Skip to main content

Series Preview: Phillies at Braves, 4/8-4/10

The four-time defending National League East division champion Phillies head to Atlanta this weekend to take on the team that many experts say has the greatest chance to dethrone the kings of the east.

In Atlanta's home opener, the Braves will send Tim Hudson to the mound, as the Phillies counter with top off-season free agent acquisition Cliff Lee. The return of Lee to Philadelphia drew many comparisons, for the Phillies' starting rotation, to the Braves well known pitching staff of the 1990's that included Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz.

Read ahead for analysis on the pitching match ups for this series as well as plenty more key stats.


Friday, 7:05pm. Cliff Lee (1-0, 3.86 ERA) vs. Tim Hudson (1-0, 1.29 ERA). Lee has made 2 career starts at Turner Field and has a 1-0 record with a 2.45 ERA in those games. April is Lee's best career month for ERA at 2.88. In 18 career games against the Phillies, Hudson has a 6-7 record with a 3.79 ERA. In 82 career starts at Turner Field, Hudson has an impressive 40-23 record with a 3.32 ERA. Ryan Howard is 14-for-41 (.341 avg) with 9 walks, 6 HR and 12 RBI in his career against Hudson.

Saturday, 1:10pm. Roy Oswalt (1-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Brandon Beachy (0-0, 1.50 ERA). In 9 career games against the Braves, Oswalt is 0-3 with a 6.21 ERA. Since joining the Phillies, Oswalt has a 1.83 ERA in 14 regular season games. Dan Uggla is 3-for-20 (.150 avg) in his career against Oswalt. Beachy, the 24-year-old righty, will be making his fifth career big league start. In two starts against the Phillies last year, Beachy went 0-2, but only allowed 3 earned runs over 10 innings (2.70 ERA).

Sunday, 1:35pm. Cole Hamels (0-1, 20.25 ERA) vs. Derek Lowe (1-1, 0.77 ERA). In 19 career starts against Atlanta, the lefty Hamels has posted a 9-5 record with a 3.95 ERA. In 9 career starts at Turner Field, Hamels is 4-3 with a 4.44 ERA. Dan Uggla is 6-for-37 (.162 avg) in his career against Hamels. In 4 starts against the Phillies last season, Lowe had a 1-3 record with a 5.04 ERA. In 17 home starts in 2010, Lowe posted a 10-5 record with a 3.72 ERA. Raul Ibanez is the only active Phillie with a HR (he has 2) against Lowe, however, Ibanez is just 5-for-37 (.135 avg) against Lowe in his career.


Carlos Ruiz was 15-for-40 (.375 avg) against the Braves last season. Ruiz is 3-for-4 with 2 doubles against Beachy.

Placido Polanco, who is batting .440 in the early going this season, has 4 multi-hit games in his last 5 games played. Polanco is a career .321 hitter against the Braves.

Shane Victorino is 11-for-61 (.180 avg) in his career against Hudson, Beachy and Lowe. Shane batted .156 in 8 games at Turner Field last season, but is a .301 hitter in 43 career games there.

Braves catcher Brian McCann is just 1-for-16 (.063 avg) in his career against Phillies reliever JC Romero. McCann hit .218 in 17 games against the Phillies last year.

Chipper Jones is a career .337 hitter in 218 games against the Phillies. Jones' 45 homeruns against the Phillies are the most he has against any MLB team.

In 13 games against the Phillies, Jason Heyward is 7-for-43 (.163 avg) with a homer and 3 steals.

____________________________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

You can also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Eric B Needs to be Cut (and My Name is Rakim)

While the Phillies are on a hot streak this month, one player on the team is not. Eric Bruntlett is 1-for-12 in July. Since the start of May, Bruntlett's apex in batting average has been .167 on June 14th. Bruntlett's ineptitude can be tolerated no longer. Get rid of this guy NOW! Eric B. is the 2009 Endy Chavez. Remember Endy...the guy who in 2005 managed just 2 hits in his final 42 games played as a Phillie? That is about the sort of output the Phillies are getting from Bruntlett, and it's time to fix this void. Julio Lugo was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox and is expected to become a free agent. The Metropolitans are rumored to be interested. Why wouldn't the Phillies be interested in a guy who could surely outhit Bruntlett? Lugo was hitting .284 through 37 games played this season with Boston. Suspended Lehigh Valley IronPig Pablo Ozuna is eligible to return next Wednesday. Ozuna is batting .294 through 51 games at triple A. Miguel Cairo is also...

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...

5th spot, Wall, Old timers, Links

The race for the Phillies' fifth starter spot is still on. While it's not fully fair to compare Grapefruit League stats, when some of the pitchers have had "B game" and scrimmage outings mixed in, Kyle Kendrick and Carlos Carrasco look to be falling behind Chan Ho Park and "Jay" Happ. Happ added to his solid Grapefruit League stats (2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP in 4 games) today against the Rays. Pitching coach Rich Dubee had been displeased with Kendrick even before he surrendered 8 earned runs in 3 innings of work yesterday against the Braves. Park has been working on improving his change up, with (Coach) Jamie Moyer. Park noticed Moyer's location control on his change, so he sought out Moyer to teach him the grip and positioning of the ball. Moyer, of course, feels good about helping anyone on the Phils' staff. Park has been coached by greats like Nolan Ryan with the Rangers and Sandy Koufax with the Dodgers, so Moyer is in great company. Park is working h...