Series Preview: Rays at Phillies, June 22-24

After failing to capitalize on a chance to complete a sweep of the lowly Rockies on Thursday night, the Phillies (33-38) will return to interleague competition as the Rays (38-31) visit Philadelphia in a rematch of the 2008 World Series.

In the three-game series opener, Phillies Ace Cliff Lee will continue his quest for that elusive first win of the season. Tampa Bay will counter with righty James Shields, who notched the only win for the Rays in in that '08 Fall Classic.

The Phillies and Rays have not faced each other since 2009, when the Phils dropped two of three contests at Tampa Bay.

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

Friday, 7:05 PM. James Shields (7-4, 3.72 ERA) vs Cliff Lee (0-3, 3.48 ERA). In 7 road starts this season, Sheilds has a 5-2 record with a 3.72 ERA. Shields has a 1-3 record with a 3.99 ERA in his last 6 starts. Placido Polanco is 8-for-17 (.471 avg) with 2 doubles and 2 HR in his career against Shields. In 13 career starts against the Rays, Lee has a 6-5 record and a 2.87 ERA. Lee is 0-3 with a 3.53 ERA in 5 home starts this season. B.J. Upton is 7-for-21 (.333 avg) with 3 doubles in his career against Lee.

Saturday, 4:05 PM. Alex Cobb (3-3, 3.82 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick (2-7, 5.29 ERA). The right-hander Cobb, Tampa Bays' 6th round draft choice from 2006, is 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA in 2 road starts this season. Cobb threw 7 shut out innings while striking out 10 batters in his last outing against Miami. Kendrick is 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA in his previous 3 starts. In 6 home outings this year, Kendrick has a 1-4 record with a 5.47 ERA.

Sunday, 1:35 PM. David Price (9-4, 3.08 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (10-3, 3.25 ERA). The lefty Price is 5-2 with a 3.75 ERA in 8 road starts this season. Juan Pierre and Ty Wigginton are a combined 4-for-23 (.174 avg) against Price. In 8 home starts this season, Hamels has a 5-3 record with a 3.11 ERA. All 3 of Hamels' losses this year have come in day games at home.

In 12 career regular season games against the Phillies, Carlos Pena has a .279 average with 1 HR and 5 RBI. Pena has a .193 batting average in 33 road games this year.

Hideki Matsui has posted a .158 batting average in 17 games with the Rays this year.

Fernando Rodney is having an exceptional campaign for the Rays, as he sports a 2-1 record with 20 saves, a 1.10 ERA and a .174 batting average against in 34 games. Jim Thome is 3-for-9 (.333 avg) with a HR in his career against Rodney.

In 9 career games against the Rays, Hunter Pence has a .222 batting average with 2 HR and 6 RBI. Pence has a .254 batting average with 6 homers and 18 RBI in 34 home games this season.

Jimmy Rollins, in 19 games this month, has a .310 batting average with 8 doubles, 2 triples, 3 HR and 10 RBI. Rollins' lead-off homer on Thursday was the 39th of his career.

Placido Polanco is a .304 hitter with 3 HR in 28 games against Tampa Bay. Polanco is batting .292 in 29 home games this season.

In 11 home games this season, Mike Fontenot is batting .368. The lefty hitting Fontenot is 0-for-8 against left-handed pitchers this season.

________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

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...

Drabek Preparing For Next Step

The transition has been easy for Kyle Drabek. In December, he was part of a package of young prospects that was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for ace pitcher Roy Halladay. Now, as though nothing has changed, he's right back where he was last season...the star prospect on the pitching staff of a team in the Double A Eastern League. Drabek has often stated that he wanted to stay in the Philadelphia organization, who drafted him in the first round of the 2006 amateur draft. The 22-year-old thought after the midseason trade rumors, that surrounded him possibly going to Toronto last year, passed with no action that all the turmoil was over and that he could simply relax and focus on getting to the big leagues with the Phillies. That wasn't the case, as the deal eventually came to fruition over the off-season. In the Blue Jays system this season, Drabek doesn't have to worry about being dealt. He only has to concern himself with opposing batters and working on his secondary pit...

Anthony Gose Q&A

A prospect who has been talked about a whole lot lately is outfielder Anthony Gose. Gose, a 2nd round pick of the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft played just 11 games for the Gulf Coast League Phillies last year, before getting hurt. Gose, an 18 year older, stole his minor league leading 36th base on Tuesday night, is batting .253 with 21 RBI and 29 runs scored, in 49 games with the Lakewood BlueClaws. Gose took some time to answer some questions for PhoulBallz.com, and here's how that went down... -I've spoken with the coaching staff and they're impressed with you this year. Tim Gradoville even compared your baserunning to Shane Victorino. Can I get your response to the coaches' positive view of your game and speed? I think it's great. I don't watch too many Phillie games. I'm from LA, I'm a big Dodger fan. So, I've never seen too much of how Victorino steals bases. I know they call him the Flyin' Hawaiian. I know he's fast. -Travis D...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog