New York, NY – Tonight at Citi Field, the Philadelphia Phillies (52-79) will kick-off a three-game set against the division-leading New York Mets (72-58), a team that they have lost each of their last nine meetings to, and 12 of 13 overall for the regular season.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Philadelphia Phillies (52-79) | New York Mets (72-58) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Jerad Eickhoff | RHP | Bartolo Colon | ||
| (1-1, 2.25 ERA) | (11-11, 4.68 ERA) | ||||
Eickhoff, 25, will take the mound for his second consecutive start against the Mets, and the third start overall for his career.
The right hander has allowed just nine earned runs over his past five starts, which includes three outings with the Triple-A affiliate of the Phillies, the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.
Facing the Mets on August 26, Eickhoff surrendered four runs (three earned) in six innings as the Phillies went on to lose, 9-4 while in opposition of veteran right hander Bartolo Colon.
Colon, 42, will oppose Eickhoff again this evening.
The 18-year veteran native to the Dominican Republic is 7-3 with a 3.81 ERA over 12 career starts against the Phillies.
Excluding his ninth inning relief appearance on Saturday, Colon has allowed 13 runs on 35 hits and six walks in 32 1/3 innings for the month of August.
Starting Lineups:
| Philadelphia Phillies (52-79) | New York Mets (72-58) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L | 1 | RF | Curtis Granderson | L |
| 2 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S | 2 | CF | Yoenis Cespedes | R |
| 3 | LF | Aaron Altherr | R | 3 | 1B | Daniel Murphy | L |
| 4 | 1B | Ryan Howard | L | 4 | 3B | David Wright | R |
| 5 | RF | Jeff Francoeur | R | 5 | 2B | Kelly Johnson | L |
| 6 | 3B | Andres Blanco | S | 6 | C | Travis d'Arnaud | R |
| 7 | C | Cameron Rupp | R | 7 | LF | Michael Conforto | L |
| 8 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S | 8 | SS | Wilmer Flores | R |
| 9 | P | Jerad Eickhoff | R | 9 | P | Bartolo Colon | R |
Game Notes:
- The Phillies struck out a franchise-record 44 times for a four-game set in last week's matchup with the Mets at Citizens Bank Park. Philadelphia was outscored 40-21 that series as their pitching staff gave up 13 home runs.
- Center fielder Odubel Herrera's four-hit game Sunday against the Padres, along with third baseman Maikel Franco's similar performance on June 22 at Yankee Stadium, makes them the first Phillies' rookie duo to accomplish such feat in a season since catcher Darren Daulton and third baseman Rick Schu in 1985.
- Cameron Rupp is the first Phillies' catcher since Mike Lieberthal in August 2002 (8) to hit seven home runs in a calendar month. Over his last six games played, Rupp is batting .333/.478/1.056 with one double, five walks (one intentional), four home runs, and nine runs-batted-in.
Broadcast Information:
- First-pitch: 7:10 pm EST
- TV: CSN
- Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, WTTM 1680 (Sp.)
What's Next:
- Tuesday, September 1, 2015: at New York Mets, 7:10 pm
- RHP Aaron Harang (5-14, 4.79 ERA) vs. LHP Jon Niese (8-9, 3.95 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, WTTM 1680 (Sp.)
- Wednesday, September 2, 2015: at New York Mets, 7:10 pm
- RHP Aaron Nola (5-1, 3.26 ERA) vs. RHP Matt Harvey (11-7, 2.48 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, WTTM 1680 (Sp.)
Matt Rappa (@mattrappasports) is managing editor of Philliedelphia.com.
