World Series Preview: Phillies vs. Astros

The Fall Classic is set to get underway on Friday with the Phillies opening on the road to take on the Astros in a best-of-seven series.

This year marks 75 years since the first time a World Series was televised and this year each game will be broadcast on the FOX television network. ESPN will have the radio broadcast and that feed can be streamed by using this link.

Game 1 Friday, 8:03pm Eastern....in Houston. RHP Aaron Nola (11-13, 3.25 ERA) vs. RHP Justin Verlander (18-4, 1.75 ERA). In 16 road starts during the regular season this year, Nola notched a 5-9 record with a 3.00 ERA. Nola has struck out 18 and walked three in 17 1/3 innings pitched this postseason. Earlier this month, Nola tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings at Houston. In 15 home starts during the regular season, Verlander sported a 10-1 record with a 1.64 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP. Verlander has a 5.68 ERA and has not recorded a win in seven career World Series starts. Verlander has 11 starts allowing one run or fewer in his postseason career.

Game 2 Saturday, 8:03pm Eastern....in Houston. RHP Zack Wheeler (12-7, 2.82 ERA) vs. LHP Framber Valdez (17-6, 2.82 ERA). Wheeler's home/road ERA splits this year during the regular season- 1.85/3.84. Wheeler has tallied a 1.78 ERA in four starts this postseason. Wheeler, who will be pitching on five days rest, has a 2.57 ERA this year in 11 starts when pitching on five days rest. Valdez, a 28-year-old, led the American League in innings pitched this year with 201 1/3. Valdez, an All-Star this year, was charged with two losses in Houston's losing effort in the World Series last year.

Game 3 Monday, 8:03pm Eastern....in Philadelphia. Pitching match ups have not been firmly announced, but the Phillies will likely go with Ranger Suarez in this spot with the Astros using Cristian Javier. Suarez sported a 4.27 ERA in 13 home starts during the regular season this year. The 25-year-old Javier has a 2.70 ERA in 13 career postseason starts.

Game 4 Tuesday, 8:03pm Eastern...in Philadelphia.

Game 5 (if necessary) Wednesday, 8:03pm Eastern....in Philadelphia.

Game 6 (if necessary) Friday Nov 3rd, 8:03pm Eastern...in Houston.

Game 7 (if necessary) Saturday Nov 4th, 8:03pm Eastern...in Houston.

The Phillies opened the season with a 22-29 record under manager Joe Girardi. The team moved on from him on June 3rd, replacing him with bench coach Rob Thomson, who went on to lead the Phils to a 65-46 record.

The Phillies' team batting average went from .245 under Girardi to .257 under Thomson. The staff ERA also saw an improvement, going from 4.05 under Girardi to 3.93 under Thomson.

Houston third baseman Alex Bregman, a two-time All-Star, is a .188 hitter with five homers and 15 RBI in 20 World Series games. Bregman has driven in seven runs in seven postseason games this year.

Slugger Yordan Alvarez is 7-for-35 (.200 avg) in seven postseason games this year. The 25-year-old left fielder/designated hitter drove in just one run in the Astros' four-game sweep of the Yankees in the American League Championship Series.

In the 2016 World Series as a member of the Cubs, Kyle Schwarber batted .412. Schwarber, the National League's reigning home run king, blasted three home runs in the National League Championship Series against the Padres.

Phillies designated hitter Bryce Harper is batting .391 through 11 postseason games this year. Harper posted a .923 OPS on the road during the regular season this year, compared to his .820 OPS at home.

Centerfielder Brandon Marsh is 4-for-7 (.571 avg) with a double against Cristian Javier in his career and has gone 3-for-9 (.333 avg) when facing Lance McCullers Jr. Marsh was 0-for-13 in the NLCS.

While the Phillies are returning to the championship round for the first time since 2009, the Astros are there for the second straight year and the fourth time in six years. Cheers and enjoy the show.

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

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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

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