Series Preview: Phillies at Giants, April 16-18

Each team will send its top hurler to the mound in the opener of a 3-games series on Monday night, although just one of the two has pitched like an ace thus far in 2012.

Philadelphia's perennial Cy Young Award contender Roy Halladay will take the mound at San Francisco's AT&T Park against the Giants in game 1. Halladay is coming off two great outings against the Pirates and the Marlins to begin the season.

The Giants will counter with two-time former National League Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum, who is fresh off the shortest outing of his career, after allowing 6 earned runs in 2 1/3 innings against the Rockies on April 11th.

This will mark the pair's first meeting in the regular season.

The Phillies won 4 of 7 meetings with the Giants last season, including 3 of 4 in San Francisco.

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

Monday, 10:15 PM. Roy Halladay (2-0, 0.60 ERA) vs. Tim Lincecum (0-1, 12.91 ERA). In 3 career regular season starts against the Giants, Halladay has a 0-2 record with a 7.23 ERA and a .313 batting average against. Lefty batters are hitting .080 against the right-handed Halladay this season. In 9 career regular season starts against the Phillies, Lincecum has a 4-1 record and a 2.61 ERA. Lincecum posted a 6-7 record with a 3.07 ERA in 17 home starts last season. Hunter Pence is 3-for-26 (.115 avg) in his career against Lincecum.

Tuesday, 10:15 PM. Joe Blanton (1-1, 2.35 ERA) vs. Madison Bumgarner (1-1, 3.97 ERA). In 3 career starts at AT&T Park, Blanton is 0-1 with a 3.57 ERA. Blanton is 2-3 with a 4.73 ERA in 7 career regular season starts against San Francisco. Angel Pagan is 6-for-12 with 2 HR in his career against Blanton. The lefty Bumgarner will be making his first home start this season. In 17 home starts last season, Bumgarner posted an 8-6 record with a 3.12 ERA.

Wednesday, 10:15 PM. Cliff Lee (0-1, 3.46 ERA) vs. Matt Cain (1-0, 3.00 ERA). In 4 career regular season starts against SF, Lee has a 4-0 record with a 0.82 ERA. Opponents are batting .159 against Lee this season. Lee tossed a complete game shutout in his third start last year and has a 0.59 ERA in third starts of the season dating back 4 years. Cain is 1-4 with a 4.17 ERA in 7 career regular season starts against Philadelphia. Jimmy Rollins is 7-for-17 (.412 avg) with 2 doubles, 3 triples and a HR in regular season action against Cain.

Pablo Sandoval is batting .333 through 9 games this season. Sandoval is 0-for-6 against Blanton and is just 1-for-8 against Lee, but has 2 hits in 4 at bats against Halladay.

Melky Cabrera is a .224 hitter in 19 career games against the Phillies. Cabrera is 9-for-38 (.237 avg) in 9 career games at AT&T Park.

In 39 career games against the Phillies, reliever Guillermo Mota is 1-5 with 2 blown saves and a 6.18 ERA. Mota has a 2.95 ERA in 25 career regular season games at AT&T Park.

Hunter Pence is a .310 hitter in 33 career games against the Giants. In 17 career games at AT&T Park, Pence has a .323 average with 3 doubles and 4 homeruns.

In 18 career games at AT&T Park, Ty Wigginton has posted a .169 batting average.

Shane Victorino is 8-for-39 (.205 avg) in his career against Lincecum and Cain during regular season play. Victorino has hit safely in 8 straight games.

_______________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE.

Sunday School: Phillies History Lesson 73

Danny Ozark was the Phillies' manager from 1973-1979. During his tenure as the team's general, Ozark led Philadelphia to three straight division titles. In his playing days, Ozark was a first baseman, who was a career minor leaguer in the Dodgers system. When Ozark took over the team in 1973, the Phillies were fresh off 5 consecutive losing seasons and 3 straight last place finishes. During his first season in charge, the Phillies would again finish in last place, 20 games under .500, but as his core of young talent, like Mike Schmidt and Larry Bowa, developed, the Phillies' win totals rose. Within 2 years, the Phillies were above .500 and in the playoff hunt until late in the season and the most successful era of Phillies history was about to begin. By 1976, the Phillies were headed to the post-season for the first time since 1950. The Phils would enjoy a 10-game lead over their nearest division rival at the midway point of the season. Despite a lul, which saw their lead d...

PhoulBallz Interview: First round pick Bryson Stott

Bryson Stott, image- Jay Floyd Shortstop Bryson Stott , the Phillies' first round draft selection this year, has enjoyed a successful initial pro campaign. En route to being recognized as an All-Star for the Class A short-season Williamsport Crosscutters the 21-year-old UNLV product has tallied a .295 average with six home runs and 25 RBI in 45 minor league contests. Last week I spoke with the lefty hitting Stott to discuss his transition to professional baseball, joining the Phillies organization and plenty more. Read ahead for that interview. -Obviously, your performance and the production on the field is going well, but how do you feel you have adapted to the pro life? It feels good. You hear about the everyday grind, but you don't really believe it till you feel it. I would say that's the difference between college and the pros, is you're not practicing, you're playing games every day. I would say that's the biggest difference. But I...

Velasquez shut down, Eflin on deck?

Eflin with Reading in 2015, image- Jay Floyd Following Vincent Velasquez leaving his start after just two pitches for the Phillies on Wednesday, righty prospect Zach Eflin was pulled from his start for Triple-A Lehigh Valley at Gwinnett. The 22-year-old sports a 5-1 record with a 3.14 ERA and a .210 batting average against in 10 starts for the IronPigs this season. He could take the place of Velasquez if he is required to miss any additional time. Initial word on Velasquez after he threw two fastballs that clocked in the 86-87 MPH range (considerably slower than the 94 MPH he averages) and was swiftly pulled from his outing, is that he has a biceps strain. He'll be further evaluated in the coming days. Prior to the regular season, Eflin got a taste of competing against big leaguers when he was charged with 12 runs (nine earned) on 11 hits while striking out two and walking one with a wild pitch in three innings of work in an intrasquad exhibition that pitted the Phils...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog