Series Preview: Phillies at Pirates, 6/3-6/5

The Phillies (34-22) continue their road trip in Pittsburgh this weekend, where they will play their Keystone State rivals, the Pirates (26-29).

Expected to return to the Phillies' active roster in time for the series opener is outfielder Shane Victorino, who has been sidelined with a right hamstring strain since May 19th. To make room for Victorino, the Phils will reportedly option OF/1B John Mayberry Jr. to the minors. Victorino went 2-for-13 with a HR in 4 minor league rehab games since last Saturday.

In the opener of the 3-game series, the Phillies will send their "fourth ace", Cole Hamels, who has won three straight starts, to the mound. Pittsburgh will counter with Jeff Karstens, who has spent time in the Pirates rotation and their bullpen this season.

Read ahead for more info on the pitching match ups and more key details for this series.

Friday, 7:05PM. Cole Hamels (7-2, 3.01 ERA) vs. Jeff Karstens (3-4, 3.58 ERA). In 4 career starts against the Pirates, Hamels is 1-1 with a 3.81 ERA. Hamels has a 4-0 record with a 2.31 ERA in 5 starts on the road this season. Andrew McCutchen is 3-for-9 (.333 avg) with a double and a HR in his career against Hamels. Karstens has no decisions with a 4.50 ERA in 3 games against the Phillies. In 6 home appearances this year, the righty Karstens has a 2-2 record with a 2.43 ERA. Raul Ibanez is 4-for-9 (.444 avg) in his career against Karstens.

Saturday, 7:05PM. Kyle Kendrick (3-3, 3.18 ERA) vs. Charlie Morton (5-2, 2.51 ERA). In 4 career starts against the Pirates, Kendrick is 4-0 with a 2.61 ERA and a complete game. Kendrick has a 2-0 record with a 1.59 ERA in 7 road games this season. Kendrick has walked 13 batters while striking out just 12 batters in 28 1/3 innings pitched this season. In 4 home starts this season, the right-handed Morton is 1-1 with a 1.95 ERA. Jimmy Rollins is 5-for-7 (.714 avg) in his career against Morton.

Sunday, 1:35PM. Roy Halladay (7-3, 2.56 ERA) vs. James McDonald (3-3, 4.85 ERA). In his last 5 starts, Halladay has a 2-2 record with a 3.07 ERA. In his only career start at PNC Park, Halladay threw 7 scoreless innings. McDonald has a 1-0 record with a 2.55 ERA in 4 home starts this season. In his last 7 starts, the righty hurler McDonald is 3-1 with a 2.43 ERA.

Jimmy Rollins has a .290 batting average and a .914 OPS in 27 career games at PNC Park.

In 14 career games against the Pirates, Raul Ibanez has a .196 batting average. Ibanez has an identical .246 average against both righty and lefty pitchers thus far in 2011.

Shane Victorino has a career .338 batting average in 25 games against the Pirates.

In 23 home games this season, Andrew McCutchen has posted a .198 batting average.

Neil Walker is 10-for-30 (.333 avg) during his current 7 game hitting streak. Walker is batting .265 in 22 home games this season.

Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan is 14-for-14 in save chances this season. In 19 career games against the Phillies, Hanrahan is 0-2 with 1 save, 1 blown save and a 3.10 ERA.

Phillies team ERA- 3.21
Pirates team ERA- 3.54

_________________________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

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

Heroes- Fight of the Century

VS. It's a big day for your boy, Jay Ballz . No work, X-Men Origins: Wolverine premieres, our Phillies face the Metropolitans for the first time this season and tailgating for BOTH doesn't sound all that absurd to me. Anyway, I surveyed some qualified phans and got several opinions on how exactly a fight might go down if the mutant hero Wolverine faced off against Phillies hero Matt Stairs. Well known blogger, Chris, of I've Made a Huge Tiny Mistake , kept it real and said the following- "Wolverine has adamantium ( indestructible metal substance) claws, so that's a great advantage. Stairs' Wonder Bat is neutralized there. See, the problem becomes Wolverine's ability to recover (he has a regenerative power) faster. Stairs is merely human. Sure, he has a goatee, and goatees are great, but they're great for saving sauce, not for defeating mutants. I think Wolverine takes it in a fight to the death in about 15 minutes because Stairs simply doesn'...

Michael Taylor Q&A

Michael Taylor is currently leading the Reading Phillies' offense and is near the top of the Eastern League in most stat categories (3rd in batting avg- .342, 3rd in HR- 14, tied for second in RBI- 55, 2nd in OPS.- .994, tied for 1st in runs scored- 49, tied for 1st in hits...). The 23 year old Taylor is 6 feet 6 inches tall and has quickly grabbed the attention of phans and media alike as a top prospect to watch. I spoke with Mike Taylor over the weekend, and here is that interview. With all the big stats and being among the league leaders in so many categories, do you think you're ready for the next step? It's kind of a difficult question. Do you have anything left to prove here? There's always something to prove. There's stuff to prove every game. I mean that's one thing that's very interesting about this game. It's such a numbers oriented game. You're only as good as your last "whatever statistical category that someone's valuing". ...

Rappers in Phillies Caps

Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog