Phillies Nation

Boston Red Sox (22-20) at Philadelphia Phillies (25-15)

John Lackey, RHP (4-2, 4.86 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels, LHP (1-2, 4.29 ERA)

Time: 7:05, Citizens Bank Park

Weather: Mostly Sunny, 60

TV:Comcast SportsNet

Twitter: @philliesnation

It’s that time of year again. Where the continuity of autonomous league scheduling is altered for an alleged attendance boost in the pursuit of capital revenue gains.

Welcome to Inter-league Play 2010.

Red Sox Nation® (and the Delaware Valley’s bandwagon fans, circa 2004) will be on hand for the final series of this seven game home stand. The Phils have a total of four wins against the Red Sox spanning the last four years. But, this isn’t your ‘Bloody Sock’ or ‘Cowboy Up’ teams from the past. Boston has been plagued by injuries, inconsistency on offense and a lot of bad starting pitching performances.

A model of pitching consistency takes the mound tonight in John Lackey. He won’t over power you, but the veteran has been apt at forcing batted outs away from the strike zone. Lackey is a winner in two of his last three starts despite getting shellacked around in the early innings by Detroit and Toronto. He has been terrific all season and there is no reason to believe he won’t continue to keep the Red Sox in this game tonight.

For the Phillies, Colbert Hamels is looking to build on three stellar outings and continue the clubs successes in May . Pitching more to contact and limiting base runners, the club has been victorious in his last four outings (Hamels 2-0 in that span). Hamels is coming off a 6.2 inning performance in Milwaukee where he scattered two runs on six hits. Hamels pitching to contact has negatively affected him in the later innings in Milwaukee. With the lineup rolled over, a tired Hamels left pitches up resulting in homeruns by Casey McGhee and Corey Hart. While inconsistant throughout the season thus far, the duo of Youkilis and Martinez are riding offense hot streaks coming into this series. They will not miss any mistake Hamels throws at them.

The history of the Phils-Red Sox series has been completely one sided. The Phils need two wins to guarantee a winning home stand while not being able to take two from the Sox since 2003. A sweep?  Not out of the question with this version of the Red Sox; the team hasn’t sweep the Sox since 2000. In that series at Veterans Stadium, two walk off doubles by Alex Arias and Kevin Jordan in extra innings sealed those contests.

Ah, memories…

Red Sox Nation is a ® of the ESPN hype machine.

Today’s Lineup: Rollins, Polanco, Utley, Howard, Werth, Ibañez, Victorino, Ruiz, Hamels.

Your Gameday Beer – Green Monsta

A feature of the Wachusett Brewing Compnay, Green Monsta is a strong Ale (6.4 % abv) with medium body and a variety of flavor. It pours a copper color getting darker as it settles from bottle to glass. It’s malty, medium-hoppy taste and silky texture make this beer a slow drinker. With its hints of background citris, it is a perfect beer for a perfect night for baseball. Order a cheesesteak stromboli and pour yourself a glass. – By RC

GO PHILLIES!