Losers of six straight and posting a 3-9 record so far this month, the Phillies season continues tonight in interleague action as the team travels to Baltimore for the first two games of a home-and-home series with the Orioles. This past weekend in Pittsburgh, the Phillies dropped two extra-inning contests 1-0 and lost the other game by a score of 4-3. While Phillies starting pitchers over the weekend did well, the offense and even the defense fell flat yet again, leading to their second straight series in which they were swept. Tonight, Aaron Harang will look to get the Phils back on track in Baltimore against an Orioles team who has under-performed a season after winning the AL East.
Starting Pitching Match-up:
| Philadelphia Phillies (22-42) | Baltimore Orioles (31-31) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Aaron Harang | LHP | Wei-Yin Chen | ||
| 4-7, 3.04 ERA | 2-4, 3.21 | ||||
While Aaron Harang has been a nice surprise this year for the Phillies, his month of June hasn't started off well at all. In 11 2/3 innings so far through two starts, Harang has given up 12 earned runs, good for an ERA of 9.26. Last time out against his former team in Cincinnati, he surrendered seven earned runs in six innings during the Phillies embarrassing 11-2 loss at the hands of the Reds. In his career against the Orioles, Harang is 1-2 with a 6.00 ERA. He's 0-1 with a 12.60 ERA in one start at Camden Yards. O's shortstop JJ Hardy has six hits off of Harang, three of which are home runs. Adam Jones has hit two doubles against him.
The Orioles will send Wei-Yin Chen to the mound for his 13th start of the season. Unlike Harang, Chen has had a solid month of June so far, allowing four runs in his two starts, spanning 11 1/3 innings. In his last outing against the Red Sox, Chen earned the victory after limiting Boston to two runs on seven hits over five innings. Chen has never faced the Phillies before, but both Jeff Francoeur and Ben Revere have seen him. Francoeur has three hits in 10 at-bats against him, including two doubles, while Revere has a single in four tries.
Starting Lineups:
|
Philadelphia Phillies (22-42) |
Baltimore Orioles (31-31) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | LF | Ben Revere | L | 1 | 3B | Manny Machado | R |
| 2 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S | 2 | DH | Jimmy Paredes | S |
| 3 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R | 3 | CF | Adam Jones | R |
| 4 | 1B | Ryan Howard | L | 4 | 1B | Chris Davis | L |
| 5 | RF | Jeff Francoeur | R | 5 | C | Matt Wieters | S |
| 6 | DH | Chase Utley | L | 6 | LF | Nolan Reimold | R |
| 7 | LF | Cody Asche | L | 7 | RF | Travis Snider | L |
| 8 | C | Cameron Rupp | R | 8 | SS | J.J. Hardy | R |
| 9 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S | 9 | 2B | Ryan Flaherty | L |
Game Notes:
- Chase Utley, batting sixth tonight, has a .417 in that spot in the order. When hitting third, he's hitting just .159
- Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen has a 4-4 record and a 4.88 ERA in nine career Interleague starts.
- Baltimore third baseman Manny Machado earned AL Player of the Week Honors this past week after slashing .458/.519/.750 with two home runs, five RBI's and nine runs scored.
- The Phillies lost two out of three to Boston in their lone Interleague series this season while the Orioles are 1-4 in Interleague play.
- The Orioles have scored the 12th-most runs in baseball and allowed the 10th-fewest.
- Ryan Howard and Maikel Franco have hit 11 and six home runs respectively. The rest of the Phillies? 19 homers in 64 games.
- In the Phillies last 22 games, Jonathan Papelbon has only had one save opportunity.
Broadcast Information:
Gametime: 7:05pm EST
Location: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD
Weather: 83 degrees, light rain, 51% chance of rain
TV: CSN
Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Sp.)
Brandon Apter, Publishing Editor for Philliedelphia.com
