Series Preview: Nationals at Phillies, 8/12-8/14

Fresh off a franchise best 9-1 road trip, the Phillies (77-40) return home to begin a home stand with a three-game series against the Washington Nationals (56-61).

The Phillies, winners of 12 of their last 13 games, are proud owners of the best record in Major League Baseball, while the Nationals struggle to stay out of last place in the National League East division.

In the series opener, the Nationals will send veteran righty Livan Hernandez, who has lost his last three starts at Citizens Bank Park. Philadelphia will counter with All-star Cole Hamels, who has not lost against the Nationals since April 2nd, 2008.

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

Friday, 7:05 PM. Livan Hernandez (6-11, 4.41 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (13-6, 2.53 ERA). In 12 road starts this season, Hernandez is 1-8 with a 5.69 ERA. Hernandez is 1-3 with a 6.46 ERA in his last 5 starts. Chase Utley is 12-for-34 (.353 avg) in his career against Hernandez. In 19 career starts against the Nats, Hamels has a 10-3 record with a 2.63 ERA. Hamels is 2-1 with a 1.76 ERA in his last 4 starts. In 13 home starts this year, Hamels has a 7-4 record with a 2.29 ERA and a .199 batting average against.

Saturday, 7:05 PM. John Lannan (8-7, 3.56 ERA) vs. Roy Oswalt (4-7, 3.84 ERA). Lannan has a 1-10 record and a 5.96 ERA in 14 career starts against the Phillies. In his last 4 road starts, Lannan is 2-0 with a 2.66 ERA. Lannan is 0-4 with an 8.02 ERA in 5 career starts at Citizens Bank Park. Raul Ibanez is 12-for-23 (.522 avg) with 4 HR in his career against Lannan. In 5 home starts this season, Oswalt has a 2-2 record with a 3.38 ERA. Oswalt is 5-4 with a 3.12 ERA in 18 career games against the Nationals. Ian Desmond is 0-for-13 in his career against Oswalt.

Sunday, 1:35 PM. Chien-Ming Wang (1-2, 3.60 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (15-4, 2.51 ERA). The right-handed Wang will be making his 4th start of the season. Wang, who missed over two years with shoulder trouble, posted a 3.14 ERA in 6 minor league rehab appearances this year. In 15 career games against the Nats, Halladay is 11-1 with a 2.21 ERA. Halladay is 4-0 with a 2.22 ERA in his last 4 starts. In 13 games at Citizens Bank Park this season, Halladay has an 8-1 record with a 2.26 ERA.

In 16 career games against the Phillies, Jayson Werth has a .273 average with 4 homeruns. Although he is batting .227 on the season, Werth has posted a .270 batting average in 24 games since the All-star break.

Ryan Zimmerman is a .282 hitter with 12 HR in 88 career games against the Phillies. Zimmerman is batting .350 in 25 games since the All-star break and has hit successfully in 19 straight games.

Washington closer Drew Storen has a 7.20 ERA in 6 career games against the Phillies. Opponents are batting .199 against Storen this season.

In 31 home games this season Chase Utley is batting .297 with a .969 OPS. Utley is 1-for-10 in 3 games against the Nationals this year, although he posted a .327 average in 13 games against them last year.

Hunter Pence is batting .347 in 12 games as a Phillie. Pence is a .266 hitter in 28 career games against Washington.

Shane Victorino is batting .341 with a 1.035 OPS in 22 games since the All-star break. Victorino has 3 HR in 48 home games this season, compared to 9 HR in 42 road games.

Nationals team ERA- 3.76
Phillies team ERA- 3.09

______________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

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

2019 Phillies Prospects Countdown: #7 LHP JoJo Romero

JoJo Romero, image- Jay Floyd With a growing crop of very talented pitching prospects in the Phillies organization, left-hander JoJo Romero is certainly among the standouts. The five-foot-11 200-pounder was the Phils’ 4th round draft selection in 2016. That year he helped Yavapai College, the same school that the Phillies drafted Kenny Giles from in 2011, clinch the JuCo World Series, leading the way with an 11-5 record, a 3.64 ERA and a 10.2 K/9 mark. He also tossed a complete game gem to earn the win in their title game. After signing with the Phillies, Romero made his professional debut as a member of the short-season Class A Williamsport Crosscutters. There, he notched a 2-2 record with a 2.56 ERA while striking out 31 and walking 11 in 45 2/3 innings. In 2017, he got off to a terrific start with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws. In 13 starts, Romero tallied a 5-1 record with a 2.11 ERA and a 9.3 K/9 mark and was honored as a South Atlantic League mid-season All-Star. R

McGwire Stays Phony, Despite Admitting Drug Use

Mark McGwire made an effort to publicly come clean today, admitting to the world that he took performance enhancing drugs during his playing career. Steroids and human growth hormones were among the drugs that McGwire admitted to using. MLB Network featured a one on one interview with Bob Costas and McGwire on Monday evening. The broadcast was virtually garbage, thanks to McGwire. Ahead is a list of quotes from McGwire's interview. McGwire repeatedly stated his point of view that there were no dishonorable intentions involved when taking steroids, and that he was merely using them as a means to recover from varying ailments. When asked if he felt like he cheated... "As I look back now...I can see how people would say that. As far as the talent goes and the hand-eye coordination, the ability, the genetics I was given...I don't see it." "I did not take this for any strength purposes." Denial. Read on for similar B.S. He whined about the abuse he'

Diekman a Late Addition to Mesa AFL Roster

On Wednesday, Phillies lefty pitching prospect Jacob Diekman made his Arizona Fall League debut. Diekman, who was drafted in the 30th round of the 2007 amateur draft, was assigned to Mesa late, in order to increase his 2010 innings total, according to Mesa hitting coach Mark Parent, who managed Diekman in Lakewood this past season. Diekman, 23, posted a 2-0 record with 1.90 ERA in 21 games with Class A Lakewood before being promoted to High-A Clearwater on June 24th. In 24 games with the Threshers, Diekman went 0-2 with a 3.66 ERA. Combined, Diekman tossed 55 2/3 innings and held opponents to a .187 batting average against at two levels in 2010. However, after not pitching in an official game since he threw a shutout inning to wrap up the Clearwater season on September 5th, Diekman was unable to record an out as all seven batters he faced reached base, six with hits, one on an error. Diekman was charged with 5 earned runs in the outing. Diekman had spent time at instructional ball f

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog