Staff Blog
Final Rounds
No BDawk talk today. We’ll try and get to him tomorrow, but should may be sporadic for the next two weeks. None of that matters right now though, the Phillies have a Dutchman to beat.
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| with three medicore starters available Charlie will have this one ready to go |
The Game: The Stakes is high as the Phillies try to hold onto their miniscule lead in the playoff race against Jair Jurrjens and the Braves. If the Phillies do win it will be the first time all year that they have had a winning streak over five games. |
In other relevant news the Mets are in DC and the Brewers are in Chicago.
The Pitchers: With Kyle Kendrick unable to locate his pitch a spot in the rotation has opened for 25 year old lefty J.A. Happ (0-0, 5.71). The Braves have never faced Happ but have several prominent lefty bats that he’ll have to control. His ERA in two starts this year is just 3.27, but neither of them were as big as tonight.
Jair Jurrjens (13-9, 3.62) takes the bump for the Braves. The 22 year old Jurrjens is coming off as 10 K victory against the Rockies and held the Phils scoreless over eight innings two months ago. He’s better than Happ, it’ll have to be the Phils offense that wins this one.
The Players: It is Ryan Howard who is making the noise, but the Phils’ corner outfielders might be the ones to watch. Jayson Werth is establishing himself in the three hold - he hit third against a righty for the first time all year last night and responded with a big game - while Pat Burrell has fallen off the face of the earth. Burrell, hitting just .184 since the end of July, K’d five times Tuesday - all swinging.
The Links
- Jason Weitzel puts the season into some perspective
- Sports by Brooks breaks down the Wild Card Race
- Balls, Sticks, and Stuff goes through the emotions
- IgglesBlog asks if there are any
athletes expect for AI that the fans give a pass to. Utley and his bum hip come to mind - not that I’m complaining about the love either of those guys get
- Brian at DepressedFan gets ahead of himself
- Matt reacts to the news that Mike Richards was named captain
