Fresh off a 6-1 road trip, the National League Wild Card leading Phillies (76-58) return home to host the Brewers (62-71) for a 3-game series.
Chase Utley, who was 7-for-13 (.538 avg) with 8 RBI in his last 3 games, seems to have finally knocked off the rust that kept him slumping after he was activated from the disable list. Utley posted a .184 batting average with 4 RBI in his first 13 games following recovery from his thumb injury.
The Phillies swept the Brewers in May out in Milwaukee, but the Brewers won 2 of 3 games in Philadelphia last season.
Cole Hamels, who has a 2.20 ERA over his last 10 starts, will take the mound in game 1 of the series. The Brewers will counter with Chris Capuano, who will be making his 2nd start since rejoining the Milwaukee starting rotation.
Details on the pitching match ups and loads more details on this series lie ahead.
Friday, 7:05pm. Chris Capuano (2-2, 5.06 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (8-10, 3.31 ERA). In 7 road games this year, Capuano is 1-1 with a 3.29 ERA. Jimmy Rollins is 3-for-9 (.333 avg) with a homerun against Capuano in his career. In 8 appearances before the All-star break, opponents were batting .356 against Capuano...since the break, opponents are batting just .225 against him. In 14 home starts this season, Hamels has posted a 4-5 record with a 3.45 ERA. In 7 career regular season starts against the Brewers, Hamels is 3-2 with a 4.23 ERA. Rickie Weeks is 2-for-15 (.133 avg) against Hamels.
Saturday, 7:05pm. Dave Bush (7-11, 4.71 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (16-10, 2.27 ERA). In 9 career starts against Philadelphia, Bush has a 1-2 record with a 5.40 ERA. In his last 5 starts, Bush is 2-2 with a 5.34 ERA. Ryan Howard is 8-for-22 (.364 avg) with 3 doubles and 2 homers against Bush in his career. In his last 5 home starts Halladay is 4-1 with a 2.13 ERA. Halladay's ERA in night starts (1.96) is a full run better than his ERA in day starts (2.96).
Sunday, 1:35pm. Randy Wolf (10-10, 4.76 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick (9-7, 4.72 ERA). In 4 career starts against the Phillies, former Philadelphia pitcher Randy Wolf is 1-2 with a 5.79 ERA. In his last 5 starts, Wolf has a 3-1 record with a 4.06 ERA. In 27 career starts at Citizens Bank Park, Wolf is 9-7 with a 4.30 ERA. Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Chase Utley are a combined 5-for-35 (.143 avg) against Wolf in their careers.
Rickie Weeks is a career .239 hitter in 24 regular season games against the Phillies. The righty batting Weeks is hitting .300 against left-handed pitchers this season.
In 19 career regular season games against the Phillies, Ryan Braun is a .354 hitter with 7 homeruns and 15 RBI. Braun posted a .424 batting average in 26 August games.
Brewers reliever John Axford has posted a 1.64 ERA in 19 road games this year. Axford has 19 saves in 21 chances this season.
In his last 20 outings, Ryan Madson has a 0.88 ERA with 29 strike outs in 20 1/3 innings.
Jimmy Rollins is 6-for-36 (.167 avg) in his last 8 home games. Rollins' batting average splits vs. right-handers and left-handers this season- .222 avg. against righties/.292 avg. against lefties.
In 15 home games, Domonic Brown has posted a .250 average with 2 homeruns and 8 RBI.
The Phillies have activated Ross Gload from the disabled list and have brought Greg Dobbs back from Triple A Lehigh Valley. The two lefty batters will be ready to go Friday night.
Brewers team ERA- 4.93
Phillies team ERA- 3.78
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