Skip to main content

Series Preview: Phillies at Braves, August 31-September 2

A pair of division rivals face off this weekend as the Phillies (62-69) travel to Atlanta to take on the Braves (74-57) in a 3-game series beginning Friday night at Turner Field.

In the opener, the Phils will send ace right-hander Roy Halladay, who is 0-1 with an 8.74 ERA in 2 starts against the Braves this year, to the mound. Atlanta will counter with 2009 1st round draft selection Mike Minor, who has won just once in his past 5 home starts.

Read ahead for more details on the pitching match ups and loads of key statistics from this series.

Friday, 7:35 PM. Roy Halladay (8-7, 3.88 ERA) vs. Mike Minor (7-10, 4.71 ERA). Halladay has posted a 4-1 record with a 2.75 ERA over his last 5 starts. On the road this season, Halladay is 3-4 with a 4.31 ERA in 9 starts. In 5 career starts at Turner Field, Halladay is 1-2 with a 3.57 ERA and a .259 batting average against. Chipper Jones is 10-for-19 (.526 avg) with 3 doubles and 3 HR in his career against Halladay. Minor, a lefty, has a 1-2 record with a 3.38 ERA in 4 career appearances against the Phillies. In his last 4 starts, Minor has posted a 1-3 record with a 3.37 ERA. Chase Utley is 3-for-8 (.375 avg) with a HR in his career against Minor.

Saturday, 4:05 PM. Cliff Lee (3-7, 3.67 ERA) vs. Tim Hudson (13-4, 3.57 ERA). In 8 career starts against the Braves, Lee has a 3-3 record with a 3.24 ERA. Lee has posted a 2-2 record with a 3.24 ERA in 12 road starts this season. Lee has a 3.22 ERA in 9 games since the All-Star break. The right-handed Hudson is 7-3 with a 3.96 ERA in 12 home starts this season. In 25 career starts against the Phillies, Hudson is 9-8 with a 3.76 ERA. Ryan Howard is 21-for-61 (.344 avg) with 7 HR in his career against Hudson.

Sunday, 5:05 PM. Cole Hamels (14-6, 2.99 ERA) vs. Paul Maholm (11-9, 3.44 ERA). In his last 4 starts, Hamels has a 3-0 record and a 1.71 ERA. In 14 career games at Turner Field, Hamels is 5-4 with a 4.15 ERA. Jason Heyward is 3-for-18 (.167 avg) with a double in his career against Hamels. In 13 home starts this season, Maholm is 7-3 with a 2.64 ERA. Maholm, a lefty, has a 4-2 record with a 4.11 ERA in 8 career starts against the Phillies. Ty Wigginton is 6-for-13 (.462 avg) with 2 doubles and a HR in his career against Maholm.


Atlanta closer Craig Kimbrel is 0-1 with 14 saves, 1 blown save and a 1.08 ERA in 25 home games this season. In 18 career appearances against the Phillies, Kimbrel has a 1.10 ERA and a .115 batting average against.

Former Phillie Michael Bourn is a career .302 hitter with 3 HR and 21 steals in 42 career games against the Phils. Bourn’s 9 HR this season are 4 more than his previous career high. Bourn has posted a .147 average over his most recent 10 games played.

In 27 August games, first baseman Freddie Freeman has posted a .227 batting average with 5 HR and 18 RBI.

Dan Uggla is batting .180 in 42 games since the All-Star break. In 63 home games this season, Uggla has a .174 batting average.

In 9 career games against the Braves, Domonic Brown is a .308 hitter.

Ryan Howard is batting .203 with 1 HR and 4 RBI in 18 road games this season. In 63 career games at Turner Field, Howard has a .283 batting average with 17 HR and 59 RBI.

Kevin Frandsen is batting .355 in 29 big league games this season. In 11 career games against the Braves, Frandsen is batting .333.

Jonathan Papelbon is 1-0 with 5 saves, no blown saves and a 1.59 ERA in 11 career games against Atlanta. Papelbon sports a 1.52 ERA and a .159 batting average against in 24 road games this season.

Phillies team OPS for August- .702 (21st in MLB)
Braves team OPS for August- .693 (.22nd in MLB)
____________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE.

Comments

Anonymous said…
frandsen is a nice addition. Hopefully he can hang around and contribute.

Popular posts from this blog

Stats to Ponder: Jimmy Rollins Edition

J-Roll has batted under .200 for a calendar month twice in his career. In April 2004, Rollins went 13-for-71, for a .183 average. The following month, Rollins went 30-for-107, which is a .280 average. And in August 2005, Rollins went 22-for-117, for a .188 average. The month that followed saw Rollins go 49-for-122 for a .402 average. Rollins is batting .171 so far in May 2009. Improvement is not far away for Jimmy. The Phillies are 10-2 in games this year which Rollins scores at least 1 run. The Phillies are 4-12 in games which Rollins does not score. Jimmy Rollins in 6 games against the Braves this year is batting .071 (2-for-28). In 2008 Rollins batted .284 against the Braves in 18 games. In 2007 Rollins batted .347 against the Braves in 18 games. In 2006 Rollins batted .367 against the Braves in 18 games. Jimmy Milestone Watch: 6 more RBI and Rollins will tie Scott Rolen for 25th all time in Phillies RBI leaders. 7 more triples and Rollins will tie Richie Ashburn for 4th all time i...

Former Player Proposes Marriage on the Field in Lakewood

Three's a crowd, Buster...Image- Jay Floyd For one New Jersey couple a unique meeting at the ballpark led to a new meaning for the term baseball diamond. Brian Parker spotted the woman of his dreams from the bullpen bench at Lakewood, NJ's FirstEnergy Park on July 9th, 2010. The right-handed reliever for the Orioles affiliate Delmarva Shorebirds wasn't summoned to pitch that night, but it didn't stop him from getting up and going through his usual warm up and stretching routines to inch closer to a young blonde Brick Township native that he felt drawn toward. "I was acting like I was staying hot, but really I was just trying to talk to her," Parker, a 19th round draft choice by Baltimore in 2007, stated. "I ended up putting my (phone) number on a baseball and we decided to hang out and throughout that whole next year it was back and forth trips between the both of us." The lady that caught Parker's eye was Kristin VanDeventer, who was ...

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. ...