Philadelphia, PA – For the first time since May 21, 1972, the Philadelphia Phillies (50-76) have lost seven consecutive games against the New York Mets (69-56).
Tonight in the third game of the series, the Phillies will send rookie right hander Jerad Eickhoff to the mound for his home debut with aspirations of snapping that skid against their division rivals, and also to avoid their 25th series defeat of the season.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| New York Mets (69-56) | Philadelphia Phillies (50-76) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Bartolo Colon | RHP | Jerad Eickhoff | ||
| (10-11, 4.90 ERA) | (1-0, 0.00 ERA) | ||||
Colon, 42, is 3-1 with a 3.96 ERA and a 1.240 WHIP ratio over four career starts at Citizens Bank Park.
The 18-year veteran has thrown 14 quality starts this season out of 24 overall, receiving a run support average of 3.5 per contest from the Mets' offense.
Over four starts in the month of August, 25 1/3 innings, Colon has surrendered 13 runs on 30 hits, four walks and five home runs.
Eickhoff, 25, threw six shutout innings on five hits and one walk in his major league debut against the Miami Marlins on August 21.
In doing so, the right hander became the first Phillies starting pitcher to throw a scoreless outing in big-league debut since Cole Hamels in May of 2006 against the Cincinnati Reds. Ironically, Hamels was one of the players the Phillies dealt to the Texas Rangers in acquiring Eickhoff.
The rookie helped his own cause at the plate as well in his debut, making just the second professional at-bat of his career. Eickhoff hit a two-run single to left field in the top of the fourth to give the Phillies a 4-0 lead in opposition of Kendry Flores.
Eickhoff became just the second major league pitcher since 1920 to toss a scoreless debut while driving in two or more runs. Also, he was the first Phillies starter in franchise history to have a multi-RBI performance, and the first Phillie to win and record an RBI in his debut since 1972.
Starting Lineups:
| New York Mets (69-56) | Philadelphia Phillies (50-76) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TBA | Position | Player | Bats | ||||
| 1 | 1 | 2B | Darnell Sweeney | S | |||
| 2 | 2 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S | |||
| 3 | 3 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L | |||
| 4 | 4 | 1B | Ryan Howard | L | |||
| 5 | 5 | 3B | Andres Blanco | S | |||
| 6 | 6 | LF | Cody Asche | L | |||
| 7 | 7 | C | Cameron Rupp | R | |||
| 8 | 8 | RF | Domonic Brown | L | |||
| 9 | 9 | P | Jerad Eickhoff | R | |||
Game Notes:
- Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard is 4-19 lifetime against Colon with two home runs, one walk and seven runs-batted-in. Howard has five extra-base hits over his last four games (three doubles, two home runs).
- Over his last 10 games, Phillies utility infielder Cesar Hernandez is batting just .140/.229/.163 with six hits, five walks and 12 strikeouts over 49 plate-appearances.
- Having won 50 out of 126 games thus far (.397), the Phillies are currently projected to finish the season with a record of 64-98.
Broadcast Information:
- First-pitch: 7:05 pm EST
- TV: CSN
- Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, WTTM 1680 (Sp.)
What's Next:
- Thursday, August 27, 2015: vs. New York Mets, 7:05 pm
- LHP Jon Niese (8-9, 3.80 ERA) vs. RHP Aaron Harang (5-14, 4.67 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, WTTM 1680 (Sp.)
Matt Rappa (@mattrappasports) is managing editor of Philliedelphia.com.
