After finishing their homestand against the Red Sox and Nationals at 3-3, the Phillies have lost two straigh on the road against the NL East rival Mets. The offense got shutout 2-0 on Monday and yesterday, the Phillies battled back, hitting four home runs, but still lost by a score of 6-5. Tonight at Citi Field, the Phillies look to salvage one game of the series to avoid the sweep behind Jerome Williams while the Mets will give the ball to Jon Niese, who has plenty of career success against the Phils
| Phillies (3-5) | Mets (5-3) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Jerome Williams | LHP | Jon Niese | ||
| 0-0, 1.50 ERA | 0-0, 1.80 ERA | ||||
Looking to build off of a strong start is Phillies right-hander Jerome Williams. He struggled in spring training action, but looked very good in his start on April 10th against the Nationals. In six innings of work, Williams held Washington to one run on five hits while striking out six and walking just one. In his only career start at Citi Field, Williams pitched 6.1 innings and gave up two runs. He's started four games against the Mets in his career, posting a 3.48 ERA over 20.2 innings.
Meanwhile, the Mets will send Jon Niese to the mound, who has faced the Phillies numerous times in his career. In his first start of the season against the Braves, Niese tossed five innings and gave up three runs, one earned, during the Mets 5-3 loss.
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Starting Lineups
| Phillies | Mets | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L | 1 | RF | Curtis Granderson | L |
| 2 | SS | Cesar Hernandez | S | 2 | C | Travis d'Arnaud | R |
| 3 | 2B | Chase Utley | L | 3 | 1B | Lucas Duda | L |
| 4 | RF | Jeff Francoeur | R | 4 | LF | Michael Cuddyer | R |
| 5 | 1B | Darin Ruf | R | 5 | 2B | Daniel Murphy | L |
| 6 | 3B | Cody Asche | L | 6 | 3B | Eric Campbell | R |
| 7 | C | Cameron Rupp | R | 7 | CF | Juan Lagares | R |
| 8 | LF | Ben Revere | L | 8 | SS | Ruben Tejada | R |
| 9 | P | Jerome Williams | R | 9 | P | Jon Niese | L |
You'll notice some changes to the Phillies lineup today with Ryan Howard getting the day off in favor of Darin Ruf. Cesar Hernandez will get some action at shortstop in place of Freddy Galvis and Jeff Francoeur gets the start in right field after hitting his second homer of the year in Tuesday night's loss. Cameron Rupp gets the nod at catcher as well.
The biggest change for the Mets is the absence of David Wright in the lineup. New York's third baseman left the game early yesterday after sliding awkwardly into second base. Imaging revealed a mild hamstring strain. Wright was placed on the 15-day disabled list earlier today.
Game Notes:
Phillies vs. Jonathan Niese
- Chase Utley: 3-for-28 (.107), RBI, 2 BB, 3 K's
- Darin Ruf: 1-for-5 (.200), HR, 2 RBI's
- Cody Asche: 2-for-5 (.400), 2B, RBI
Mets vs. Jerome Williams
- Lucas Duda: 1-for-3 (.333)
- Curtis Granderson: 1-for-8 (.125), HR, 3 RBI's, 2 K's
- Juan Lagares: 0-for-3 (.000), K
- Cody Asche is hitting .429 on the young season with a 1.071 OPS. Over his last four starts, he's 8 for 14.
- Jon Niese is 8-6 with a 3.00 ERA in 19 starts vs. the Phillies.
- In 10 starts since joining the Phillies last August, Jerome Williams is 4-2 with a 2.70 ERA
Gametime: 7:10 p.m.
Weather: 61 degrees, partly cloudy, 0% PoP
Location: Citi Field, Flushing, NY
TV: The Comcast Network
Radio: 1210 WPHT, 94 WIP, SBP 1480 (Spanish)
Brandon Apter, Publishing Editor for Philliedelphia.com
