The Phillies, holders of the worst record in baseball, started the second half of their season strong with a sweep. Sure, it was just the Marlins without Giancarlo Stanton, but a sweep for the 2015 Phillies is a good thing now matter how you splice it. The Phillies had to work hard for it yesterday. After taking a 5-2 lead, the Marlins tied things at five. The Phillies nudged ahead 6-5 before the Marlins scored two in the eighth to make it a 7-6 game. Jeff Francoeur sent the Phillies faithful home happy with a walk-off two-run homer to seal an 8-7 win and a three-game sweep. Tonight, the Phillies welcome in their 2008 World Series opponents, the Tampa Bay Rays, for just the second time since the teams' squared off in the Fall Classic.
Starting Pitching Match-up:
| Tampa Bay Rays (47-47) | Philadelphia Phillies (32-62) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LHP | Matt Moore | RHP | David Buchanan | ||
| 1-0, 7.07 ERA | 0-5, 7.58 ERA | ||||
David Buchanan impressed the Phillies in 2014 with a strong rookie campaign, helping him solidify a spot in the rotation this season. Unfortunately, Buchanan's 2015 campaign didn't start off well. He went 0-5 and allowed 24 earned runs in 24 2/3 innings. A sprained right ankle forced Buchanan to miss some time and he returned to pitch five games with the Ironpigs. He went 2-0 with a 2.96 ERA in those outings, striking out 15 and walking five. He returned to the Phillies rotation on July 11th against the Giants and didn't factor into the decision after the bullpen couldn't hold a lead in the teams' 8-5 loss. Buchanan pitched five innings of one-run ball. He struck out three and walked none.
Rays starter Matt Moore earned his first win since September 29th in his last start. He gave up three runs on five hits in five innings of work as the Rays defeated the Astros, 4-3. Since returning from Tommy John Surgery, Moore has worked with four leads and couldn't hold any of them up until his last start. Jeff Francoeur is 2-for-5 against Moore with a walk and a strikeout.
Starting Lineups:
|
Tampa Bay Rays (47-47) |
Philadelphia Phillies (32-62) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | RF | Grady Sizemore | L | 1 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S |
| 2 | 2B | Logan Forsythe | R | 2 | LF | Ben Revere | L |
| 3 | 3B | Evan Longoria | R | 3 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R |
| 4 | 1B | James Loney | L | 4 | RF | Jeff Francoeur | R |
| 5 | LF | David DeJesus | L | 5 | 1B | Darin Ruf | R |
| 6 | SS | Tim Beckham | R | 6 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S |
| 7 | CF | Kevin Kiermaier | L | 7 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 8 | C | Curt Casali | R | 8 | C | Cameron Rupp | R |
| 9 | P | Matt Moore | L | 9 | P | David Buchanan | R |
Game Notes:
- Only five players remain from the Phillies and Rays rosters from the 2008 World Series matchup. Four of them are Phillies (Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Carlos Ruiz, Cole Hamels) while Evan Longoria is the only one left for the Rays.
- This will be just the eighth time the two teams have met in history, with the Rays holding a 15-11 advantage over the Phillies.
- Grady Sizemore returns to Philadelphia after spending parts of two seasons with the team. Before the Phillies parted ways with him this year, he hit .245 in 104 plate appearances. In 14 games with the Rays, he's hitting just .204 (10-for-49) with two homers and seven RBI's.
- The Phillies are 4-6 in Interleague play this season. The Rays are 6-3.
- The Rays starting pitchers have a combined 3.38 ERA, good for second in the American League.
- Since June 3rd, Ben Revere is hitting .367 and has a .299 average on the season.
- Ryan Howard is currently on pace for 28 home runs and 83 RBI's.
Broadcast Information:
Gametime: 7:05pm EST
Location: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA
Weather: 89 degrees, partly cloudy, 13% chance of rain
TV: CSN
Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Sp.)
Brandon Apter, Publishing Editor for Philliedelphia.com
