By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Staff 
PHILADELPHIA – After a day filled with heavy rain, the Phillies will take on the San Diego Padres in a traditional double header. The Phillies offense showed up to the second half on Friday with a strong showing, scoring 11 runs. They will look to continue that strong start in today’s double-header.
Game 1 Starting Pitching Matchup:
| San Diego Padres (40-60) | Philadelphia Phillies (54-42) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Tyson Ross | RHP | Nick Pivetta | ||
| (5-8, 4.32 ERA) | (6-7, 4.58 ERA) | ||||
RHP Tyson Ross, Age: 31
- 2018 vs. PHI: N/A
- Career vs. PHI: 0-2, 4.76 ERA, 5 G, 3 GS, 17 IP, 15 H, 9 R, 9 ER, 0 HR, 4 BB, 18 SO, 1.118 WHIP
- Career at Citizens Bank Park: 0-1, 7.04 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 7 1/3 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 HR, 3 BB, 9 SO, 1.565 WHIP
The brother of Washington Nationals starter Joe Ross, Tyson was drafted in the second round of the 2008 MLB draft by the San Diego Padres and moved through the system quickly. He made his debut with the club at the start of the 2010 season.
Ross was a rather effective pitcher from 2010 to 2015, posting a 3.57 ERA with 628 stikeouts to just 270 walks across 665 and a third innings. He has not been the same pitcher since then as he suffered a season ending injury on Opening Day of 2016 and had to have a rib removed. Since returning from that surgery, Ross has posted a 5.59 ERA with 138 stikeouts compared to 81 walks in 162 and two-thirds innings.
Ross has been good for the Padres this year, however. 11 of his 19 starts have been quality starts. Before July, Ross had a 3.32 ERA with opponents slashing .222/.301/.364, but in his last three starts he has a 11.48 ERA and opponents are slashing .315/.397/.667. Ross has also struggled with control throughout his career, leading the league in both walks (84) and wild pitches (14) in 2015. The Phillies hitters will look to control the strike zone and hit Ross hard in today’s game.
RHP Nick Pivetta, Age: 25
- 2018 vs. SDP: N/A
- Career vs. SDP: 0-1, 4.50 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 12 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 HR, 3 BB, 20 SO, 1.083 WHIP
- Career at Citizens Bank Park: 8-7, 4.73 ERA, 23 G, 22 GS, 120 IP, 116 H, 65 R, 63 ER, 23 HR, 35 BB, 147 SO, 1.258 WHIP
Acquired in the trade that sent Jonathan Papelbon to the Nationals, Pivetta debuted with the club in 2017. Over the course of the season, Pivetta made 26 starts and posted a 6.02 ERA. The Phillies liked the improvements that they saw as the season progressed.
Pivetta made the rotation out of Spring Training and has done fairly well for the Phillies. Outside of three poor starts this season, Pivetta has posted a 3.50 ERA with 107 strikeouts compared to only 22 walks. Unfortunately for Pivetta and the Phillies, two of his three poor starts have come recently – the first on June 24 against the Nationals and the second on July 6 against the Pirates. Pivetta will look to right the ship for a solid second half.
Game 1 Starting Lineups:
| San Diego Padres (40-60) | Philadelphia Phillies (54-42) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | CF | Travis Jankowski | L | 1 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S |
| 2 | 2B | Carlos Asuaje | L | 2 | LF | Rhys Hoskins | R |
| 3 | LF | Wil Myers | R | 3 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 4 | 1B | Eric Hosmer | L | 4 | 1B | Carlos Santana | S |
| 5 | RF | Huner Renfroe | R | 5 | RF | Nick Williams | L |
| 6 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S | 6 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R |
| 7 | 3B | Christian Villanueva | R | 7 | SS | Scott Kingery | S |
| 8 | C | Austin Hedges | R | 8 | P | Nick Pivetta | R |
| 9 | P | Tyson Ross | R | 9 | C | Andrew Knapp | S |
Game 2 Starting Pitching Matchup:
| San Diego Padres (40-60) | Philadelphia Phillies (54-42) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Luis Perdomo | RHP | Vince Velasquez | ||
| (1-4, 7.55 ERA) | (5-8, 4.39 ERA) | ||||
RHP Luis Perdomo, Age: 25
- 2018 vs. PHI: N/A
- Career vs. PHI: N/A
- Career at Citizens Bank Park: N/A
Signed as a free agent from the Dominican Republic, Perdomo made his Major League debut with the San Diego Padres in 2016, giving up six earned runs in one inning pitched. He struggled for much of the season before being transitioned to a starting role and finding a bit of a grove at the end of the season.
This season, Perdomo has had more struggles. He has yet to put up a quality start and has failed to get deep into games. He has only made it past the fifth inning once this season. He is averaging about 85 pitches across only four and a third innings in games this season. The Phillies bats will look to be patient against Perdomo and knock him out of the game early.
RHP Vince Velasquez, Age: 26
- 2018 vs. SDP: N/A
- Career vs. SDP: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 9 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 16 SO, 0.333 WHIP
- Career at Citizens Bank Park: 8-13, 4.74 ERA, 30 G, 30 GS, 153 2/3 IP, 139 H, 86 R, 81 ER, 32 HR, 58 BB, 193 SO, 1.282 WHIP
Acquired via the Ken Giles trade, Velasquez has been very streaky for the Phillies. He has had only a few poor starts this season and has been a strong starter since returning from his injuries last season. His left handed throw after being hit in the arm by a come backer made Sports Center’s ninth best play of the first half.
Velasquez enters the game against the Padres as only his second start against the club, the first being his Phillies debut where he pitched a 16 strikeout complete game shutout.
Broadcast Information:
- Game 1 first pitch: 12:05 p.m.
- Game 2 first pitch: 6:05 p.m.
- TV: NBCSP
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
Game Notes:
- With his three-run home run in the second inning of Friday’s game, Carlos Santana extended the Phillies streak of games with an extra-base hit to 92. This is the longest streak in the majors this season. The Phillies franchise record is 97.
- In addition to earning his first Major League win in the series opener Friday, Austin Davis has now struck out 17 batters in just 13 innings pitched.
- With 24 scoreless innings pitched, Pat Neshek has become the only pitcher to have an ERA of 0.00 at a Phillies ballpark with a minimum of 20 innings pitched.
What’s Next:
- Monday, July 23, 2018: vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, 7:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park
- TBA vs. RHP Zach Eflin (7-2, 3.15 ERA)
- TV: NBC 10; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
