Phillies at Braves: 2013 Opening Day Game Preview

At long last, the new season is upon us. With the Phillies out of the postseason for the first time in six seasons last year, the time between their last contest and the following season's opener was certainly longer than most fans in the Philly region had grown accustomed to. But, after a considerable wait, a chance to reclaim the top spot in the National League East division is about to begin.

Opening the season on the road, the Phillies will send lefty ace Cole Hamels to the mound at Atlanta's Turner Field to take on right-handed veteran Tim Hudson.

Monday, 7:05 PM. Cole Hamels (17-6, 3.05 ERA in 2012) vs. Tim Hudson (16-7, 3.62 ERA in 2012). The 29-year-old Hamels posted a 7-2 record with a 2.87 ERA in 14 second half starts last season. In four starts againt Atlanta last year, Hamels went 1-1 with a 2.77 ERA and a .221 batting average against. In 15 career outings at Turner Field, Hamels has a 5-4 record along with a 4.18 ERA. In his career against Hamels, Dan Uggla is 8-for-55 (.145 average). Hudson had a 3-1 record with a 3.99 ERA in five starts against the Phillies last season. In 116 career games at Turner Field, Hudson sports a 3.22 ERA. Michael Young is 9-for-28 (.321 average) with a double in his career against Hudson. Ryan Howard is a career .322 hitter with three doubles and seven homers in his career against Hudson.

Former Braves 1st round draft pick Jason Heyward is a career .207 hitter with three home runs in 46 games against the Phillies. The lefty hitter tallied a .761 OPS at home last season.

Justin Upton is a .321 hitter with four homers and nine RBI in 24 career games against the Phils.

Jimmy Rollins led the Phillies with HR (23) and RBI (68) last season. In 202 career games against the Braves, Rollins is a .274 hitter with 18 home runs and 42 stolen bases.

In 74 career games at Turner Field, Chase Utley has posted a .258 average with nine homers and 42 RBI. Utley batted .121 in 15 games against Atlanta last season.

Comments

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. ...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog