Gameday: Phillies (7-2) vs. Nationals (4-5)
Joe Blanton (0-0, 14.54 ERA) vs. Livan Hernandez (0-1, 4.76 ERA)
Time: 7:05, Nationals Park
Weather: Rain, 55
TV: CSN
Twitter: Phillies Nation
Hello, Jayson! The Phillies meet up with Jayson Werth for the first time since, well, just a few months ago when he resided here. So far, things haven’t gone as planned for the $126 million man. Werth is hitting just .200 with one home run this season. He’ll have to step it up a bit as the centerpiece of the Nats lineup, Ryan Zimmerman, is on the DL with an oblique strain.
In the opening 9 games, the Phillies lead the major leagues in batting average, on base percentage and OPS. That could very well continue tonight against Livan Hernandez.
Hernandez will try to slow down the Phillies red hot bats tonight. He’s 11-10 over 27 career starts against the Phils with a 3.60 ERA.
One of the hottest Phillies has been free-swinging Flyin’ Hawaiian, Shane Victorino. Against the Braves, Shane went 9-for-13 and is hitting .417 on the young season.
Joe Blanton will try to forget about his ugly performance a week ago. He gave up seven runs against the Mets in just 4 1/3 innings in his first start of the year. Big Joe hasn’t had a dominating start in…I have no idea. It’s been a while. Maybe good old seven-inning Joe can make an appearance tonight? That would be sweet.
Lineup: Victorino CF, Polanco 3B, Rollins SS, Howard 1B, Francisco RF, Ibanez LF, Ruiz C, Valdez 2B, Blanton P
Tonight we have a gentle offering by Victory. This classic German Witbier is supremely drinkable on any evening, especially a rainy one like today. The flavor is comprised by wheat malt and yeast with notes of orange zest, coriander, and clove. Essentially, it’s another more sophisticated version of Blue Moon, if you fancy those. If you can find some fresh shellfish, like a bushel of crabs, have that with it. – By Brian
GO PHILLIES!
