It is a milestone night at Citizens Bank Park tonight as Jimmy Rollins will be playing in his 2,000th Major League game. Over his 15-year career, the three-time all star has helped the Phillies to five division titles, two World Series appearances and a World Series Championship in 2008. He was named league MVP in 2007 and is also a four-time gold glover at shortstop. J-Roll also won a silver slugger award in '07, joining a select group of players to have hit 30 homers and stolen 30 bases in a season. Rollins holds the Phillies record for most triples in a season with 20 in 2007. In the 2011 playoffs, he broke his fair share of Phils postseason records, including hits (9), doubles (4), and multi-hit games (4). Tonight is a special one as we are seeing a cornerstone of this Phillies organization from the past 15 years, go through another milestone in his career. Let's move on to tonight's game preview.
The Phillies (22-27) and Rockies (28-24) conclude their series tonight at 7:05pm (CSN) after splitting the first two games. The Phillies won the first game by a score of 9-0 while the Rockies got to Cole Hamels late in the game yesterday to post a 6-2 victory. Yesterday's loss was another frustrating one for Philadelphia. They failed to get Cole Hamels much of any run support, so one mistake made by him late in the game proved to be the difference maker. The Phils have given Cole 2.5 runs per start this season. Hopefully tonight, it will be a different story with Roberto Hernandez on the hill.
Last time out against the Dodgers, Roberto Hernandez (2-2, 3.83) held their lineup to just two runs, but the Phillies offense was shutout by LA's Clayton Kershaw. The Phillies are 2-1 in Hernandez's last three starts, where he has given up three runs over 18.2 innings for a 1.45 ERA. While he saw some time in the bullpen in between starts, Hernandez has been a solid back of the rotation guy all season. He will face a Rockies lineup that has a .333 career average against him, with Justin Morneau having the most success. The Rockies first baseman has a career .303 average against the Phils righty with two doubles, three homers, 11 RBI's and six walks in 33 at-bats. Michael Cuddyer has 46 at-bats against Roberto, but only has a .239 average against with nine strikeouts. Hernandez's last start against the Rockies was one to forget. He gave up six runs on nine hits in just four innings, but was bailed out by the offense in a 10-9 Phillies victory on April 20th.
The Rockies will oppose with Jordan Lyles (5-1, 3.45), who has posted three quality starts this month in four outings. Excluding the game in which he gave up six runs against the Padres, Lyles has limited the Rangers, Reds and Braves to just two runs a piece. The Rockies have gone 2-2 in his starts during the month of May. The Phillies have a career .250 average against Lyles, with no player having more than eight at-bats against him. Jimmy Rollins is 5-for-8 with two doubles and a walk against Lyles while Ryan Howard has a double and two RBI's in six at-bats. He last faced the Phillies on September 16th, 2012. Lyles gave up four runs over five innings in the Rockies 7-6 win.
Game Notes:
- Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki are out of the lineup tonight.
- Justin Morneau is hitting .357 with three home runs and seven RBIs in 14 at-bats against Hernandez over the last five years.
- Colorado fell to 4-20 in its last 24 at Citizens Bank Park after Monday night's loss. A 6-2 win yesterday has put the Rockies in position to win their first series in Philadelphia since taking three of four during a series on Aug. 9-12, 2004.
- Ryan Howard is hitting .462 in his last seven games against the Rockies. He is back in tonight's lineup after sitting yesterday in favor of Darin Ruf.
- Since the start of the 2008 season, the Phillies are 32-11 (.744) in 43 regular season games against the Rockies, which is their best winning percentage against any team over that span.
- Tonight is Jimmy Rollins' 2,000th major league game. He is 15 hits away from being the Phillies all-time hits leader.
Phillies Lineup:
Ben Revere CF
Jimmy Rollins SS
Chase Utley 2B
Ryan Howard 1B
Marlon Byrd RF
Domonic Brown LF
Carlos Ruiz C
Cesar Hernandez 3B
Roberto Hernandez P
Rockies Lineup:
Charlie Blackmon CF
D.J. LeMahieu 2B
Justin Morneau 1B
Michael Cuddyer RF
Corey Dickerson KF
Wilin Rosario C
Josh Rutledge SS
Charlie Culberson 3B
Jordan Lyles P
Location: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Gametime Forecast: 65° F – Cloudy – 0% PoP
Game Time: 7:05 PM Eastern
Jimmy Rollins in February, 2001
Brandon Apter is the Publishing Editor for Phillidelphia. Follow him on Twitter @ApterShock
