Series Preview: Phillies at Rockies, 8/1-8/3

The Phillies, owners of Major League Baseball's best record at 68-39, travel out west to begin a three-game series on Monday night when they take on the under-performing Rockies (51-57) who sit in third place, 10 games behind San Francisco, in the National League West division.

In a brief two-game series at Citizens Bank Park in May, the two teams each prevailed with one win.

Cole Hamels will take the mound for Philadelphia in the series opener. The lefty Hamels last faced the Rockies when he took a loss in game 2 of the 2009 NL Division Series, allowing 4 earned runs in 5 innings pitched. The Rockies will counter with right-hander Jhoulys Chacin, who is winless in his last 7 starts.

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

Monday, 8:40PM. Cole Hamels (12-6, 2.61 ERA) vs. Jhoulys Chacin (8-8, 3.50 ERA). In his last 3 road starts, Hamels is 1-2 with a 5.93 ERA. Hamels has a 1-2 record with a 4.50 ERA since the All-star Break. In 4 career regular season games against the Phillies, Chacin is 1-0 with a 1.20 ERA. Chacin has a 0-4 record with a 5.82 ERA in his last 6 games. In 11 home starts, Chacin is 4-3 with a 3.33 ERA and a .196 batting average against.

Tuesday, 8:40PM. Kyle Kendrick (5-5, 3.52 ERA) vs. Aaron Cook (2-5, 5.05 ERA). In 7 career regular season starts against Colorado, Kendrick has a 2-2 record with a 5.79 ERA. In his last 5 games, Kendrick is 1-1 with a 2.88 ERA. Cook has a 0-3 record with a 4.03 ERA in 4 home starts this season. In his last 4 games, the righty Cook is 2-2 with a 5.64 ERA. Shane Victorino is 1-for-16 (.063 avg) in his career against Cook.

Wednesday, 3:10PM. Roy Halladay (13-4, 2.44 ERA) vs. Jason Hammel (6-10, 4.65 ERA). Halladay is 2-0 with a 0.77 ERA in 3 career starts against the Rockies. In 9 road starts this season, Halladay is 5-3 with a 2.70 ERA. In his last 4 road starts, Halladay is 2-1 with a 3.12 ERA. The right-handed Hammel has a 3-7 record with a 5.10 ERA in 11 home starts this year. In his last 5 starts, Hammel is 2-3 with a 7.00 ERA.

In 26 career games against the Rockies, Hunter Pence is a .311 hitter.

Ryan Howard is batting .229 in 47 road games this year. Howard is batting .221 with the bases empty this season.

In 48 career games against the Rockies, Placido Polanco is a .341 hitter. Polanco's last HR on the road came on July 22nd, 2010.

Todd Helton has a .370 average with 16 HR in 82 career regular season games against the Phillies. Helton has posted a .325 average and a .916 OPS in 48 home games this season.

After batting .268 in 86 games prior to the All-star Break, Troy Tulowitzki has posted a .369 average in 16 games since then.

In 27 career regular season games against the Phillies, Ryan Spilborghs is a .423 hitter. Batting .215 overall in 91 games this year, Spilborghs is considerably better at Coors Field, posting a .311 average at home.

Phillies team OPS- .716 (14th best in MLB)
Rockies team OPS- .732 (10th best in MLB)

________________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

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

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...

Ring-a-ling

This week I heard old news about how when the Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl, they gave former Colt Edgerrin James a championship ring. "Edge" had been a Colt for seven years, and even though he was gone when they won the big one, the team and the coaching staff felt as though James had contributed in building the team that won it all, so they awarded him a ring. This got me wondering which people, in an extended Phillies phamily , would be deserving of a 2008 World Series Champions ring. I heard an interview with Mike Schmidt, in the days that followed the Series, and when asked if he thought he'd get a ring, he said, "They have my (ring) size." Schmidt, the Hall of Fame thirdbaseman , was a long time Phillie, a one time coach of the single-A Clearwater Threshers (where he managed World Series MVP Cole Hamels ) and appears as a guest hitting instructor in Phillies spring training every year. With all those things in mind, of course Mike Schmidt shou...

Q&A with Justin De Fratus

Justin De Fratus is a 21 year old right handed relief pitcher with the Lakewood BlueClaws. An 11th round draft choice in 2007, Justin had been a starter in his first two seasons in the Phillies organization. Informed this spring that he'd be switched from the rotation to the bullpen, Justin has excelled and become one of the most reliable pitchers on the Lakewood staff. In 19 games this season, Justin is 2-0, with a 1.83 ERA and 0.89 WHIP over 39 1/3 innings pitched. PhoulBallz.com spoke with Justin De Fratus just last night. Here's how that went down... Justin, South Atlantic League all star selections were announced this week, and you were named to the team. Can I get your reaction to that? How excited were you? Very excited about it. Well, especially this year because I just got moved to the bullpen, so this is a new role for me. So, if anything, it's reassuring that I'm doing my job. It's the first time in my pro career that I've been selected as an all star...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog