Series Preview: Phillies at Braves, July 27-29

With their newly extended lefty ace in tow, the Phillies (45-54) hit the road and visit the Braves (54-44) to begin a three-game set on Friday night at Turner Field in Atlanta.

This week, the Phils signed their three-time All-Star and former World Series Most Valuable Player Cole Hamels to a six-year $144 million pact. Hamels was the team's 1st round draft selection back in 2002 and he'll start the series opener.

The Phillies will begin the road trip without third baseman Placido Polanco, who was placed on the disabled list with back inflammation, retroactive to July 23rd. International League hit leader Kevin Frandsen was promoted from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to fill Polanco's void on the big league roster.

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

Friday, 7:35 PM. Cole Hamels (11-4, 3.23 ERA) vs. Ben Sheets (2-0, 0.00 ERA). In his last 5 starts, Hamels is 1-1 with a 3.19 ERA. Hamels has a 6-1 record with a 3.38 ERA in 9 road starts this season. In 13 career games at Turner Field, Hamels has a 5-3 record with a 4.06 ERA. Sheets is 2-4 with a 4.88 ERA in 8 career starts against the Phillies. Ty Wigginton is 12-for-36 (.333 avg) with 2 doubles and 2 HR in his career against Sheets. In 9 career starts at Turner Field, Sheets is 6-3 with a 3.92 ERA.

Saturday, 7:10 PM. Joe Blanton (8-8, 4.70 ERA) vs. Mike Minor (5-7, 5.49 ERA). In 13 career games against the Braves, Blanton has a 2-5 record with a 4.87 ERA. Blanton is 2-2 with a 3.82 ERA in his last 5 starts. Brian McCann is 10-for-24 (.417 avg) with 3 HR against Blanton in his career. The lefty Minor is 3-2 with a 4.69 ERA in 8 starts at home this season. Opponents are batting .256 against Minor this season.

Sunday, 1:35 PM. Roy Halladay (4-5, 4.32 ERA) vs. Tim Hudson (9-4, 3.71 ERA). Halladay is 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA in 4 career starts at Turner Field. Halladay has a 3-2 record with a 4.36 ERA in 7 road starts this season. Chipper Jones is 8-for-16 (.500 avg) with 3 doubles and 2 HR in his career against Halladay. In 23 career starts against the Phillies, Hudson has an 8-8 record with a 3.54 ERA. Ryan Howard is 19-for-55 (.345 avg) with 3 doubles and 6 homers in his career against Hudson.

In 134 career games against the Braves, Chase Utley is a .280 hitter with 19 HR and 67 RBI. Utley is batting .222 in 10 road games this season.

Carlos Ruiz has posted a .373 batting average in 42 road games this year. Ruiz is a .277 hitter in 38 career games at Turner Field.

In 19 July games, Hunter Pence is batting .189 with 1 HR. Pence is batting .293 in 49 road games this season.

Chipper Jones is a .334 hitter with 47 HR and 146 RBI in 235 games against the Phillies. Jones is batting .318 in 31 home games this year.

Martin Prado has a .305 average with 9 HR and 34 RBI in 73 games against the Phillies. Prado is batting .204 in 13 games since the All-Star break.

In 16 career games against the Phillies, Craig Kimbrel has a 0-0 record with 7 saves, 2 blown saves and a 1.26 ERA.

Phillies team ERA in July- 4.63 (23rd in MLB)
Braves team ERA in July- 3.88 (17th in MLB)

______________________________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE.

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. ...

Jason Knapp Q&A

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

Eric B Needs to be Cut (and My Name is Rakim)

While the Phillies are on a hot streak this month, one player on the team is not. Eric Bruntlett is 1-for-12 in July. Since the start of May, Bruntlett's apex in batting average has been .167 on June 14th. Bruntlett's ineptitude can be tolerated no longer. Get rid of this guy NOW! Eric B. is the 2009 Endy Chavez. Remember Endy...the guy who in 2005 managed just 2 hits in his final 42 games played as a Phillie? That is about the sort of output the Phillies are getting from Bruntlett, and it's time to fix this void. Julio Lugo was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox and is expected to become a free agent. The Metropolitans are rumored to be interested. Why wouldn't the Phillies be interested in a guy who could surely outhit Bruntlett? Lugo was hitting .284 through 37 games played this season with Boston. Suspended Lehigh Valley IronPig Pablo Ozuna is eligible to return next Wednesday. Ozuna is batting .294 through 51 games at triple A. Miguel Cairo is also...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog