the road.

Jose Reyes has hit safely in 15 of his last 16 games. Reyes at home this year has a .324 batting average, while his average on the road is .238.

New York closer Francisco Rodriguez has not allowed a run in 12 career outings against the Phillies.

In 30 career games against the Metropolitans, Raul Ibanez is a .300 hitter. In 18 games since the All-star break, Ibanez has a .415 batting average.

Ross Gload is batting .391 in 15 games played since the All-star break. His on base % during that stretch is .533.

Carlos Ruiz went 8-for-15 (.533 avg) in this week's series in Florida. The Phillies swept the series with Ruiz's help, as he slugged 3 doubles, 2 homeruns and drove in 6 runs in the 3-game series.

Metropolitans team batting avg.- .251
Phillies team batting avg.- .260

_______________________________________________



Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE.

BallHype: hype it up!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...

Jason Knapp Q&A

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

Yankees Fans Misled By Pepsi Promotion

**** Today, New York Yankees fans attended a Pepsi promotion in Times Square hoping for chances to win opening day tickets to the new stadium, but the tickets, which were difficult to track down due to poor organization on Pepsi's part, were actually for a game in June. Furthermore, the 250 pairs that were promised were actually only 100 pairs. The fans, who were made to sprint through traffic over multiple city blocks when locations for the promotion changed, quickly turned against the soda brand by pooring out their beverages and chanting anti-Pepsi phrases. Yankees fans are even threatening a boycott of Pepsi. An appearance by Yankee great Goose Gossage could not even settle the angry mob, as he had to be whisked away, as a precaution, according to the Daily News . Ooo , I'd hate to see what "the worst fans in sports" (Philadelphia fans) would have done to their free Pepsi cans and beloved reliever in that situation. Because this happened in a non-Philly city, th...