Cole Hamels is on the mound for game one of this series looking to rebound from a less than stellar outing in Citi Field last weekend where he didn't see the 6th inning. Interestingly he's not matched up against his American League counterpart Justin Verlander, another recently locked up ace who has seen better seasons on the mound.
Facing him is Doug Fister who has been great for Detroit since coming on board at the trade deadline in 2011. Definitely an important piece to a rotation that has him, Verlander, and Maz Scherzer. Fister currently stands with a 3.90 ERA in twenty starts. Fister has never faced the Phillies.
He picked a nice night to start.
The line up is desperate and mixed up tonight. It almost seems as if Manuel picked names out of a hat but well, beggers can't be choosers. Delmon Young is mercifully the DH tonight in a stadium where he thrived in the playoffs last year. The oufield then consists of Darin Ruf, John Mayberry, and Laynce Nix. Yikes. For the Tigers, Miguel Cabrera sits with a hip that's been giving him issues all week. That could favor the Phillies as they look to snap an ugly skid.
LINE UPS
PHILLIES
M. Young 5
Frandsen 3
Rollins 6
Utley 4
D. Young DH
Ruf 7
Mayberry 8
Nix 9
Ruiz 2
TIGERS
Jackson 8
Dirks 9
Tuiasosopo 7
Fielder 3
Martinez DH
Peralta 6
Perez 4
Santiago 5
Avila 2