The Phillies are finally out of last place. Although they don't hold sole possession of the cellar, they still remain 10 games under .500 and 16 games back in the division. While sitting 12 1/2 games back in the Wild Card. There is a chance that the Phillies could pull a miracle run. But that chance is very slim. What the Phillies need to do now is to spend the remainder of the season testing out the young arms and bats that they have kept in their farm system all year. Unlike a four-day span in the past, giving the team a rest for the playoffs, the Phils should give the younger players a chance to prove their worth with 54 games left in the season.
Tonight Vance Worley (6-6, 3.63) will get the start tonight as the Phillies get set to open a three-game series with the second-place Atlanta Braves. In Worley's last start, against the Nats on Wednesday, the righthander tossed seven scoreless innings to earn his sixth win of the season. Worley allowed six hits, walked one and struck out none in the winning effort. Worley is looking to build on this strong start as well as continuing to seek consistency. In Worley's last three, he is 1-1 with a 4.42 ERA. In Worley's career against the Braves, he is 1-0 with a 2.37 ERA.
Opposing the Phils will be Ben Sheets (3-1, 1.46 ERA), who is looking to continue his comeback tale as a member of the Braves' rotation. In Sheets' first four starts this season, he has posted a 1.46 ERA (4 earned runs in 24 2/3 innings) and has only lost at the hands of a division rival. In Sheets' last start, on Wednesday against the Marlins, he was tagged for three runs on 11 hits through 6 2/3 innings. Sheets walked one and struck out eight while taking the loss, his first of the season. On Wednesday, it was the first time Sheets pitched into the seventh inning since the 2010 season. Sheets faced the Phillies two starts prior to today's. In that start, Sheets allowed six hits and his first earned run of the season. It was all he would allow. The Braves' bats would back him up and he would get his third win in as many starts to bring his career record against the Phils to 3-4 with a 4.50 ERA.
Tonight's lineup vs Atlanta:
- Rollins SS
- Brown LF
- Utley 2B
- Howard 1B
- Mayberry CF
- Schierholtz RF
- Frandsen 3B
- Schneider C
- Worley P.
TV: CSN ; Radio: 1210 WPHT, 94 WIP.
Follow Erik on Twitter @ErikSeyboldPHI.
