Series Preview: Phillies at Pirates, July 2-4

Winners of nine straight games, the Pirates are faced with shuffling their rotation as they were forced to warm up the next guy in their starting rotation, Jeff Locke, before they finalized a 14-inning victory against the Brewers on Sunday.

The Pirates (51-30) enter July with the best record in baseball and they'll host the cross-state rival Phillies (39-44) for a three-game series that begins on Tuesday.

Pittsburgh will likely push Locke back till later in the series and use Jeanmar Gomez in the opener.

The Phils lost two of three to the Bucs at Pittsburgh's PNC Park last season.

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

Tuesday, 7:05 PM. Jonathan Pettibone (3-3, 4.17 ERA) vs. Jeanmar Gomez (2-0, 2.76 ERA). The 22-year-old Pettibone has not won in his last eight starts while posting a 4.67 ERA over that stretch. In six road starts this year, Pettibone has a 1-2 record along with a 6.39 ERA. Pettibone made his big league debut against Pittsburgh in April, allowing two earned runs in 5 1/3 innings pitched. Gomez, a right-hander, is 1-0 with a 3.79 ERA in six home starts this season. Delmon Young is 6-for-12 with three doubles, a home run and five RBI in his career against Gomez.

Wednesday, 7:05 PM. John Lannan (1-2, 4.83 ERA) vs. Jeff Locke (7-1, 2.06 ERA). In nine career games against the Pirates, Lannan has 1-4 record with a 4.53 ERA. Andrew McCutchen is 7-for-16 (.438 avg) with two doubles, a triple and a homer in his career against Lannan. The lefty Locke has a 3-0 record with a 2.48 ERA in seven home starts this year. The 25-year-old has not been scored upon in five of his last eight starts. Locke was a 2nd round pick of the Braves in 2006.

Thursday, 1:35 PM. Cole Hamels (2-11, 4.58 ERA) vs. Gerrit Cole (4-0, 3.70 ERA). Hamels has a 1-2 record and a 3.00 ERA in six career starts against the Pirates. In his last three road starts, Hamels is 0-2 with a 4.26 ERA. Hamels has a 3.81 ERA in nine road games this season. Cole, who was drafted in the 1st round by the Yankees in 2008, has won all four of his big league starts. The rookie right-hander posted a 2.91 ERA in 12 starts for Triple-A Indianapolis before he was promoted to Pittsburgh in June.

Ben Revere leads the Phillies in hitting with a .289 mark. The 25-year-old is batting .335 since April. Revere is 2-for-24 (.083 avg) in six career games against the Pirates.

Domonic Brown's 21 home runs are second in the National League behind Carlos Gonzalez's 22. Brown is 3-for-12 (.250 avg) with a double and an RBI in three games at PNC Park.

In 43 career games against the Pirates, Chase Utley is a .311 hitter with five homers and 20 RBI. Utley has posted a .326 average in 10 games since returning from the disabled list.

Pedro Alvarez's 20 home runs lead the Pirates. Alvarez is a .280 hitter with seven homers in 16 career games against the Phillies.

Former Phillies minor leaguer Jason Grilli, Pittsburgh's closer, leads the National League is saves with 27. Grilli has a 0.44 ERA in 21 home games this season.

Andrew McCutchen is a .259 hitter with four home runs in 29 career games against the Phils.

Phillies ERA in June- 4.02 (21st in MLB)
Pirates ERA in June- 2.99 (3rd in MLB)

Diekman a Late Addition to Mesa AFL Roster

On Wednesday, Phillies lefty pitching prospect Jacob Diekman made his Arizona Fall League debut. Diekman, who was drafted in the 30th round of the 2007 amateur draft, was assigned to Mesa late, in order to increase his 2010 innings total, according to Mesa hitting coach Mark Parent, who managed Diekman in Lakewood this past season. Diekman, 23, posted a 2-0 record with 1.90 ERA in 21 games with Class A Lakewood before being promoted to High-A Clearwater on June 24th. In 24 games with the Threshers, Diekman went 0-2 with a 3.66 ERA. Combined, Diekman tossed 55 2/3 innings and held opponents to a .187 batting average against at two levels in 2010. However, after not pitching in an official game since he threw a shutout inning to wrap up the Clearwater season on September 5th, Diekman was unable to record an out as all seven batters he faced reached base, six with hits, one on an error. Diekman was charged with 5 earned runs in the outing. Diekman had spent time at instructional ball from

McGwire Stays Phony, Despite Admitting Drug Use

Mark McGwire made an effort to publicly come clean today, admitting to the world that he took performance enhancing drugs during his playing career. Steroids and human growth hormones were among the drugs that McGwire admitted to using. MLB Network featured a one on one interview with Bob Costas and McGwire on Monday evening. The broadcast was virtually garbage, thanks to McGwire. Ahead is a list of quotes from McGwire's interview. McGwire repeatedly stated his point of view that there were no dishonorable intentions involved when taking steroids, and that he was merely using them as a means to recover from varying ailments. When asked if he felt like he cheated... "As I look back now...I can see how people would say that. As far as the talent goes and the hand-eye coordination, the ability, the genetics I was given...I don't see it." "I did not take this for any strength purposes." Denial. Read on for similar B.S. He whined about the abuse he's taken at

Bubby Rossman's long awaited MLB debut

Eight years after he initially signed a professional contract with the Dodgers and a five-year stretch playing away from affiliated ball, Bubby Rossman became a major leaguer on Wednesday. Added as a substitute for pitcher Kyle Gibson, who is restricted from travel to Canada for the Phillies' series in Toronto, due to his medical inability to be vaccinated from COVID-19, Rossman took the mound for the first time in the majors. Rossman, who was a 22nd round draft selection in 2014 had pitched in 200 professional games before his one-inning outing in the Phillies' 8-2 loss to the Blue Jays. In 27 appearances with Double-A Reading this year, the 30-year-old right-hander has performed well, tallying a 2-2 record with a save, a 3.32 ERA and a .200 batting average against. The embedded video below features a media session with Rossman from prior to opening day this year, in which the California native discusses his journey through independent baseball and back to affiliated ball wi

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog