Series Preview: Reds at Phillies, May 17-19

The Phillies (19-22) continue their home stand as the Reds (25-16) come to town to begin a three-game set at Citizens Bank Park on Friday night.

Winners of six straight games, the Reds are in second place in the National League central division, 1 1/2 games back of first place St. Louis. The Phillies, fresh off a two-game split with Cleveland, are in third place in the NL East, 3 1/2 games behind first place Atlanta and three games back of second place Washington.

In the series opener, the Reds will send rookie Tony Cingrani to the mound. Cingrani, who is a Rice University product, lasted just four innings in his last outing against Milwaukee, but did not factor in the decision. The Phils will counter with ace Cliff Lee, is undefeated with a 1.83 ERA in his previous five starts against Cincinnati.

The Reds swept the Phillies in three games in Cincinnati last month.

Read ahead for full details on the pitching match ups and other key details from this series.

Friday, 7:05 PM. Tony Cingrani (2-0, 2.89 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee (4-2, 2.86 ERA). In two road starts this season, the lefty Cingrani is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA and a .122 batting average against. Cingrani was the Reds' 3rd round draft choice in 2011. In 12 career starts against the Reds, Lee has a 6-2 record with a 3.79 ERA. Joey Votto is 7-for-16 (.438 avg) with a home run against Lee in his career. Lee has a 4.35 ERA in three home starts this season.

Saturday, 4:05 PM. Bronson Arroyo (3-4, 3.76 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick (4-1, 2.47 ERA). In 12 career outings against the Phils, Arroyo has a 3-7 record with a 6.00 ERA. Arroyo is 1-2 with a 9.60 ERA in three career starts at Citizens Bank Park. Domonic Brown is 4-for-8 with two doubles and a homer against Arroyo in his career. In eight career games against Cincinnati, Kendrick has a 3-2 record with a 4.19 ERA. Kendrick has a 4.01 ERA in four home starts this season. Kendrick has a 1.84 ERA in his last seven starts. Jay Bruce is 5-for-14 (.357 avg) with two homers in his career against his Kendrick.

Sunday, 1:35 PM. Homer Bailey (2-3, 3.51 ERA) vs. Jonathan Pettibone (3-0, 3.41 ERA). In seven career regular season starts against the Phillies, the righty Bailey is 0-3 with a 4.24 ERA. Bailey has a 1-3 record with a 4.78 ERA in four road starts this season. Ben Revere is 3-for-6 in his career against Bailey. Pettibone is 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA in three home starts this season. Opponents are batting .266 against Pettibone in five big league starts.

In 36 career regular season games against the Phillies, Jay Bruce has a .308 average with 10 homers and 28 RBI. Bruce is batting .316 with runners on base this season.

Brandon Phillips is batting .324 with five HR and 20 RBI in 17 road games this year. Phillips is a .262 hitter in 52 career regular season games against the Phils and is a .224 hitter in 26 regular season games at Citizens Bank Park.

Aroldis Chapman has not allowed a run in six career appearances against the Phillies. Chapman has a 4.76 ERA on the road this season.

Jonathan Papelbon has allowed three earned runs in four career innings pitched against the Reds. Papelbon has not allowed a run in seven home outings this season.

In 19 home games this season, Domonic Brown is batting .242 with five home runs and seven RBI.

Ryan Howard is batting .302 with four homers and 10 RBI in 18 home games this season. Howard is a .263 hitter in 60 career regular season games against the Reds.

Reds team OPS- .782 (11th in MLB)
Phillies team OPS- .682 (26th in MLB)

Q&A with Justin De Fratus

Justin De Fratus is a 21 year old right handed relief pitcher with the Lakewood BlueClaws. An 11th round draft choice in 2007, Justin had been a starter in his first two seasons in the Phillies organization. Informed this spring that he'd be switched from the rotation to the bullpen, Justin has excelled and become one of the most reliable pitchers on the Lakewood staff. In 19 games this season, Justin is 2-0, with a 1.83 ERA and 0.89 WHIP over 39 1/3 innings pitched. PhoulBallz.com spoke with Justin De Fratus just last night. Here's how that went down... Justin, South Atlantic League all star selections were announced this week, and you were named to the team. Can I get your reaction to that? How excited were you? Very excited about it. Well, especially this year because I just got moved to the bullpen, so this is a new role for me. So, if anything, it's reassuring that I'm doing my job. It's the first time in my pro career that I've been selected as an all star...

All in the Family

22-year-old pitching prospect Nick Hernandez's father helps him stay fit during the off-season Phillies pitching prospect Nick Hernandez spent much of the 2010 regular season on the disabled list with an injury to his throwing shoulder. The 6'4", 215 pound lefty, who was named a mid-season South Atlantic League all-star with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws, attempted comebacks twice during the season, making rehab outings for the rookie level Gulf Coast League Phillies, but experienced setbacks that curtailed his return to the mound and kept him from helping his teammates lock down a second consecutive league championship for Lakewood. In 8 starts with the BlueClaws last season, the 12th round draft pick from 2009 posted a 3-1 record with a 1.61 ERA and averaged 7 innings per start. Hernandez's strength is throwing a lot of strikes and he owes some of his success to his father, also named Nick (Dad's full first name is spelled Nicolas, while son's name is spell...

Ring-a-ling

This week I heard old news about how when the Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl, they gave former Colt Edgerrin James a championship ring. "Edge" had been a Colt for seven years, and even though he was gone when they won the big one, the team and the coaching staff felt as though James had contributed in building the team that won it all, so they awarded him a ring. This got me wondering which people, in an extended Phillies phamily , would be deserving of a 2008 World Series Champions ring. I heard an interview with Mike Schmidt, in the days that followed the Series, and when asked if he thought he'd get a ring, he said, "They have my (ring) size." Schmidt, the Hall of Fame thirdbaseman , was a long time Phillie, a one time coach of the single-A Clearwater Threshers (where he managed World Series MVP Cole Hamels ) and appears as a guest hitting instructor in Phillies spring training every year. With all those things in mind, of course Mike Schmidt shou...

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