Washington Nationals (14-14) at Philadelphia Phillies (18-9)
Livan Hernandez (3-2, 3.23 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (3-1, 3.13 ERA)
Time: 7:05, Citizens Bank Park
Weather: 78
TV: CSN
Twitter: Phillies Nation
As the Phillies barely made it out of Arizona and lost a tough one to the Mets in 14 innings, they finished off the week playing .500 ball.
For the visiting Nationals they will be trying to get over the .500 hump tonight against the Phils. Too bad for the Nats, they have only won nine times in 36 games playing at Citizens Bank Park. They’ve lost four in a row on the road against the Phillies.
Cole Hamels is on the mound tonight pitching on normal rest but in Roy Oswalt’s spot in the rotation. Oswalt took some personal time from the team to check on his family during the deadly tornados that hit near his home in Mississippi last week. Roy #2 should be back Thursday to throw a bullpen session to get back on track.
Hamels has faired well against Washington going 9-3 with a 2.73 ERA in 115.1 innings. He will be facing off against a pitcher who been pretty stingy with the runs this season as well. In his last start against the Phillies, Livan Hernandez gave up only one run, a Ryan Howard homer, in 6 2/3 innings. Howard has five hits against the righty, three of those being home runs. Placido Polanco, who just plain hits, is hitting .365 against Hernandez and will look to extend his 11 game hit streak tonight. He is hitting .429 during the streak.
Charlie Manuel has stirred the pot once again with his line up. Jimmy Rollins will be back in the lead off spot tonight with Polanco falling back to the three spot. Having Polly there will give him more RBI chances and will enable the Phillies to capitalize on more scoring chances.
Lineup: Rollins SS, Victorino CF, Polanco 3B, Howard 1B, Francisco RF, Ibanez LF, Orr 2B, Schneider C, Hamels P
Your Gameday Beer – Whirlwind Witbier
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!
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