The Philadelphia Phillies' (10-19) last home game at Citizens Bank Park took place 12 days ago on Sunday, April 26. as they narrowly defeated the Atlanta Braves, 5-4, to secure the series victory. The team went 3-7 on a ten game road trip, which featured a victory and three consecutive losses against the St. Louis Cardinals, as well as series defeats against the Miami Marlins and the Braves.
Tonight will feature a battle of aces, as Cole Hamels and the Phillies will oppose Matt Harvey and the New York Mets (18-10) in National League baseball. The Mets currently lead the National League East division by four games, ahead of the Braves who are 5-5 in their last ten. The Phillies are currently in fifth place, or last in the division, and trail New York by 8.5 games.
Earlier today, the Phillies released minor league infielder Chris Nelson. He batted .278 (15-54) with four doubles and five runs batted in over 16 games with the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs this season.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| New York Mets (18-10) | Philadelphia Phillies (10-19) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Matt Harvey | LHP | Cole Hamels | ||
| (5-0, 2.41 ERA) | (1-3, 4.14 ERA) | ||||
Harvey's career against the Phillies in six starts surely has reflected the league-wide hype that surrounds the 26-year-old right hander, who was drafted seventh overall in the 2010 amateur draft.
Over 39.1 innings, he has surrendered just seven earned runs on 20 hits and eight walks to yield a 0.71 WHIP. Additionally, Harvey has 46 strikeouts, which averages to approximately 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings. Phillies' first baseman Ryan Howard accounts for seven, or 15.2% of those 46 strikeouts. Outfielder Domonic Brown, who is currently with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, also has struck out seven times in his career against the right hander.
| # | Date | Opp | Rslt | Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | HBP | ERA | BF | Pit | Str | StL | StS | GB | FB | LD | PU | AB | 2B | 3B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29-Aug-12 | @ PHI | W 3-2 | W | 6.1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2.76 | 27 | 98 | 68 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 14 | 8 | 1 | 23 | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | 19-Sep-12 | PHI | L 2-3 | ND | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2.73 | 23 | 112 | 69 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 8-Apr-13 | @ PHI | W 7-2 | W | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0.64 | 26 | 110 | 66 | 14 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | 23-Jun-13 | @ PHI | W 8-0 | W | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2.05 | 21 | 72 | 51 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | 21-Jul-13 | PHI | W 5-0 | W | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 2.23 | 25 | 112 | 75 | 16 | 22 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | 14-Apr-15 | PHI | W 6-5 | W | 6.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2.25 | 26 | 95 | 64 | 20 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 22 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | (5-1) | (5-0) | 39.1 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 46 | 3 | 4 | 148 | 599 | 393 | 94 | 78 | 40 | 50 | 22 | 4 | 132 | 6 | 0 | |||
| Avg | 6.2 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 7.7 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 2.11 | 24.7 | 99.8 | 65.5 | 15.7 | 13.0 | 6.7 | 8.3 | 3.7 | 0.7 | 22.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | ||||
| Std Dev | 1.7 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.71 | 2.1 | 14.1 | 7.3 | 2.5 | 4.7 | 1.7 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
Harvey, who was sidelined all of the 2014 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on October 22, 2013, has earned a winning decision in all but one of his career starts against the Phillies. That start occurred on September 12, in which he allowed just one earned run in seven innings of work, which resulted in a no-decision.
With a win this evening, he could be paired in a statistical achievement alongside one of the best pitchers the game of baseball has ever seen, three-time Cy Young Award winner and Hall of Famer, Tom Seaver.
ESPN Stats & Info's Mark Simon tweets:
Matt Harvey can join Tom Seaver as the only pitchers to win six straight decisions against the Phillies at any time in their Mets tenure
— Mark Simon (@msimonespn) May 8, 2015
Harvey is tied for having the most winning decisions so far this season, alongside teammate Bartolo Colon, Zach Greinke of the Dodgers and Felix Hernandez of the Mariners.
Opposing Harvey on the Phillies' side will be Cole Hamels, as he takes the mound for his seventh start of the season. His last start against the Mets occurred last season on August 9. He threw seven innings and allowed just one earned run on five hits and three walks, but received the no decision.
| I | Split | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | BF | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April/March | 15 | 17 | .469 | 3.95 | 42 | 42 | 1 | 0 | 262.0 | 244 | 121 | 115 | 34 | 88 | 262 | 1099 | 1.267 | |
| May | 23 | 12 | .657 | 3.73 | 48 | 48 | 2 | 1 | 318.2 | 293 | 139 | 132 | 40 | 84 | 316 | 1307 | 1.183 | |
| June | 14 | 20 | .412 | 3.33 | 49 | 49 | 3 | 2 | 318.2 | 283 | 125 | 118 | 40 | 86 | 289 | 1298 | 1.158 | |
| July | 20 | 11 | .645 | 3.16 | 47 | 47 | 0 | 0 | 313.2 | 265 | 119 | 110 | 36 | 78 | 291 | 1270 | 1.094 | |
| August | 16 | 13 | .552 | 2.70 | 46 | 46 | 5 | 2 | 313.0 | 281 | 103 | 94 | 28 | 53 | 270 | 1247 | 1.067 | |
| Sept/Oct | 21 | 13 | .618 | 2.97 | 49 | 48 | 2 | 1 | 312.1 | 269 | 109 | 103 | 30 | 83 | 317 | 1273 | 1.127 |
Even though Hamels struggled in his last start, allowing ten hits and six earned runs in six innings against the Marlins, the month of May has historically been his best statistically speaking. Perhaps he can start a rebound tonight and turn around what has been an uncharacteristic-type season for the southpaw.
Starting Lineups:
| New York Mets (18-10) | Philadelphia Phillies (10-19) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | RF | Curtis Granderson | L | 1 | RF | Ben Revere | L |
| 2 | CF | Juan Lagares | R | 2 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S |
| 3 | LF | John Mayberry Jr. | R | 3 | 2B | Chase Utley | L |
| 4 | 1B | Michael Cuddyer | R | 4 | 1B | Ryan Howard | L |
| 5 | 3B | Daniel Murphy | L | 5 | LF | Darin Ruf | R |
| 6 | SS | Wilmer Flores | R | 6 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 7 | C | Kevin Plawecki | R | 7 | 3B | Cody Asche | L |
| 8 | 2B | Dilson Herrera | R | 8 | C | Carlos Ruiz | R |
| 9 | P | Matt Harvey | R | 9 | P | Cole Hamels | L |
Game Notes
- Chase Utley:
- The long-time Phillies' second baseman returns to the lineup for the first time since May 4, after getting a two-game, three-day rest. He is batting just 0.059 this month (1-17).
- Utley has just four hits in 62 at-bats (.065 batting average) since he went 3-3 with two home runs and three runs-batted-in on April 14. One of those home runs was against tonight's Mets' starter, Matt Harvey.
- Ben Revere:
- In an effort to get Darin Ruf in the lineup, Revere has started in right field over the past couple games. He will start in right again tonight in the lead-off spot.
- The 27-year-old has zero errors, two assists and 57 putouts over 219.1 fielded innings in 30 games so far this season.
- Revere has 11 hits over six games so far in May (27 at-bats, .407 batting average). He did not get 11 hits in April until his 17th game (61 at-bats). His average has risen from .180 to .264 since then.
- David Wright:
- The Mets' All-Star third baseman was shut down today after suffering lower back pain.
- He was in the process of rehabbing a strained right hamstring, which has sidelined him since April 15. His last game was against the Phillies on April 14, the same day Utley last had a multi-hit game.
- John Mayberry Jr.:
- The former Phillie will bat in the three-hole tonight for New York. He was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays last August for minor league infielder Gustavo Pierre. Pierre is batting .304 (21-69) so far this season with the Reading Fightin Phils.
- Mayberry Jr. homered against Atlanta's Eric Stults, in his first start of the season on April 10, but he has batted just .111 since (2-18).
Broadcast Information:
- First-pitch: 7:05 pm EST
- TV: CSN
- Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Sp.)
What's Next:
Saturday, May 9, 2015: vs. New York Mets, 7:05 pm
- LHP Jon Niese (2-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. RHP Aaron Harang (3-2, 2.35 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Sp.)
Sunday, May 10, 2015: vs. New York Mets, 1:35 pm
- RHP Dillon Gee (0-2, 3.86 ERA) vs. RHP Chad Billingsley (0-1, 9.00 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Sp.)
Matt Rappa (@mattrappa) is managing editor of Philliedelphia.com.
