A.J. Burnett takes the Hill in Rubber Match Against the A’s

Yesterday, the Phillies (71-84) shutout the A’s (84-70), tying the series at a game apiece. The pitching in the game was excellent. Starter, Jerome Williams (6-7 4.71 ERA), pitched seven strong innings, only giving up four hits and a walk. The bullpen followed with two scoreless innings, including Ken Giles first career save. The runs came from a two run home run by Freddy Galvis in the seventh and Marlon Byrd added on with a RBI single in the eighth.

Today the Phillies look to upset the A’s, who are in the thick of the wild card race, by winning the series. The Phillies will send veteran A.J. Burnett (8-17 4.40 ERA) to the hill.  Burnett has been very inconsistent in what looks like his last season in professional baseball. In his last start, Burnett only went five and two third innings, five runs, four earned. Burnett will face off against A’s left-hander, Scott Kazmir (14-9 3.44 ERA). Kazmir is having one of this best seasons, but has struggled of late, losing four of this last games, with the other being a no decision.

Game Notes

• Jerome Williams with yesterday’s win became the first pitcher to beat the same team three times on three different teams in a single season.
• Jimmy Rollins is still slowly recovering from a strained left hamstring. When Sandberg was asked yesterday if Rollins will play again this year, his answer was, ”We’ll see. We’ll see how he does and how he goes. I’m not going one way or another in it.”
• Phillies this season are 17-60 when scoring three runs or less and 54-24 when scoring more than four runs.
• Happy Birthday, Antonio Bastardo!

Phillies Lineup:

1.  Ben Revere CF
2. Carlos Ruiz C
3. Chase Utley 2B
4. Ryan Howard DH
5. Marlon Byrd RF
6. Grady Sizemore LF
7. Darin Ruf 1B
8. Cody Asche 3B
9. Freddy Galvis SS

Pitching: A.J. Burnett

A’s Lineup:

1. Coco Crisp CF
2. Stephen Vogt 1B
3. Josh Donaldson 3B
4. Adam Dunn DH
5. Brandon Moss LF
6. Jed Lowrie SS
7. Josh Reddick RF
8. Geovany Soto C
9. Eric Sogard 2B

Pitching: Scott Kazmir

First Pitch: 4:05 PM ET

Location: O.co Coliseum, Oakland, CA

Weather: 72^o F Partly Sunny

TV: CSN

Radio: 1210 WPHT, 94 WIP

Andrew Shipotofsky is a writer for Philliedelphia