Gameday: Marlins (70-68) at Phillies (80-60)
Florida Marlins (70-68) at Philadelphia Phillies (80-60)
Time: 7:05 at Citizens Bank Park
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Weather: Sunny, 80
Twitter: @philliesnation
You often hear “the best defense is a good offense” and the best thing the Phillies could do to retain their first place status is to keep on winning – put the Braves in the rearview and just keep rolling.
As always with Cole Hamels, the offense needs to produce. Today a .500 record is on the line for King Cole, a stat he surely deserves to go alongside his 3.18 ERA. That ERA breaks down further to 2.16 and 2.79 clips in July and August respectively. As you may recall, Cole didn’t allow a run in his last start on Sept 3rd which bumped his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 18. The lefty has had success against Marlins hitters individually, but he sports a just 2-7 record versus them in his career.
Andrew Miller will take to the hill for the Marlins and is coming off his first win in over a year. After starting the season in AAA, he found his way into the rotation after Ricky Nolasco went down with an injury three weeks ago. Chase Utley (.308 in 13 ABs) and Shane Victorino (.529 in 17 ABs), particularly, have had success against the 25-year-old lefty.
Technically the Phillies have a chance to sweep the Fish with a win tonight since this series started with Game 2 on Monday.
LINEUP: Victorino CF, Polanco 3B, Utley 2B, Howard 1B, Rollins SS, Ibanez LF, Werth RF, Ruiz C, Hamels P
Tonight’s selection comes to us from Fire Island, NY, that crazy place off Long Island where cars are prohibited. And it is this quirky phenomenon that give us the name of the beer since red wagons are what locals use to transport goods around the island. Ah, simple times call for a simple beer. This golden beer is balanced with floral and fruity hops and is perfect for a September evening. Have it with some grilled pork chops.
GO PHILLIES!
