Having played each other only nine times before last night, the Phillies (55-70) and Mariners (67-57) continue their interleague series tonight at 7:05pm. Last night, the Phillies were led by starter Jerome Williams, who tossed seven innings of one-run ball. His run support came via RBI double off the bat of Marlon Byrd and a three-run homer from Andres Blanco, his first since July 2011. Darin Ruf, who has been shuffled in and out of the lineup went 2-for-3 with a double and run scored last night. He is not in tonight's lineup. The 4-1 win for Philadelphia was only their third in ten games against the Mariners. Tonight, the Phils look to AJ Burnett to get over his recent struggles to claim the series victory, while Seattle will counter with Hisashi Iwakuma.
The Phillies have not won a game started by AJ Burnett (6-13, 4.35) since July 11th, a 6-2 win over Washington. Over his last six starts, Burnett has given up four or more earned runs in five of them and five or more in three of them. Needless to say, his lack of control is a big reason for his ineffectiveness. Though he kept the Phillies in the game during his last outing against the Angels, Burnett walked four batters, upping his pitch count early in the game. He lasted six innings though, but gave up four runs in the process. In the start before that, he gave up five runs on 11 hits in a loss to the Mets on August 8th. So far this month, AJ is 0-3 with a 6.59 ERA and 1.98 WHIP. July 6th and the 11th were the last two games in which he gave up three runs or less in consecutive starts.
After finishing third in last year's AL Cy Young voting, Hisashi Iwakuma (11-6, 2.72) is another guy who will be facing the Phillies for the first time. Since the beginning of July, Iwakuma is 6-1 with a 1.98 ERA and is coming off an outing against the Blue Jays in which he pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings with five strikeouts. Thus far in August, Iwakuma is 2-1 with a miniscule 0.84 ERA (2 ER in 21.1 innings). He has struck out 15 while walking only three. The 33-year-old pitcher holds a career 34-17 record to go along with an even more impressive 2.81 ERA.
Game Notes:
- Darin Ruf takes another questionable seat on the bench after hitting 7-for-12 over his last four starts.
- Robinson Cano has seen the most of Burnett on the Mariners, hitting .217 (5-for-23) with a double and four strikeouts. Austin Jackson is 2-for-5 against AJ with a homer.
- AJ Burnett is 3-3 with a 3.57 ERA in his career against the Mariners, spanning nine starts. Hitters are averaging .339 off of Burnett during his three starts this month. He has enjoyed pitching at home, sporting 3.36 ERA in Philadelphia compared to 5.31 on the road.
- Fun fact – Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon and Phillies skipper Ryne Sandberg played together on the Cubs in 1989-90.
Phillies Lineup:
- Ben Revere CF
- Jimmy Rollins SS
- Chase Utley 2B
- Ryan Howard 1B
- Marlon Byrd RF
- Domonic Brown LF
- Carlos Ruiz C
- Cody Asche 3B
- AJ Burnett P
Mariners Lineup:
- Austin Jackson CF
- Dustin Ackley LF
- Robinson Cano 2B
- Kyle Seager 3B
- Logan Morrison 1B
- Endy Chavez RF
- Mike Zunino C
- Brad Miller SS
- Hisashi Iwakuma P
Weather: 79°F – Partly Cloudy – 0% PoP
Location: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Game Time: 7:05 PM Eastern
Brandon Apter, Publishing Editor for Philliedelphia.com
