Having lost two consecutive games, and four of their last ten, the Philadelphia Phillies (11-21) will welcome the National League Central's Pittsburgh Pirates (15-16) tonight to start a four-game series.
There will be a couple familiar faces for fans at Citizens Bank Park to recognize during this series: Right handed starters Vance Worley and A.J. Burnett. Burnett will start tomorrow night, and Worley Thursday to close out the series in an afternoon matinee. The Pirates also have another former Phillie, left handed reliever Antonio Bastardo, but he was placed on the paternity list Monday afternoon and will likely miss a good portion, if not all, of the series.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Pittsburgh Pirates (15-16) | Philadelphia Phillies (11-21) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Gerrit Cole | RHP | Jerome Williams | ||
| (4-1, 2.27 ERA) | (2-2, 5.18 ERA) | ||||
Gerrit Cole, the first overall pick in the 2011 amateur draft, will start for the third time in his career against the Phillies tonight. Both his previous starts have come on Independence Day, July 4, in 2013 and 2014. In those starts Cole has tossed a combined 10.1 innings, allowing nine hits, two walks and three earned runs. 65.8% of his pitches were thrown for strikes.
| Date | Rslt/Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | HBP | ERA | BF | Pit | Str |
| Jul 4, 2013 | L/L | 5.1 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5.06 | 23 | 78 | 53 |
| Jul 4, 2014 | W/W | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 18 | 80 | 51 |
| Total | (1-1) | 10.1 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 2.61 | 41 | 158 | 104 |
Jerome Williams will take the mound for the seventh time of the season tonight, and the 16th time as a Phillie dating back to last August. His last start on May 6 at Atlanta was his worst as a Phillie in terms of earned runs allowed (6) and innings pitched (4.1). Williams has allowed 46 hits and seven walks over 33.0 innings this season.
Starting Lineups:
| Pittsburgh Pirates (15-16) | Philadelphia Phillies (11-21) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | RF | Gregory Polanco | L | 1 | LF | Ben Revere | L |
| 2 | 2B | Neil Walker | S | 2 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S |
| 3 | CF | Andrew McCutchen | R | 3 | 2B | Chase Utley | L |
| 4 | LF | Starling Marte | R | 4 | 1B | Ryan Howard | L |
| 5 | 1B | Pedro Alvarez | L | 5 | RF | Grady Sizemore | L |
| 6 | 3B | Jung Ho Kang | R | 6 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 7 | SS | Jordy Mercer | R | 7 | 3B | Cody Asche | L |
| 8 | C | Chris Stewart | R | 8 | C | Carlos Ruiz | R |
| 9 | P | Gerrit Cole | R | 9 | P | Jerome Williams | R |
Game Notes:
- All-time against the Pirates at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies are 22-13. Last season, they were 1-3, however, having been outscored 19-12.
| Date | Rslt | RS | RA | H | Hopp | E | Eopp | Win | Loss | Save |
| 9/8/2014 | L | 4 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 1 | J. Locke | K. Kendrick | M. Melancon |
| 9/9/2014 | W | 4 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | J. De Fratus | J. Wilson | J. Papelbon |
| 9/10/2014 | L | 3 | 6 | 4 | 13 | 0 | 0 | V. Worley | J. Williams | M. Melancon |
| 9/11/2014 | L | 1 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | F. Liriano | A. Burnett | M. Melancon |
- First baseman Ryan Howard has 22 hits in 99 at-bats this season to yield a .222 batting average. Comparing Howard's production numbers thus far over 28 games to those of years past, he's having his typical start to the season. In 2012, he had 12 more strikeouts than in 2015, with the same amount of plate appearances over 28 games.
| Year | G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
| 2015 | 28 | 27 | 108 | 99 | 9 | 22 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 7 | 28 |
| 2014 | 28 | 27 | 119 | 106 | 15 | 27 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 11 | 34 |
| 2013 | 28 | 27 | 113 | 104 | 13 | 30 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 18 | 6 | 26 |
| 2012 | 28 | 25 | 108 | 97 | 9 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 9 | 40 |
| 2011 | 28 | 28 | 125 | 109 | 16 | 32 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 29 | 11 | 30 |
| Total | 140 | 134 | 573 | 515 | 62 | 132 | 28 | 3 | 29 | 95 | 44 | 158 |
| Average | 28 | 26.8 | 114.6 | 103 | 12.4 | 26.4 | 5.6 | 0.6 | 5.8 | 19 | 8.8 | 31.6 |
| Std. Dev. | 0.00 | 1.10 | 7.37 | 4.95 | 3.29 | 4.83 | 2.41 | 0.55 | 0.45 | 5.70 | 2.28 | 5.55 |
- Outfielder Ben Revere is 4-5 with a RBI in his career against Gerrit Cole.
Broadcast Information:
- First-pitch: 7:05 pm EST
- TV: CSN
- Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Sp.)
What's Next:
Tuesday, May 12, 2015: vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 pm
- RHP A.J. Burnett (1-1, 1.66 ERA) vs. RHP Sean O'Sullivan (0-1, 4.91 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Sp.)
Wednesday, May 13, 2015: vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 pm
- LHP Francisco Liriano (1-2, 2.79 ERA) vs. LHP Cole Hamels (2-3, 3.68 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Sp.)
Thursday, May 14, 2015: vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, 1:05 pm
- RHP Vance Worley (2-2, 4.63 ERA) vs. RHP Aaron Harang (3-3, 2.38 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Sp.)
Matt Rappa (@mattrappa) is managing editor of Philliedelphia.com.
