Last night, the Phillies capped off an extraordinary comeback in the series opener against the Brewers. Down 6-3 in the bottom half of the 9th, the Phillies mounted four runs off of Francisco "Beats His Father-in-Law" Rodriguez to win the game, 7-6. It seemed like the baseball Gods of 2008 pulled a highlight reel from that season and stuck it in this 2012 campaign. Okay, maybe I'm getting a little carried away, but damn it felt good to see life in this team. With the rally the Phillies let Doc, who gave up six earned runs over six innings, off the hook for the loss.
Tonight Cliff Lee (1-6, 3.72 ERA will take on Brewers ace Zack Greinke (9-3, 3.57 ERA), who is in the midst of a lot of trade rumors. Let's see if the Phillies can get it done without giving us heart attacks like they did last night.
In Lee's last start, on Wednesday against the Dodgers, he tossed eight spectacular innings. Lee only allowed one earned run on two hits while striking out four. Lee was given no run support as he left the game with his team tied 1-1. The Phils wound up losing that game in 12 innings after Matt Kemp hit a two-run walk off home run. Lee has seemed to find a good groove in his previous three starts. He has a 2.05 ERA over 22 innings and holds a 1-1 record. Tonight they'll go for the series win against the Brewers, a team Lee has not had the best success against in his career. In three career starts, Lee is 0-1 with a 4.74 ERA against the Brew Crew.
Zack Greinke joined the Brewers via trade in December of 2011 and it seems that he may be headed somewhere else before July 31st. Greinke is one of the hottest names on the trading block this summer and this game could potentially be his last start in a Milwaukee uniform. Greinke's spot was skipped last time around as he had pitched three straight Brewer games. He was ejected before recording an out in the first and was hit hard the next day. Greinke's last start came on July 13th against the Pirates. The Pirates barraded Greinke for five earned runs on seven hits through five innings. He walked away with his record untouched as he took the no-decision. In one career start and a relief appearance against the Phils, Greinke is 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA.
Trade talks are heating up, folks. The Cole Hamels saga is tearing us all apart while other rumors are shocking. It's reported that the Phillies are "eager" to trade outfielder Hunter Pence. Our own Frank Klose has the story here. In other rumors surrounding the Phillies and their potential moves, names like Shane Victorino, Jimmy Rollins, Joe Blanton and Placido Polanco have made their way to the surface.
Tonight's lineup vs Milwaukee:
- J-Roll SS
- Vic CF
- Utley 2B
- Howard 1B
- Chooch C
- Pence RF
- Wiggy 3B
- Mayberry LF
- Lee P.
TV: CSN ; Radio: 1210 WPHT, 94 WIP.
Follow Erik on Twitter @ErikSeyboldPHI.
