Series Preview: Braves at Phillies, Sept 21-23

With an opportunity to lock down a postseason spot, the Braves (86-64) head to Philadelphia to begin a three-game series against the Phillies (76-74). Despite a recent hot streak, during which the Phils have posted a 13-5 record this month and climbed to within 4 games of the National League's second Wild Card spot, the defending five-time NL East division champions are at risk of missing the playoffs, with three teams ahead of them for the a postseason berth and less than two weeks left in the regular season.

Prior to the series opener, the Phillies will honor future Hall of Famer Chipper Jones, as the switch-hitter continues his fair well tour around the league.

Read ahead to check out details on the pitching match ups and other key statistical notes from this series.

Friday, 7:05 PM. Tommy Hanson (12-8, 4.33 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick (9-11, 3.95 ERA). Hanson has a 2-2 record with a 3.06 ERA in 9 career starts against the Phillies. In 15 road starts this year, Hanson is 8-4 with a 4.09 ERA. Hanson is 0-3 with a 4.50 ERA over his past 6 starts. In 18 career games against Atlanta, Kendrick has a 6-1 record with a 2.87 ERA. Kendrick has posted a 4.21 ERA in 16 home outings this year. Michael Bourn is 7-for-14 (.500 avg) with 2 HR in his career against Kendrick.

Saturday, 4:05 PM. Mike Minor (9-10, 4.31 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (10-7, 4.03 ERA). The lefty Minor is 3-6 with a 5.31 ERA in 13 road starts this season. Minor, Atlanta's 1st round draft pick in 2009, has a 2.28 ERA in 12 starts since the All-Star break. Ryan Howard is 5-for-12 (.417 avg) with 2 HR in his career against Minor. Halladay is 6-3 with a 3.82 ERA in 11 home starts this season. Halladay has recorded wins in each his past 5 home starts. Chipper Jones is 10-for-20 (.500 avg) with 3 doubles and 3 HR in his career against Halladay.

Sunday, 1:35 PM. Tim Hudson (15-6, 3.77 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee (6-7, 3.27 ERA). In 26 career starts against the Phils, the righty Hudson has a 9-9 record with a 3.92 ERA. Hudson is 7-2 with a 3.59 ERA in 12 road starts this season. Hudson has a 4.41 ERA in 8 career starts at Citizens Bank Park. Ryan Howard is 22-for-62 (.355 avg) with 7 HR in his career against Hudson. Lee is 4-0 with a 1.63 ERA over his last 7 starts. Lee is 2-5 with a 3.73 ERA in 13 home starts this year. Michael Bourn is 0-for-15 in his career against Lee.

In 15 games against the Phillies this season, Freddie Freeman has posted a .320 batting average with 1 homer and 9 RBI. The righty hitting Freeman is 0-for-8 in his career against Phils left-handed reliever Antonio Bastardo.

Dan Uggla is a .221 career hitter in 58 games at Citizens Bank Park. Uggla is batting .283 in 17 September games.

Jason Heyward is a .211 career hitter in 43 games against the Phillies.

In 18 September games, Jimmy Rollins is batting .338 with 7 HR and 15 RBI. Rollins has posted a .281 batting average in 72 home games this season.

Ryan Howard is batting .230 in 33 home games this year. In 131 career games against the Braves, Howard is a .301 hitter with 40 HR and 117 RBI.

Ty Wigginton is batting .188 in 38 games since the All-Star break. Wigginton is batting .154 wth no extra-base hits in 12 games against the Braves this season.

Braves ERA in September- 2.69 ERA (2nd in MLB)
Phillies ERA in September- 2.74 ERA (3rd in MLB)

_____________________________________________________

Mike McGuire Living a Dream With Favorite Team

LAKEWOOD, NJ- Every young ballplayer grows up wishing he could play for his favorite team. Mike McGuire has an opportunity to do just that after signing with the Phillies organization in July. McGuire was a 43rd round draft pick taken by the Cleveland Indians in the 2008 amateur draft out of the University of Delaware. Early scouting reports liked McGuire's abilities, despite some arm trouble. He advanced as far as High A Level Kinston last season. While there, he posted an 0-3 record with a 5.46 ERA in 9 games, 8 of which were starts. The Indians weren't happy with McGuire's efforts this spring and released him. McGuire caught on with the Sussex Skyhawks of the independent Can-Am League, where he stayed in shape and pitched against other formerly affiliated minor leaguers. As a starter with the Skyhawks, McGuire went 3-4 with a 5.29 ERA in 8 outings. From there, just as all players in those independent leagues hope for, the 24-year-old McGuire got noticed. The Phillies wer...

Harry's Plaque Has Misprint

At the ballpark today for the first time since Harry Kalas was inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame on Friday, I noticed an error in the text on his plaque. Verbage on the plaque reads like this... Voice of Phillies baseball on radio and TV for 39 seasons. Teamed with Richie Ashburn from 1971 until 1997. Harry was on the air for all of Mike Schmidt's 548 home runs, five Phillies no-hitters, seven National League Championship Series, three World Series, the first and final games at Veterans Stadium and the Citizens Bank Park 2004 opener. Received the prestigious Ford C. Frick Award in 2002 for "Major Contributions to Baseball" and was inducted into the broadcasters' wing at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. His calls were legendary, especially his signature home run call, "Outta heeere." On October 29, 2008, he brought utmost joy to Phillies fans: "The 0-2 pitch, swing and miss , struck him out. The Philadelphia Phillies are 2008 Worl...

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