NEW URL!! www.philliespheverblog.blogspot.com

This blog originally started off under Blogspot but I moved it because Yardbarker had a better look and offered less but better features. However it has been really slow, features have been taken away, and customization options are very poor. I hate to move it again but it really is frustrating at this point. Also, Yardbarker blogs do not include "www." in their URLs so it was hard to find and confusing for some people. Therefore, I am moving the blog back to Blogspot where things will be a lot better. I have a lot of new ideas too that I will begin posting tomorrow.

See you at .blogspot!

NEW URL!! www.philliespheverblog.blogspot.com

Game Info: 7:05 on CSN and 1210 AM

Starting Pitchers: Moyer (5-3, 4.30) vs. Dickey (0-0, 3.00)

Game one of a nine game NL East roadtrip is tonight in Flushing against the Mets. This will be only the fourth meeting with the Mets this season. The Phillies won two games of a three game series in Philadelphia back in late April/early May. Entering the series, the Phils are five games up on the Mets who sit in last place. This series is the last time the two teams will play each other until August.

Jamie Moyer, who has finished with a decision in every start so far, has won three of his last four starts and really should've won all four. The one loss came in his last outing at home against the Cubs when the offense only put up one run. Jamie gave up two on four hits over seven innings with as many strikeouts. He pitched game three of the first series, going six, giving up five runs on six hits but still picked up the win. Moyer also had a Myers-like at-bat where he drew a walk against one of the best left handed pitchers in baseball. Victorino followed the walk with a grand slam. He's 7-4 in his career against the Mets.

On the mound for the Mets is knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, the second straight knuckleballer the Phillies will have to face. Dickey is taking Jon Niese's spot in the rotation as he recovers from a right hamstring strain. He's appeared in one game at the MLB level in 2010 which was a start at Washington on May 19th. He didn't factor into the decision after pitching six innings and allowing two runs. The Phillies couldn't hit Tim Wakefield on Sunday so it will be interesting to see whether or not Dickey can continue to beat them with a knuckleball or if the Phillies are used to it now. Dickey has never faced the Phillies.

Only six Phillies players on the active roster have faced Dickey in their careers. Dickey spent his first seven years with the Rangers, Mariners, and Twins, so it's no surprise that the six Phillies have a history of playing in the AL. Polanco has the best stats against him, hitting .364 in 11 at-bats with two RBIs. Ibanez, Francisco, Gload, Schneider, and Dobbs are the other five who have hit against Dickey.

Weather Forecast: 77, sunny, 0% chance of rain, wind 9 MPH out to LF

Season Series: Phillies lead 2-1

• 4/30: vs. Mets, L 9-1
• 5/1: vs. Mets, W 10-0
• 5/2: vs. Mets, W 11-5
• 5/25: @ Mets, --
• 5/26: @ Mets, --
• 5/27: @ Mets, --
• 8/6: vs. Mets, --
• 8/7: vs. Mets, --
• 8/8: vs. Mets, --
• 8/13: @ Mets, --
• 8/14: @ Mets, --
• 8/15: @ Mets, --
• 9/10: @ Mets, --
• 9/11: @ Mets, --
• 9/12: @ Mets, --
• 9/24: vs. Mets, --
• 9/25: vs. Mets, --
• 9/26: vs. Mets, --

The toughest part of the Phillies schedule begins at the worst possible time. It seems the offense is in the beginning of its annual slump and key injuries are starting to hurt the team. Still the Phils have a 3.5 game lead over the Braves and own the second best record in all of baseball. Starting with the Mets, the Phils play nine straight road games against NL East opponents. This is a good chance for the Phillies to pull away from the division but also a good chance for the other teams to gain ground.

May 25-27 at Mets
The Phillies have only played the Mets three times this season, winning two of three in Philadelphia. The Mets are in the middle of another disappointing season although I don't think anyone had high expectations for the team. Manager Jerry Manuel is getting closer and closer to being fired and Mets fans are starting to go after GM Omar Minaya like Phils fans got Ed Wade fired. Injuries to 2B Luis Castillo, SP John Maine, 1B Daniel Murphy, and SP Jonathon Niese have hurt the team. We're getting them at a bad time though, the Mets are coming off a series win over the Yankees and are also entering the important part of their schedule.

Leaders
AVG: Jason Bay, .307
HR: Rod Barajas, 10
RBI: David Wright, 33
W: Mike Pelfrey, 6
K: Johan Santana, 49
SV: Francisco Rodriguez, 8

Pitching Match-Ups
Tuesday: Moyer (5-3, 4.30) vs. Dickey (0-0. 3.00)
Wednesday: Blanton (1-2, 5.06) vs. Takahashi (3-1, 2.53)
Thursday: Hamels (5-2, 3.92) vs. Pelfrey (6-1, 2.86)

Prediction: Phillies win two of three

May 28-30 at Marlins
Like the Mets, the Phils have only played the Fish three times in 2010. Florida took two of three from the Phils back in April in Philly. No one is injured for the Marlins other than SS Hanley Ramirez who is day-to-day with a sore left ankle and still recovering mentally from his lack of hustle last week. They have been in second and third place most of the season and have won six of their last ten.

Leaders
AVG: Cody Ross, .309
HR: Dan Uggla, 12
RBI: Jorge Cantu, 34
W: Josh Johnson, 5
K: Josh Johnson, 63
SV: Leo Nunez, 9

Pitching Match-Ups
Friday: Kendrick (2-2, 5.66) vs. Volstad (3-5, 4.31)
Saturday: Halladay (6-3, 2.22) vs. Johnson (5-1, 2.43)
Sunday: TBD

Prediction: Marlins win two of three

May 31-June 2 at Braves
The roadtrip wraps up in Atlanta, a team the Phillies are 4-2 against so far. LF Matt Diaz and SP Jair Jurrjens are both on the DL and will miss this series. The Braves were really struggling to start the season and sat in last place for a long time. They were expected to contend with the Phillies atop the division and they are starting to catch up. They've moved all the way up to second place by winning seven of their last ten.

Leaders
AVG: Martin Prado, .306
HR: Jason Heyward, 9
RBI: Jason Heyward, 33
W: Derek Lowe, 6
K: Tommy Hanson, 58
SV: Billy Wagner, 5

Pitching Match-Ups all TBD

Prediction: We can't miss Lowe, Hudson, and Hanson...hard to say without seeing the matchups but I'll go with Phils winning two of three.

After going 0-8 in three games with the IronPigs, Brian Schneider was activated by the Phils replacing Paul Hoover as the backup catcher. Hoover was designated for assignment but must clear waivers before returning to Lehigh Valley. He hit .278 with two RBIs in six games (five starts) while he filled in for Schneider and Ruiz. The odds of him clearing waivers are not good with a few NL teams in need of a backup catcher. Just taking a quick look at the other NL rosters, here are some possible destinations for Hoover:

• Marlins
• Nationals
• Brewers
• Dodgers

Three game series with the Mets starts tomorrow!

Game Info: 1:35 on MyPhl17 and 1210 AM

Pitching Match Up: Wakefield (0-2, 5.31) vs. Halladay (6-2, 1.64)

A night after the Phillies were one hit by Dice-K and lost to the Red Sox 5-0, the Phils send ace Roy Halladay to the mound looking to win the series. Doc has plenty of experience against the Red Sox, he has a career 14-14 record and 4.28 ERA vs. Boston. Keep in mind however that he didn't always receive a lot of run support from the Blue Jays. Then again the Phils haven't been helping him lately.

Tim Wakefield's knuckleball takes the hill for Boston looking to get his first win of the year. He's 1-1 with a 3.10 ERA vs. Philly in his career. David Ortiz is out of the lineup today.

Red Sox
1. Ellsbury, CF
2. Pedroia, 2B
3. Martinez, C
4. Youkilis, 1B
5. Drew, RF
6. Beltre, 3B
7. Hermida, LF
8. Scutaro, SS
9. Wakefield, SP

Weird lineup for the Phillies today:
1. Vic, CF
2. Dobbs. 3B
3. Uts, 2B
4. Howard, 1B
5. Werth, RF
6. Raul, LF
7. Castro, SS
8. Hoover, C
9. Doc, SP

Game Info: 7:10 on FOX and 1210 AM

Starting Pitchers: Matsuzaka (2-1, 7.89) vs. Kendrick (2-1, 5.24)

In a special primetime FOX broadcast, the Phillies and Red Sox continue their three game series in a game which should feature a lot of offense. The Phillies won game one behind a strong effort from Cole Hamels who pitched 7 innings, allowing only one run. Werth and Howard both hit home runs, Werth's landing in the second deck in left field.

Kyle Kendrick takes the hill for the Phils looking to get his ERA below five. Kendrick has pitched well in the month of May which has improved his record to 2-1. Last time out, he faced Pittsburgh and allowed only two runs through eight innings. Lifetime against the Red Sox however, things don't look so good. Kyle is 0-2 with a 16.20 ERA in his career against Boston.

For the Sox, Daisuke Matsuzaka will be making only his fifth start of the season. Dice-K has allowed five or more runs in three of his four starts so far and his ERA sits at 7.89. He only pitched 4.1 innings Monday against the Yankees giving up seven runs on nine hits. His numbers against the Phils aren't very impressive either, Dice-K has a 9.00 ERA lifetime vs. the Phils.

Weather Forecast: 73, partly cloudy, 20% chance of rain, winds 12 MPH out to left

Injury Update: Rollins left last night's game with a right calf strain, the same injury that kept him out for a month. This one is only "mild" however and his current status is day-to-day. The Phillies say they will know more this afternoon. No roster move has been made yet.

Werth was 2 for 4 with a HR and 2 RBIs (Getty Images)

Cole Hamels appears to be back to 2008 form. He dominated the Red Sox lineup on Friday night, pitching seven innings of one-run ball while giving up three hits on the way to a victory. Cole's only mistake was giving Victor Martinez a pitch right down the middle of the plate that he sent into the seats in left in the first inning. The win improves his record to 5-2 and lowered his ERA to 3.92. Cole also struck out eight Red Sox batters.

Jayson Werth continued to give the Phillies reasons to re-sign him with two hits on the night including a long home run in the 5th that landed in the first row of the second deck in left field. I've watched a large majority of the games played so far in the history of Citizens Bank Park and I don't remember more than maybe one other HR to reach that second deck. Ryan Howard gives more reasons why re-signing him was a good idea as he moved closer to Del Ennis on the all-time Phils HR list with a 4th inning solo home run to left. Ryan, now hitting .310 on the season, also added an RBI in the 6th when he drove in Juan Castro from third. Shane Victorino continued his good season drawing two walks and driving in Werth after JD Drew failed to catch Werth's fly ball in right.

The bad news is that SS Jimmy Rollins, in his fifth game back from a month long DL stint, appeared to have re-injured his right calf after a base hit to right in the 6th. When JRoll got to first, he immediatley took himself out of the game and Castro took over the rest of the way. Wilson Valdez cleared waivers today and accepted an assignment to Lehigh Valley but he probably will turn right back around and head south because this doesn't look good. I expect Jimmy to head back to the DL and it might be awhile until we see him out there again.

The three game series resumes tomorrow night at 7:10 as Dice-K faces Kyle Kendrick on a special primetime FOX broadcast.

Schedule: Friday at 7:05 (Lackey vs. Hamels) - Saturday at 7:10 (DiceK vs. Kendrick) - Sunday at 1:35 (Wakefield vs. Halladay)

In what I'm sure many Boston fans mistakingly think is a preview of the 2010 World Series, the Red Sox come into Philly for the first interleague series of the season. This series is also the beginning of a very tough stretch of games for the Phils. After Boston, the Phillies head up to New York and then down to Florida, and then to Atlanta, followed by a home series with first place San Diego, then the Fish again, then the Sox AGAIN in Beantown, then the Yankees in the Bronx, the Twins at home....wow this will be an interesting next month for the team. Usually, they explode around the second week of June so I'm not worried. The slump they are in now is something the team goes through every season no matter who is on the team.

The Red Sox head into Philadelphia with a three game winning streak which is more impressive when you see they took a game from the Yanks and beat the Twins twice. However they are playing very poorly to start the season and sit 8.5 games behind the first place Rays. In my opinion, the great Red Sox run is over but this isn't a Red Sox blog so let's look at the team as of this weekend.

Despite the second worst pitching staff in the American League, the Red Sox are two games over .500. Not surprisingly, Kevin Youkilis leads the team in batting average at .324. 3B Adrian Beltre is batting .316 with 3 homers and 22 RBIs after he signed as a free agent in the offseason. David Ortiz will move from DH to 1B for this series. The Sox will be without outfielders Mike Cameron and Jacoby Ellsbury who are both on the 15-day DL. Josh Beckett will also miss this series so Phillies batters don't have to worry about any head hunting.

Tonight's pitching matchup is even with Lackey facing Hamels. Tomorrow's matchup favors Boston I guess with Dice-K facing Kendrick and Halladay tops Wakefield on Sunday. This is a great weekend to break out of the offensive slump and get closer to .500 all time vs. the Red Sox. Right now the series record stands at 22-14 in favor of Boston.

Tonight's Forecast: 85, partly cloudy, 10% chance of rain, winds 6 MPH out to left

Season Series: 0-0

• 5/21: vs. Red Sox --
• 5/22: vs. Red Sox --
• 5/23: vs. Red Sox --
• 6/11: at Red Sox --
• 6/12: at Red Sox --
• 6/13: at Red Sox --

Probable Boston Starters
C - Victor Martinez (.248, 5 HR, 19 RBI)
1B - David Ortiz (.248, 8, 21)
2B - Dustin Pedroia (.281, 8, 25)
SS - Marco Scutaro (.267, 2, 7)
3B - Adrian Beltre (.316, 3, 22)
LF - Jeremy Hermida (.228, 4, 22)
CF - Darnell McDonald (.264, 3, 11)
RF - JD Drew (.271, 6, 27)
Closer - Jonathan Papelbon (1-3, 3.15, 10 for 11 SV opp)

Friday SP - John Lackey (4-2, 4.86)
Saturday SP - Daisuke Matsuzaka (2-1, 7.89)
Sunday SP - Tim Wakefield (0-2, 5.31)

Ryan Howard moved closer to Del Ennis on the all time Phillies Home Run leaderboard on Monday night in grand fashion. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 8th inning and former Phillie Jack Taschner on the mound, Ryan hit a grand slam into the bushes in center field for his 229th career home run. He now sits 30 home runs behind Ennis and the second spot on the all time Phillies home run list.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Tonight's Lineup
1. Victorino, CF
2. Polanco, 3B
3. Utley, 2B
4. Howard, 1B
5. Werth, RF
6. Ibanez, LF
7. Rollins, SS
8. Ruiz, C
9. Moyer, SP

Game Info: 7:05 on MyPhl17 and 1210 AM

Starting Pitchers: Tom Gorzelanny (1-4, 3.60) vs. Jamie Moyer (5-2, 4.57)

The night after a bad 2-1 loss to the Pirates, the Phillies begin a short two game series with the Cubs. The Cubs come in winners of three straight but still in the midst of yet another disappointing season. Ace Carlos Zambrano was pitching so poorly that manager Lou Pinella moved him into the set-up role in the bullpen. Pinella's job may not be safe either but odds are he will at least finish the season before anything happens. The good news for the Cubs is that left fielder Alfonso Soriano is finally starting to hit and SS Ryan Theriot is batting .319. In fact the Cubs have four starters batting over .300 for the season: former Phillie Marlon Byrd (.340), Soriano (.320), Theriot (.319), and RF Kosuke Fukudome (.313). As a team, the Cubs are 4th in the NL in average at .270, the Phillies are first at .278.

Jamie Moyer will be the first to face the Cubs lineup tonight as he looks for his sixth win of 2010. Moyer has had two straight good starts which has lowered his ERA from 5.70 to 4.57. He has picked up a win in three straight starts. Jamie, who started his career with the Cubs in 1986, is 3-1 against the Cubs in his career with a 4.86 ERA.

On the mound for the Cubs is Tom Gorzelanny who may have the best picture on his player bio that I've seen so far.

Kind of reminds me of Dracula...

Gorzelanny's ERA has risen progressivley since his first start. In his last start, he pitched five innings against the Pirates, giving up five runs on nine hits. He's allowed exactly as many hits as innings pitched (40 & 40). In his career, he is 0-1 against the Phils.

Weather Forecast: 69 degrees, partly cloudy, 20% chance of rain, winds 7 MPH in from left

Probable Cubs Starters
C - Geovany Soto (.298, 4 HR, 10 RBI)
1B - Derrek Lee (.229, 4 HR, 17 RBI)
2B - Ryan Theriot (.319, 0 HR, 14 RBI)
SS - Starlin Castro (.350, 1 HR, 8 RBI)
3B - Aramis Ramirez (.171, 4 HR, 20 RBI)
LF - Alfonso Soriano (.320, 7 HR, 23 RBI)
CF - Marlon Byrd (.340, 7 HR, 25 RBI)
RF - Kosuke Fukudome (.313, 5 HR, 20 RBI)
Closer - Carlos Marmol (1-0, 1.37, 6 for 8 SV opp.)