Phils @ Cubs Preview

J.A. Happ (8-2, 2.74) hopes to right the ship tonight for the Phils as he goes against Rich Harden (7-7, 4.41) and the Cubs in Wrigley. Happ is coming off his most impressive performance to date vs. the Rockies, in which he threw a complete game shutout with 10 K’s and 127 pitches thrown. The Phils, however, are coming off of one of their worst performances of the year, getting swept by the Marlins and letting them creep back into contention - presently the NL East lead is at 3.5. If they’re going to get back on the winning track they need to start hitting with RISP, something that’s been eluding the team for the last couple weeks. The most anticipated game of the week has got to be tomorrow night’s. Pedro Martinez makes his MLB debut for the Phils, and I’m sure there will be tons of buzz surrounding the game. Here’s what the matchups look like in Chicago:

Tonight: Happ vs. Harden

Wednesday: Pedro (0-0) vs. Samardzija (1-1, 6.29)

Thursday: Lee (9-9, 2.65) vs. Dempster (6-5, 4.04)

The matchups seem to favor the Phils, depending on how you think Pedro will fair. Harden his been pitching well lately, but there is no reason to believe Happ won’t continue his hot streak. Cliff Lee is a stud; lock that game in as a win. Go Phils!

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Phils-Jays Preview

The Phils welcome in the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday for the start of a 3 game set. The Phillies come in leading the NL East by 4 games and are looking to change their fortunes at home, where they are 13-16 but with 5 of those wins coming against the Washington Nationals, the AAA affiliate of the rest of baseball.

The Jay birds come in at 34-31, 5 games back in the AL East. The Phillies catch a break missing, arguably the best pitcher in the game, Roy "Doc" Halliday. Former Phil and a guy Dirty Wudders is still mad at, Scott Rolen, is leading the Blue Jays with a .320 AVG. If he thinks St. Louis was baseball heaven, I wonder how Toronto compares. Aaron Hill leads the team with 14 home runs. Former Phil Rod Barajas is also a Jay hitting .268 with 4 homers and former manager Nick Leyva is the 3rd base coach.

Let's take a look at the Matchups:

Tuesday: Ricky Romero, LHP (3-3, 3.71 ERA) vs Cole Hamels, LHP (4-2, 4.62 ERA)

Wednesday: TBA vs Jamie Moyer, LHP (4-5, 6.11)

Thursday: Casey Janssen, RHP (2-3, 6.23) vs Joe Blanton, RHP (4-3, 5.17)

Romero is coming off of a good game last Thursday in Texas allowing a run in 6+ while losing to former phill, Kevin Millwood. Hamels has been pretty bad in 2 of his last 3 starts but the one good one was one of the better performances in all of baseball this year; his shutout against the Dodgers. Outcome: 6-3 phils

Moyer has pitched very well over his last 5 starts after looking like he was finished through his first 7. He is 1-2 with a 3.77 ERA over the last 5 starts. Cito Gaston has not yet chosen a pitcher for this game, or maybe more accurately, he has not informed me who he will throw. Yes that is the same Cito Gaston who manged the Jays to the '93...I can't say it, look it up if you don't know. Outcome: 9-7 Phils

Casey Janssen has not pitched against the Phillies since he shut them out over 6 innings back in '06. Joe Blanton is 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA in his last 4 starts. Outcome 7-4 Phils

Let's go Phils

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Phils-Sox Preview

Big weekend at Citizens Bank Park as the fackin’ Red Sox are in town to take on the Phils. The Phils and Sox have won the last two World Series’, and come into this series as two of the best teams in baseball again this year. The Fightins might have their hands full this weekend, as the pitching matchups seem to favor Boston.

The fanbase matchup goes to Philly. Is there another group of fans more obnoxious than Boston? Where do they get off? I’m sure they’ll be out in full force this weekend, so expect to hear a lot of “This pahk is wicked sweet! Who the fahk is this Ibawnez, he’s no Nomah ”, among other accented annoyances. Losers.

Probables:

Friday: Lester, LHP (5-5, 5.09) vs. Blanton, RHP (4-3, 5.46)

Saturday: Matsuzaka, RHP (1-4, 7.33) vs. Bastardo, LHP (2-0, 2.45)

Sunday: Beckett, RHP (7-2, 3.77) vs. Happ, LHP (4-0, 2.98)

I’ll be honest; I don’t know how much I like the Phils chances to win this series. Lester has been pitching well lately and Becket has been a beast all season. Dice-K has struggled mightily, but the pessimist in me keeps waiting for the bottom to drop out on Bastardo. Blanton is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in his last three starts, so tonight’s game should be interesting when he squares off against Jon Lester. It’s hard to bet against Josh Beckett – he has a 13 2/3 inning scoreless streak going right now, is 5-0 with a 1.70 ERA in his last seven, and is 8-3 with a 3.67 ERA career vs. the Phils. To sum it up, I’m not hopeful for Sunday. Regardless of what the stats say, we know the Phils can hit with the best, and they can definitely win this series if the starting pitching maintains the level we’ve seen over the last couple weeks. My prediction: W, L, L.
I am silently booing myself for that prediction.

Go Phils!

**Just for you, NardDog...

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Phils-Mets Preview

The Phils travel to Citi Field tonight for a three game series with the hated New York Mets. The Fightins are coming off a successful 6-2 West Coast trip - should have been 8-0! - while the Mets were 2-4 on their trip, getting swept by the Pirates and taking 2 of 3 from the pathetic Washington Nationals. The Phils will show up in NY with a 21-8 road record this year, the best in baseball.

Probables:
Tuesday, Happ (4-0, 2.48) vs. Santana (7-3, 2.00)

Wednesday, Hamels (4-2, 4.40) vs. Pelfrey (4-2, 4.85)

Thursday, Moyer (4-5, 6.27) vs. Redding (0-2, 6.97)

The Phils have their hands full on Tuesday night against Santana, but with the way Happ has been pitching the Mets may have just as tough a time. Hamels should dominate on Wednesday night, and hopefully Moyer can muster another quality start on Thursday. My prediction is, shockingly, that the Phils will hand the Mets their asses. I worked all night and came up with a complicated formula to predict the outcome of this series: Phils domination on the road + Mets poor play as of late / flamboyant queer SS on the DL = 6 games up going into the Boston series. I am a genius.

Go Phils!

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