Gameday: Phillies (2-3) At Reds (3-2)
Chad Durbin was the goat in a 4-3 loss to the Reds yesterday, but that wasn’t the big story. No, the big story: Adam Eaton has arrived! Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, but his 7.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 4 BB performance was one to be optimistic about.
Still, they lost, which means the Phils need to bounce back and mash the Reds today. It’ll be hard — making his first 2008 start is Edinson Volquez, the 24-year-old right-hander who was acquired by Cincinnati from Texas in the Josh Hamilton trade. Volquez, who is nicknamed “Voltron,” brings a mid-90s fastball and devastating changeup, and has been compared to Pedro Martinez. He had a fine 2007 after a rough ’06, and the Reds are very high on him.
It’ll be up to Brett Myers to beat Volquez. Myers had a bad fifth inning on Opening Day, so he needs to get past that and then some. Offensively, Chase Utley has been a first-week star, and Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard are starting to come around.
Phillies: Brett Myers (0-1), 5.40 ERA
Reds: Edinson Volquez (0-0), 0.00 ERA
Gametime: 1:15 p.m.
Weather: 63 degrees, sunny
Lineup: Rollins/Victorino/Utley/Howard/Burrell/Jenkins/Feliz/Ruiz/Myers
MLB Gameday Audio
MLB Gameday
Your gameday beer: In keeping with the “red” theme this weekend, we’re going north — to Lion Brewery — for a real treat: Pocono Lager. Much like Yuengling, its strong, caramel and malt flavor makes for a nice standard lager. You can almost picture being up in the mountains while sipping this one, which I’d suggest with a juicy roast beef and horseradish sandwich.
Go Phillies!
