Series Preview: Brewers at Phillies May 31-June 2

Here's a quick rundown on the pitching match ups and some stats from the upcoming three-game series that begins on Friday between the Milwaukee Brewers (19-33) and the Phillies (26-28) at Citizens Bank Park..

In seven meetings between these two teams last year, the Phils were victorious five times.

Friday, 7:05 PM. Yovani Gallardo (3-5, 4.79 ERA) vs. Cole Hamel (1-8, 4.43 ERA). In three career starts against the Phillies, Gallardo is 3-0 with a 1.74 ERA and a .153 batting average against. In four road starts this season, Gallardo has a 1-3 record with a 5.32 ERA. Ryan Howard is 3-for-8 (.375 avg) with a double and a homer in his career against the righty Gallardo. In five home starts this year, Hamels has a 0-4 record along with a 5.35 ERA. Hamels is 6-2 with a 3.42 ERA in 10 career regular season games against the Brewers in his career. Ryan Braun is 7-for-25 (.280 avg) with a double and three homers in his career against Hamels.

Saturday, 4:05 PM. Mike Fiers (1-3, 5.66 ERA) vs. Tyler Cloyd (1-1, 5.74 ERA). The right-handed Fiers was a 22nd round draft pick by Milwaukee in 2009. In five road games this season, Fiers is 0-1 with a 3.18 ERA. This will be Cloyd's first home start this year, after posting a 7.80 ERA in three home starts last season. Opponents have posted a .275 batting average against Cloyd in nine big league outings.

Sunday, 1:35 PM. Willy Peralta (3-6, 6.35 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee (6-2, 2.34 ERA). Peralta, a 24-year-old right-hander, is 1-2 with a 5.32 ERA in four road games this year. Peralta is 0-3 with a 10.03 ERA over his last three starts. In five career starts against Milwaukee, Lee has a 0-1 record along with a 5.08 ERA. In his last five starts, Lee has posted a 4-0 record with a 1.15 ERA. Rickie Weeks is 1-for-10 (.100 avg) in his career against Lee.

23-year-old shortstop Jean Segura is leading the National League in hitting with a .358 mark. The Dominican native was acquired as part of last summer's Zack Greinke trade with the Angels.

In 22 career games against the Phillies, Carlos Gomez has a .212 average with two homers and six RBI.

Ryan Braun is a career .388 hitter with 14 home runs and 28 RBI against the Phillies in 38 regular season games.

In five career games against the Brewers, Domonic Brown is 5-for-17 (.294 avg) with a double and four RBI. Brown is batting .256 with seven homers and 14 RBI in 24 home games this season.

Ben Revere is batting .324 with five stolen bases in 25 games this month. Revere is a .294 hitter in 12 career games against Milwaukee.

In 72 career regular season games against the Brewers, Jimmy Rollins has a .224 average with five home runs and 20 RBI.

Brewers team ERA- 4.55 (27th in MLB)
Phillies team ERA- 4.24 (20th in MLB)

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...

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