Gameday: Phillies (6-6) vs. Reds (5-7)
Cliff Lee (2-0, 1.08) vs. Bronson Arroyo (1-1, 5.25)
Time: 7:10 pm, Great American Ballpark
TV: ESPN, PHL 17
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 68
Media: Twitter and Facebook
First, let us send out thoughts and prayers to the people who may have been affected by the heinous bombings at the Boston Marathon. We certainly hope that if you have friends or family in the area that they are safe and accounted for. After this tragic event, baseball will be played. Jonathan Papelbon: “I used to live right above where one of the bombs went off.” So sad.
The Phillies will start a set with the Reds, who look a lot like the Phillies in the early going – a team with a capable offense hurt by a lack of competent pitching. One hitter the Phillies will have to keep a close eye on is Joey Votto. The former MVP is lacking power numbers, but more than making up for them in terms of doing everything he can to not make outs. Going into the game, Votto has 20 walks and 10 strikeouts. His batting average is .289. His on-base percentage is an obnoxious .542. Just silly.
Not only will Cliff Lee have his hands full there, but he’ll have to deal with Shin-Soo Choo, who is off to a hot start as the Reds new leadoff hitter. Choo has posted a 1.088 OPS through the first 12 games.
The Phillies hitters will get a chance to tee off on Bronson Arroyo, a guy they’ve had success with. The lanky righty is just 2-7 with a 6.55 ERA in his career against the Phillies.
Good news: Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Domonic Brown, and Michael Young are batting a combined .340 with seven doubles and four homers against Arroyo, according to our own Corey Seidman.
Also good: Freddy Galvis sticking in the lineup at his third position in three days. This is fantastic, as they’re able to give their aging vets a breather.
LINEUP: Revere CF, Galvis 2B, Rollins SS, Howard 1B, Young 3B, Brown LF, Nix RF, Kratz C, Lee P
Had a large bottle of this over the weekend and fell in love with it again. It’s creamy and seductive, yet extremely smooth. It has a bite to it at over 7.0% ABV. It’ll go well with a plate of cheese and meat, so head to DiBruno bros. before the game.
GO PHILS!
