Photo: Philliedelphia/Andrew Gillen
Tonight, the Phillies California trip will roll into San Francisco for their annual trip to AT&T Park. Following the two-game sweep at the hands of Anaheim, Philadelphia will have their best chance at a rebound in tonight's game. Their ace, Cole Hamels, takes to the mound in the ten o'clock contest. These two teams faced off four times just a few weeks back, and have a pretty nice idea of what to expect from their opponent. San Francisco won three of the four games, including a fourteen inning marathon, to steal the series in Citizens Bank Park. There will only be three games played in this set following the Phillies off day. They'll have to battle Madison Bumgarner in the opener.
In the last thirty days of major league baseball, Cole Hamels has been one of, if not, the best pitcher across the nation. Of the top ten pitchers in Wins Above Replacement in that time, no hurler has had a better five-game stretch. In those last five games (including one against San Francisco), the left-hander has gone at least seven innings while surrendering one earned run or less in every one of them. And, in his last start in AT&T Park, Cole was dominant as well. Almost three years ago to the day, Hamels tossed a complete game, one-run performance against the Giants. The scenario is set for Hamels to move his streak to six straight games.
Should Madison Bumgarner join Cole Hamels in repeating his last performance against each other's team, fans are in for a world of small ball. Four starts ago, Bumgarner went eight innings of shutout baseball against the Phillies, and led his team to victory. After he got hit around the Pittsburgh Pirates in his next game, Madison completed seventeen total innings of work against the New York Mets and Kansas City Royals to the tune of three total runs allowed. My bet is we see a low-scoring game this evening.
Game Notes
- After he received a bit of scrutiny for sitting him, Ryne Sandberg has put Darin Ruf back into the starting lineup. Ruf played well in Monday and Tuesday's games, collecting three hits in seven plate appearances against New York and Anaheim. He had a home run and two RBIs.
- The Phillies did not see Angel Pagan in the most recent series, as the outfielder returned from the disabled list on August 7th. Since that game, Pagan has had a hit in each of his appearances. He is 8-for-28 with a run, a stolen base, and two RBIs in six games.
- San Francisco had lost five straight ballgames before splitting their two game series with the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday. They sit 5.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West stadings.
Phillies Lineup
- Ben Revere CF
- Jimmy Rollins SS
- Chase Utley 2B
- Ryan Howard 1B
- Marlon Byrd RF
- Carlos Ruiz C
- Darin Ruf LF
- Cody Asche 3B
- Cole Hamels P
Giants Lineup
- Angel Pagan CF
- Hunter Pence RF
- Buster Posey C
- Pablo Sandoval 3B
- Michael Morse LF
- Adam Duvall 1B
- Joe Panik 2B
- Brandon Crawford SS
- Madison Bumgarner P
Weather: 63°F – Clear – 0% PoP
Location: AT&T Park, San Francisco, California
Game Time: 10:15 PM Eastern
Andrew Gillen, Managing Editor of Philliedelphia.com
