Series Preview: Giants at Phillies, 7/26-7/28

The National League West Division leading Giants (59-43) visit Philadelphia for the first time since they knocked the Phillies (64-37) out of the post-season last October, as the two clubs begin a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday evening.

The Giants and Phillies split six meetings during the regular season last year, however it was San Francisco that defeated the Phillies, 4 games to 2, in the National League Championship Series. The Giants, of course, went on to defeat the Rangers in the World Series.

Former Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum will take the hill for the reigning champs. Philadelphia will counter with rookie Vance Worley, who the team has ridden to a 10-2 record in his starts.

Read ahead for some notes on the pitching match ups and some other key stats for this series.

Tuesday, 7:05 PM. Tim Lincecum (8-8, 2.90 ERA) vs. Vance Worley (6-1, 2.02 ERA). In his last 6 starts, Lincecum has a 3-2 record with a 1.66 ERA. Lincecum is 5-4 with a 2.44 ERA in 11 road starts this season. Ryan Howard is 6-for-19 (.316 avg) with 2 doubles and 3 HR in the regular season against Lincecum. Worley is 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA in 5 home starts this season. In his last 6 starts, Worley has posted a 4-0 record with a 0.94 ERA.

Wednesday, 7:05 PM. Barry Zito (3-2, 4.78 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (12-5, 2.62 ERA). In 5 career regular season starts against the Phillies, Zito is 3-2 with a 4.03 ERA. Lucky for Zito...injured Phillie Placido Polanco is 12-for-16 (.750 avg) in his career against the lefty Zito. In 12 home starts this year, Hamels has produced a 7-3 record with a 2.29 ERA. Hamels has a 4-1 record with a 1.05 ERA in his last 6 home starts. Right-handed hitting opponents are batting .199 against Hamels this season.

Thursday, 7:05 PM. Matt Cain (8-6, 3.06 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick (5-4, 3.45 ERA). In his last 4 road starts, Cain is 1-0 with a 2.36 ERA. In 5 career regular season starts against the Phils, Cain has a 0-3 record with a 6.23 ERA. In regular season action, Chase Utley is 7-for-15 (.467 avg) with 3 homeruns against Cain. In 12 home outings this season, Kendrick has a 2-3 record with a 3.21 ERA. Kendrick's .266 batting average against is the best mark of his 5 year career.

Aaron Rowand is a career .355 hitter in 21 career games, including the post-season, against the Phillies.

In 20 games on the road this season, Brian Wilson has a 2-0 record with 16 saves, 3 blown saves and a 3.50 ERA. Wilson is 5-for-5 in save chances since the All-star Break.

Mike Fontenot is a .171 hitter in 18 career regular season games against the Phillies.

Former Phillie Pat Burrell is on the disabled list, as he is suffering with a bone spur in his right foot.

In 32 career regular season games against the Giants, Ryan Howard is a .225 hitter. In 19 July games, Howard has posted a .227 average.

Jimmy Rollins is a .256 career hitter in 57 regular season games against San Francisco with 9 doubles, 10 triples and 8 HR. Last year in 9 games against the Giants, including the post-season, Rollins went 11-for-37 (.297 avg.) with 10 RBI.

In 51 home games this year, Raul Ibanez is batting .292, compared to his .194 average in 44 road games.

Giants team ERA- 3.08
Phillies team ERA- 3.13
________________________________________

Image- AP

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

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

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...

Jason Knapp Q&A

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

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...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog