Gameday: Phillies (28-22) at Braves (29-22)
Cole Hamels (5-3, 3.82) vs. Tim Hudson (5-1, 2.24)
Time: 7:10, Turner Field
Weather: Cloudy, Iso T-Storms, 66
TV: Comcast SportsNet/ESPN
Twitter: @philliesnation
Some ugly offensive facts for you to dwell on: The Phillies haven’t scored more than three runs in nine straight games. They haven’t hit a home run in seven games. In those 13 games, the Phils are 4-9 and are hitting .182 as a unit. Absolutely horrific figures that haven’t been seen since the late 80’s and into the 90’s when this Phils team was a laughingstock.
Cole Hamels has been one of the few bright spots as of late for this club, going 2-1 in his last three starts. He’s had three consecutive quality starts after an up and down start to his 2010 campaign. Hamels has had some success against this division rival, going 8-2 with a 3.70 ERA in 13 career starts. However, he’s had trouble against Chipper Jones and Brian McCann (who hasn’t). Larry is batting .409 lifetime off the lefty, the great catcher is batting .370 in his career against Cole.
Some injury updates across the board here: J.A. Happ will throw a couple of innings on Thursday and if it goes well he’ll make a rehab start on Tuesday. Placido Polanco got a cortisone shot in his ailing elbow yesterday, he should be back by tomorrow at the earliest, Friday at the latest. Jimmy Rollins is slightly behind schedule in his rehabilitation. His calf is still a bit tight according to Ruben Amaro, so he won’t come off the DL on Sunday, however, it shouldn’t be much longer than that, so says the GM.
Going out on a limb for tonight – I’m saying the Phils mash four homers and score 13 runs to break the streak. Feel free to belittle me in the comments below.
Phillies Lineup: Victorino CF, Valdez SS, Utley 2B, Howard 1B, Werth RF, Ibanez LF, Castro 3B, Ruiz C, Hamels P
Your gameday beer: Ayinger Brau-Weisse
Ayinger Br�u-Weisse pours a very light, golden color, and has a standard citrus and floral taste. The beer is slightly bland and is very dry, almost like champagne. It’s not hard to drink by any means. Ayinger, however, rarely disappoints. And it comes in a cool bottle, so there’s that.
Go Phillies!
