Categories: Gameday 2009Posts

Gameday: Phillies (8-8) At Marlins (11-6)

Philadelphia Phillies (8-8) at Florida Marlins (11-6)
Jamie Moyer (2-1, 6.35 ERA) vs. Graham Taylor

Time: 12:10 p.m. at Dolphin Stadium, Miami.
Weather: Windy, 79
TV: MyPhl 17, TBS
Twitter: Phillies Nation

Two ninth-inning comebacks, two wins over the Marlins. The Phillies can now sweep the Fish at Dolphin Stadium with a win today against a rookie. Jamie Moyer takes the hill, and his almost flawless record against Florida will be put to the test.

Moyer lost his first contest to the Marlins last season, but overall he is 11-1 with a 2.95 ERA for his career against Florida. Chalk that up to inexperience on behalf of the Marlins, but this team is the real deal offensively. And they have hit Moyer — Hanley Ramirez has scorched Moyer at .355 with four homers; Jorge Cantu is hitting .319 against him.

Meanwhile, Graham Taylor is making his major league debut. Taylor is a slow thrower with amazing control, a la Moyer. He attempts to paint corners and usually succeeds — he walked only 66 in 420.2 innings of minor league baseball. He’s the kind of starter the Phils might have trouble against.

One nice note: The Phils bullpen again was superb Saturday, as Chad Durbin, Scott Eyre, Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge combined for three innings of three-hit, two-walk, scoreless ball.

Your gameday beer: It’s summer, suddenly. We’re hitting 90 degrees on this Sunday afternoon, and the barbecues will be blazing all day. Meanwhile, our world champs will be on the tube, fighting for an over .500 record yet again. Drink down Southern Tier’s Hop Sun, their summer drink of choice. Light with a touch bitterness, it’s buoyed by a lace of citrus in the pour. It’s perfect with some grilled chicken. Get to it, sunshine, make us feel alright.

Go Phillies!

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.