Last night was nothing short of disappointing for the Phillies and their fans. For starters, the matchup featured two teams with no chance to punch their ticket into the offseason, leading to very little excitement on either side of the ball. Then, Andrew Cashner was able to go the distance and hold the the Philly batters to just two measly singles and no real sustainable string of baseruners. An error at third base by Cody Asche was the only run-creating play. Now, the Phillies and Padres will go into their final three games of the series each seeking an offensive improvement.
To say that A.J. Burnett's 2014 season has been one of his worst is, well, pretty accurate. Only during his time in New York with the Yankees has Burnett been as big of a letdown. While his FIP currently rests a considerable amount lower than his ERA, Burnett his still allowing baserunners at an alarming rate. He continues to lead the majors in free passes allowed, and is consistently failing to hold those runners on base. Another three walks and seven base hits led the veteran down the wrong path once more against the Pirates. When the Padres came to Philadelphia earlier this season, Burnett tossed just over seven innings en route to a victory.
Ian Kennedy joined the Padres rotation in the middle of the season last year after being traded from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Kennedy is having his best year since 2011, when he went 21-4 with a sub-3.00 ERA. While his numbers aren't quite as low, Kennedy is having his first run at an ERA under 4.00 since that Cy Young caliber campaign. He is also on the verge of a 3.0 WAR and hold a FIP of 3.08, over a full half run lower than his current ERA. Kennedy did face the Phillies earlier this season, going seven innings and allowing five earned runs in a loss.
Phillies Lineup
- Tony Gwynn Jr. CF
- Cody Asche 3B
- Chase Utley 2B
- Ryan Howard 1B
- Grady Sizemore RF
- Domonic Brown LF
- Cameron Rupp C
- Freddy Galvis SS
- A.J. Burnett P
Padres Lineup
- Corey Spangenberg 2B
- Will Venable CF
- Yangervis Solarte 3B
- Yasmani Grandal 1B
- Rene Rivera C
- Jake Goebbert LF
- Alexi Amarista SS
- Rymer Liriano
- Ian Kennedy P
Andrew Gillen, Managing Editor of Philliedelphia.com
