Skip to main content

Series Preview: Phillies at Cardinals, 5/16- 5/17

Fresh off a series loss in Atlanta, the Phillies (25-14) still sport the best record in the league and continue their road trip with 2 games in St. Louis against the Cardinals (22-19).

This brief series will pit one exceptional offense against one outstanding pitching staff. The Cardinals' offense has been the strength of the club for much of the season, leading the Majors in runs scored (210) and batting average (.284), while the Phillies' highly-regarded pitching staff has the second best ERA in the National League (3.12).

Philadelphia and St. Louis each won four of the eight games the teams played against one another last season.

Details on the pitching match ups for this series and plenty more statistics lie ahead.


Monday, 7:05PM. Cliff Lee (2-3, 3.78 ERA) vs. Jake Westbrook (2-3, 6.92 ERA). In his last 5 starts, Lee is 0-2 with a 3.54 ERA. In 2 career starts against St. Louis, Lee is 2-0 with a 1.20 ERA. In 4 road starts this season, Lee has a 1-2 record with a 4.62 ERA. In 1 career start against Philadelphia, Westbrook allowed 4 earned runs in 5 innings and got a no decision. In 4 home starts, Westbrook is 1-2 with an 8.24 ERA. Placido Polanco is 8-for-27 (.296 avg) against Westbrook in his career.

Tuesday, 8:15PM. Roy Oswalt (3-1, 3.33 ERA) vs. Jaime Garcia (5-0, 1.89 ERA). In 28 career games against St. Louis, Oswalt has a 9-8 record with a 3.19 ERA. In 3 road starts this season, Oswalt is 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA. Colby Rasmus is 4-for-9 (.444 avg) against Oswalt in his career. Garcia has a 0.39 ERA in 3 home starts this season. In 4 career games against the Phillies, Garcia has a 2-1 record with a 1.80 ERA and a .167 batting average against.


With a 0-for-5 day on Sunday, Jimmy Rollins ended his personal streak of reaching base via base hit or walk in 21 straight games. Rollins is .261 career hitter in 62 games against the Cardinals.

In 21 career games at Busch Stadium, Ryan Howard is a .388 hitter with 8 homeruns and 31 RBI.

Lefty reliever Antonio Bastardo has held opponents to a .146 batting average this season.

Former 1st round pick Colby Rasmus is a .207 hitter in 13 career games against the Phillies.

In 17 home games this season, Lance Berkman is batting .373 with a 1.100 OPS. Berkman is a career .292 hitter in 64 games against the Phillies.

Matt Holiday's .379 batting average is best in the National League. Holliday is a career .337 hitter in 137 games at Busch Stadium.

______________________________________________

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

Stats to Ponder: Jimmy Rollins Edition

J-Roll has batted under .200 for a calendar month twice in his career. In April 2004, Rollins went 13-for-71, for a .183 average. The following month, Rollins went 30-for-107, which is a .280 average. And in August 2005, Rollins went 22-for-117, for a .188 average. The month that followed saw Rollins go 49-for-122 for a .402 average. Rollins is batting .171 so far in May 2009. Improvement is not far away for Jimmy. The Phillies are 10-2 in games this year which Rollins scores at least 1 run. The Phillies are 4-12 in games which Rollins does not score. Jimmy Rollins in 6 games against the Braves this year is batting .071 (2-for-28). In 2008 Rollins batted .284 against the Braves in 18 games. In 2007 Rollins batted .347 against the Braves in 18 games. In 2006 Rollins batted .367 against the Braves in 18 games. Jimmy Milestone Watch: 6 more RBI and Rollins will tie Scott Rolen for 25th all time in Phillies RBI leaders. 7 more triples and Rollins will tie Richie Ashburn for 4th all time i...

Crawford's Chronicles: JP Crawford talks Spring Training

JP Crawford, image- Jay Floyd Entering this year as the widely regarded top prospect in the Phillies organization, J.P. Crawford will be taking time each week to provide insight directly from inside spring training in Clearwater, FL, right here on PhilliesNation.com. Crawford, 20, was named the top positional prospect in two leagues (Class A South Atlantic League and Class A Advanced Florida State League) last year, when he combined, in 123 games, to post a .285 average, 11 homers, 48 RBI and 24 stolen bases. He also represented the Phils organization in the MLB All-Star Futures Game last season. As the 2015 campaign approaches, the six-foot-two 180-pound lefty batter is expected to reach the Double-A level and continue to prove why the Phillies selected him in the first round of the 2013 draft. In this initial installment of our weekly check-in with J.P., he shares thoughts on a variety of topics, including his exclusion from big league camp, which member of the big leagu...

Phreestyle Battle & Notes

Unrelated to baseball, really...but it's fun and our Phils are off today. This new kid on the hip hop scene, Charles Hamilton , whose single Brooklyn Girl is ripping up radio and video count downs, was at PSU for a performance recently. A freestyle battle ensued, and as you'll see, the Penn State student held his own. Stay tuned for the ending. It's the best part. Here are some random Phillies-in-idle baseball thoughts and notes- Colbert Hamels is slated to make his Grapefruit League debut tomorrow vs. Team Canada. Shane Victorino is going to wear #50 on his jersey for Team USA, a nod to Hawaii Five-O. Brad Lidge is likely to not see game action till next week, after he throws some more bullpen sessions and works out the tightness in his forearm. Albert Pujols is declaring "respect for his country" as reasoning for sitting out of the Cardinals' exhibition this week against Team Dominican Republic. He told reporters, "I don’t want to play against them...