Gameday: Phillies (9-14) at Mets (10-10)
Kyle Kendrick (1-1, 3.28) vs. Dillon Gee (1-3, 5.95)
TIME: 7:05, Citi Field
TV: PHL 17
Weather: 60’s, partly cloudy
Media: Twitter and Facebook
The Phillies are coming off a disappointing series against the Pirates where they won a game started by Jonathan Pettibone, but lost the three started by Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay, and Cliff Lee.
Tonight, they will send Kyle Kendrick to the mound, and he’s had a surprisingly good year (for Kyle Kendrick standards). He has been the Phils second best started behind Cliff Lee, and, if you watch him pitch, you can just feel his confidence on the mound. And he’s not just getting lucky, either. He’s making good pitches in tight spots and not backing down.
For the Mets, Dillon Gee will get the start, and he has an ERA up near six, in part because a terrible start against the Phils on April 9. He gave up seven runs in three innings that night, and gave up more hits (10) than outs (9).
However, he’s coming off a solid start against the Nationals where he did not surrender a single run (and only three hits) in five and two-thirds innings. Still, he has not had much success against the Phillies in his career.
The key for this Phillies offense is patience. As Corey Seidman points out, the Mets are a much more patient team. That is certainly a contributing factor to the difference in records between the two teams. For the Phillies offense to get it going against Gee, they need to work the count and force him into a high pitch count.
Tonight’s lineup is missing the slumping Ben Revere for the second straight game. John Mayberry Jr will play CF with Laynce Nix in right.
Lineup: Rollins SS, Utley 2B, Young 3B, Howard 1B, Brown LF, Mayberry CF, Nix RF, Kratz C, Kendrick P
Your gameday beer: Brooklyn Pennant Ale ’55
Go Phillies!
