Series Preview: Metropolitans at Phillies, April 13-15

Entering the weekend with a Major League best 1.99 ERA, the Phillies will continue to rely on that strength as they begin a 3-game series with the division rival New York Mets.

Among the most reliable hurlers for the Phils is lefty ace Cliff Lee, who will take the mound in game 1. Lee had a pair of strong outings against New York last season, allowing just 1 run over 14 total innings.

The Mets will counter with right-hander R.A. Dickey. The veteran hasn't had much luck at the home park of the Phillies, posting a 0-2 record with a 6.00 ERA in 2 career starts at Citizens Bank Park.

New York third baseman David Wright could miss time in the series, as he is dealing with a fracture in his right pinky finger. Wright suffered the injury sliding into a base this week.

Read ahead for loads more details on the pitching match ups and plenty more stats for this series.

Friday, 7:05 PM. R.A. Dickey (1-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee (0-0, 1.50 ERA). In 6 career starts against the Phillies, Dickey has a 2-3 record with a 2.61 ERA. In 16 road games last year, Dickey posted a 6-4 record with a 2.99 ERA. Jimmy Rollins is 1-for-14 (.071 avg) in his career against Dickey. Lee has a 2-0 record with a 0.43 ERA and a .224 batting average in 3 career starts against the Mets. In 18 regular season starts at Citizens Bank Park last season, Lee posted an 11-3 record with 1.94 ERA.

Saturday, 4:05 PM. Jonathan Niese (1-0, 4.50 ERA) vs. Vance Worley (0-0, 1.50 ERA). Niese has a 3-4 record with a 4.07 ERA in 8 career starts against the Phillies. In 5 starts at Citizens Bank Park, Niese has a 1-3 record and a 5.72 ERA. Placido Polanco is 9-for-21 (.429 avg) with 4 doubles in his career against Niese. In 16 career games at Citizens Bank Park, Worley has posted 7-2 record and a 2.33 ERA with a .204 batting average against. Daniel Murphy is 4-for-8 (.500 avg) in his career against Worley.

Sunday, 1:35 PM. Mike Pelfrey (0-0, 4.76 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (0-1, 5.06 ERA). Pelfrey has a 7-7 record and a 5.37 ERA in 19 career starts against Philadelphia. In 3 starts at Citizens Bank Park last season Pelfrey posted a 9.49 ERA. Hunter Pence is 7-for-18 (.389 avg) with a double and a homer against Pelfrey. In 17 career starts against the Mets, Hamels has a 3-10 record with a 4.46 ERA. Hamels sported a 6.86 in 4 starts against the Metropolitans last season.

Ruben Tejada has a .177 batting average in 20 career games against the Phillies.

David Wright, who is batting .583 through 4 games this season, went 15-for-38 (.395 avg) in 9 games at Citizens Bank Park last year.

In 109 career games against the Mets, Juan Pierre has a .309 batting average with 43 stolen bases.

Jimmy Rollins posted a .355 batting average in 15 games against the Mets last season. Rollins is 11-for-20 (.550 avg) with 4 extra base hits against Mets reliever Miguel Batista in his career.

In 13 games against the Mets last season, Carlos Ruiz posted a .389 batting average with a double and 5 RBI.

Mets team batting average- .251
Phillies team batting average- .240
______________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

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...

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...

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. ...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog