Skip to main content

Series Preview: Braves at Phillies, 9/20-9/22


The Philadelphia Phillies (89-61) and Atlanta Braves (86-64) will meet 6 more times over the final 12 games of the season to potentially decide the winner of the National League East. The Phils sport a 3 game lead over Atlanta, and could lock in their strangle hold on the division as a 3-game series starts in Philadelphia on Monday night.

Atlanta has won 5 of the last 6 meetings with Philadelphia, but the Phillies have gone 18-4 since being swept at home by the Astros last month. A key of the Phils' strong run is their trio of ace starting pitchers. Since the Phillies acquired Roy Oswalt from Houston July 29th, Oswalt, Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels have posted a combined 16-6 record. The three hurlers have also combined for a 2.27 ERA in August and September.

The Braves, who have dropped 9 of 18 games this month, will send Jair Jurrjens to the mound to change the team's fortunes. The Phillies will counter with left-hander Cole Hamels, who has a 6.39 ERA in 3 starts against the Braves this season.

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


Monday, 7:05pm. Jair Jurrjens (7-6, 4.64 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (11-10, 3.01 ERA). Jurrjens has been experiencing knee trouble and could be skipped. In 9 career starts against the Phillies, the righty Jurrjens has a 3-3 record with a 2.56 ERA. Jurrjens has posted a 1-4 record with a 5.81 ERA in 10 road starts this season. In 5 career starts at Citizens Bank Park, Jurrjens is 2-1 with a 1.87 ERA. In his last 5 starts, Hamels is 4-0 with a 0.76 ERA. In 17 career starts against Atlanta, Hamels is 8-5 with a 4.25 ERA. Omar Infante is 10-for-26 (.385 avg) against Hamels in his career.

Tuesday, 7:05pm. Mike Minor (3-1, 5.84 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (19-10, 2.49 ERA). The rookie Minor is 1-0 with a 6.75 ERA in 3 road games thus far. Minor, a lefty, was Atlanta's first round draft pick in 2009. In 4 career games against the Braves, Halladay has a 3-0 record with a 0.63 ERA. At home this season, Halladay is 11-5 with a 2.12 ERA in 17 starts.

Wednesday, 7:05pm. Tommy Hanson (10-11, 3.62 ERA) vs. Roy Oswalt (13-13, 2.90 ERA). In 15 road starts this season, Hanson is 5-6 with a 3.44 ERA. In his last 5 starts, Hanson is 2-2 with a 4.06 ERA. In 13 starts since the All-star break, Hanson has posted a 2-6 record with a 2.98 ERA. In his last 9 starts, Oswalt is 7-0 with a 1.57 ERA. In 7 career starts against Atlanta, Oswalt is 0-3 with a 7.58 ERA.


Omar Infante is batting .323 in 10 games against the Phillies this season. Infante's .337 batting would rank second in the league, but he does not currently have enough plate appearances to qualify.

Jason Heyward's 9 steals are the highest total on the Braves team.

In 11 games against the Phillies this season, Brian McCann is batting .229. McCann is 1-for-15 (.067 avg) in his career against JC Romero.

In 62 games since the All-star break, Jayson Werth is batting .304 with a .930 OPS.

In 28 career games against the Braves, JC Romero has a 1.19 ERA and a .110 batting average against.

Placido Polanco is just 1-for-14 (.071 avg) in his career against Braves closer Billy Wagner. In 18 games this month, Polanco has posted a .247 batting average.

Braves Team ERA- 3.59
Phillies Team ERA- 3.76

________________________________________________________

Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Diekman a Late Addition to Mesa AFL Roster

On Wednesday, Phillies lefty pitching prospect Jacob Diekman made his Arizona Fall League debut. Diekman, who was drafted in the 30th round of the 2007 amateur draft, was assigned to Mesa late, in order to increase his 2010 innings total, according to Mesa hitting coach Mark Parent, who managed Diekman in Lakewood this past season. Diekman, 23, posted a 2-0 record with 1.90 ERA in 21 games with Class A Lakewood before being promoted to High-A Clearwater on June 24th. In 24 games with the Threshers, Diekman went 0-2 with a 3.66 ERA. Combined, Diekman tossed 55 2/3 innings and held opponents to a .187 batting average against at two levels in 2010. However, after not pitching in an official game since he threw a shutout inning to wrap up the Clearwater season on September 5th, Diekman was unable to record an out as all seven batters he faced reached base, six with hits, one on an error. Diekman was charged with 5 earned runs in the outing. Diekman had spent time at instructional ball from

McGwire Stays Phony, Despite Admitting Drug Use

Mark McGwire made an effort to publicly come clean today, admitting to the world that he took performance enhancing drugs during his playing career. Steroids and human growth hormones were among the drugs that McGwire admitted to using. MLB Network featured a one on one interview with Bob Costas and McGwire on Monday evening. The broadcast was virtually garbage, thanks to McGwire. Ahead is a list of quotes from McGwire's interview. McGwire repeatedly stated his point of view that there were no dishonorable intentions involved when taking steroids, and that he was merely using them as a means to recover from varying ailments. When asked if he felt like he cheated... "As I look back now...I can see how people would say that. As far as the talent goes and the hand-eye coordination, the ability, the genetics I was given...I don't see it." "I did not take this for any strength purposes." Denial. Read on for similar B.S. He whined about the abuse he's taken at

Bubby Rossman's long awaited MLB debut

Eight years after he initially signed a professional contract with the Dodgers and a five-year stretch playing away from affiliated ball, Bubby Rossman became a major leaguer on Wednesday. Added as a substitute for pitcher Kyle Gibson, who is restricted from travel to Canada for the Phillies' series in Toronto, due to his medical inability to be vaccinated from COVID-19, Rossman took the mound for the first time in the majors. Rossman, who was a 22nd round draft selection in 2014 had pitched in 200 professional games before his one-inning outing in the Phillies' 8-2 loss to the Blue Jays. In 27 appearances with Double-A Reading this year, the 30-year-old right-hander has performed well, tallying a 2-2 record with a save, a 3.32 ERA and a .200 batting average against.   The embedded video below features a media session with Rossman from prior to opening day this year, in which the California native discusses his journey through independent baseball and back to affiliated ball wi