Skip to main content

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.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Mike McGuire Living a Dream With Favorite Team

LAKEWOOD, NJ- Every young ballplayer grows up wishing he could play for his favorite team. Mike McGuire has an opportunity to do just that after signing with the Phillies organization in July. McGuire was a 43rd round draft pick taken by the Cleveland Indians in the 2008 amateur draft out of the University of Delaware. Early scouting reports liked McGuire's abilities, despite some arm trouble. He advanced as far as High A Level Kinston last season. While there, he posted an 0-3 record with a 5.46 ERA in 9 games, 8 of which were starts. The Indians weren't happy with McGuire's efforts this spring and released him. McGuire caught on with the Sussex Skyhawks of the independent Can-Am League, where he stayed in shape and pitched against other formerly affiliated minor leaguers. As a starter with the Skyhawks, McGuire went 3-4 with a 5.29 ERA in 8 outings. From there, just as all players in those independent leagues hope for, the 24-year-old McGuire got noticed. The Phillies wer...

Lidge Shaky, T-Mac Honored in Trenton

TRENTON, NJ- Brad Lidge made his second rehab appearance for the Double A Reading Phillies on Thursday night and it didn't go as well as the veteran reliever or the team had hoped. Lidge struggled with his command and turned in a rather poor outing for the club that entered the night in a playoff race, 1 game behind division rival Trenton for the Wild Card spot in the Eastern Division. On the disabled list since spring training with a strained right rotator cuff, Lidge experienced an elbow strain when he was working back from that issue in late May. In his outing against the Yankees affiliate in Trenton, Lidge displayed difficulty with his control as he threw three wild pitches, hit two batters, walked another and gave up a single, all while letting up two earned runs on 28 pitches in 2/3 of an inning. After the disappointing performance, Lidge was composed and focused on some positive aspects, having reached 89 and 90 MPH on scouts' radar guns, according to some reports. ...

Harry's Plaque Has Misprint

At the ballpark today for the first time since Harry Kalas was inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame on Friday, I noticed an error in the text on his plaque. Verbage on the plaque reads like this... Voice of Phillies baseball on radio and TV for 39 seasons. Teamed with Richie Ashburn from 1971 until 1997. Harry was on the air for all of Mike Schmidt's 548 home runs, five Phillies no-hitters, seven National League Championship Series, three World Series, the first and final games at Veterans Stadium and the Citizens Bank Park 2004 opener. Received the prestigious Ford C. Frick Award in 2002 for "Major Contributions to Baseball" and was inducted into the broadcasters' wing at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. His calls were legendary, especially his signature home run call, "Outta heeere." On October 29, 2008, he brought utmost joy to Phillies fans: "The 0-2 pitch, swing and miss , struck him out. The Philadelphia Phillies are 2008 Worl...